Buffaloes look to end 12-year premiership drought
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Darwin Buffaloes coach Matt Campbell says it's time for his team to end its 12-year premiership drought as it prepares to go head to head with Southern Districts in Saturday's grand final in the Northern Territory Football League.
Grand final fever is in full swing in the Top End after a rollercoaster season, and the Territory will in a matter of days find out if the premiership flag will belong to minor premiers Southern Districts or the underdogs Darwin Buffaloes.
With early-season favourites the Crocs having a shaky start to their finals campaign, losing the semi-final, and the Buffs' premiership drought lasting a long twelve years, the question is, who wants it more?
Buffaloes coach Matt Campbell was confident that a dozen years was long enough to go without a premiership trophy.
"It'll be massive for our club. It's 12 years since we've been in the grand final, but also 12 years since we won a final," he said.
It would be an extra special win if they can pull it off, with injured Buffs footballer Tai Martin-Page making the trip to Darwin to cheer on his former club.
The Buffaloes utility was left paralysed after he suffered a serious spinal injury in a round-12 match against the Wanderers in January, and is still undergoing rehabilitation in Adelaide.
"He's done a tonne of work to get himself up for it so I think it just reinforces the message to our boys that anything's possible," Campbell said.
"Not one doctor I suppose, three or four weeks ago, or nurse in Adelaide thought Tai would get to this game; we certainly didn't, so it's a bit of that 'anything's possible' for us."
The final will be a repeat of the semi-final, in which the Buffs emerged as 20-point victors.
Crocs won't choke again: captain
For the second year in a row, Southern Districts have finished with the minor premiership, only to stumble and lose in their finals fixture.
To those holding their breath for the weekend, Crocs captain Will Farrer was adamant they wouldn't be choking again.
"We're definitely a different team this year," he said.
"The feeling's a lot better. We're more confident, and I guess it goes to show the game against Buffs was a bit of a fluke… Hopefully we can change it this weekend."
And falling just short of the Buffs' premiership stalemate, it's also been a long time coming for the Districts club fans.
"It's the first time in 11 years," Farrer said.
"We've seen the past players and everyone who's pulled on a Southern Districts football jumper in the past years — all the greats — it's not just for them, it's for the friends and family as well."
Previously in the season, the Buffs have gone down to the Crocs by more than 100 points, but you won't see a glimpse of that performance come Saturday.
"I think we showed that in the first final that we're definitely a different side," Campbell said.
"They're a great side and they taught us some lessons early in the season of what holes we needed to fix, and I think we fixed them pretty well in the back half of the year — I think we've won 12 out of the last 13."
All in all, the game is bound to be a fierce battle for the crown between a legacy club and the premiership favourites.
The game will kick off at Marrara Stadium at 7:00pm on Saturday.
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