Big River Hawks fell short of winning the Grand Final on Saturday, beaten by Nightcliff by three points after staging a remarkable comeback.

In oppressive heat, the second and third ranked teams at the end of the regular season played out a classic that had Hawks supporters wishing there was just five more minutes on the clock.

The game started very evenly with the Tigers kicking the first goal only to be matched only for the Hawks to kick the next two through Jordan Gardner and Marcus Hamilton from the Katherine-based team. Nightcliff hit back though to take a two-point lead into the first break.  

At quarter time, Coach Abbott told the boys in brown and gold to use the advantage of the week off to run their opposition around, get numbers to the ball and work for each other.

History will show, however, that it was the second quarter that cost the Hawks the premiership.

The Nightcliff team put on a display of possession football built on strong leads and overhead marking and was supported by accurate passing by foot and a clear determination to take home the silverware. Led by experienced premier league players Lachie McKenzie, Ryan Nyhuis and Brandon Parfaitt the Tigers built what would prove to be a match-winning lead of 23 points by half time, kicking 4.4 to the Hawks’ 1.1 for the quarter.

At half time, it was clear the heads of the Big River players were down.

Katherine NTFL legend Doug Kelly addressed the young men in the sheds and spoke of the need to put your head over the footy and to sacrifice for each other. Fancy football was not going to win the day and this was reinforced by Coach Abbott who also spoke about the need to support players that were being tagged.

Abbott also rolled the dice by moving star Hawks players Marcus Hamilton and Caleb Clyden into the forward line to start the second half.

The third quarter did not start as the Hawks would have likes, with the Darwin-based team kicking the first goal to stretch their lead to a game high 31 points. From that point on though, there was a shift in momentum with consecutive goals to Cedric Robertson and a remarkable double step, fake and left foot snap by Bobby Nunggamajbarr to bring the margin back to 19 points by three-quarter time.

Coach Abbott used his final address to the team for the season to remind the players that this was their chance to win a premiership together and to leave it all out on the field. That it was an opportunity to earn respect from the league and remind the NT footballing public of the talent that lies down the Stuart Highway.

The fourth quarter commenced with a Marcus Hamilton set shot goal from outside 50 to put the Hawks within 13 points at the five-minute mark of the last quarter.

Some costly misses by Nightcliff kept the door open for the Hawks as Lyndon Gumbula popped up to kick another goal and bring the gap down to 9 points with 10 minutes left remaining.

The final stages were frantic as the Big River boys continued to lift but despite clearly feeling the heat, the Tigers made some important intercept marks to stifle the Hawks’ attack time and again.

Then came a pivotal moment as Riley Sullivan from the Katherine team was awarded a free kick and 50 metre penalty, which moved him from the grandstand wing to around 30 metres from goal on a very slight angle.

Sullivan, who had been one of the Hawks standout players on the day, running himself into the ground tagging Parfitt, calmly slotted the set shot and the margin was three points.

The final five minutes saw the ball spend nearly the entire time in the Hawks attacking half, and much of it in the forward 50, however, the experienced Nightcliff backline continued to turn the ball away with the final siren sounding with the ball still deep in the Tigers defensive 50.

It was a gut-wrenching result as the players had given their all in the second half.

The Hawks’ defence had held their opponents to just one goal in the second half, while the forwards had kicked five goals straight.

Nightcliff’s early domination was reflected in their 17 shots on goal versus the Hawks’ 9, however, it was the determination of the Hawks backline including Brodie Carroll, Jesse Bettison, Balung Martin, Patrick Kossack and Daniel Turner that meant the Tigers didn’t kick easy goals.

The Hawks’ game plan was built around achieving easier shots on goal and this resulted in them kicking more majors than the opposition. It was also obvious that Big River was finishing all over the team in black and yellow and Nightcliff coach Nathan Brown remarked after the game that he too was unsure how to stop the rampant Hawks.

Nonetheless, it was the Tigers who lifted the cup, and their record throughout the season and efforts when the game was on the line made them deserved Premiers.

The Hawks players too can hold their heads high. It was a fantastic season and finals series that saw them beat both Nightcliff and Minor Premiers Palmerston in the finals matches, and their final half comeback means they have much to celebrate.

Much thanks and accolades should go to coach, Nick Abbott for the remarkable success of the team.

Many hours of time, effort and heartache, much of which is non-football related goes into getting this team to Darwin and back each week, and he has done an amazing job. All of the team’s sponsors including Roper Gulf Shire, McDonalds Katherine, Katherine Aviation, Gusher and the Hawthorn Football Club deserve our deepest gratitude. Without their support and the help of the team of wonderful volunteers that give up their time every week there would be no football club.

Lastly, Big River Hawks would like to thank all of the wonderful supporters who made the long trip up to Darwin for the Grand Final. On the field, the noise from the Hawks supporters and the sea of brown and gold made a huge difference to our boys in the last quarter, and it made you proud to be from the Big Rivers region.

GO HAWKS!