A team of the Territory\u2019s top young talents will launch the NT Talent Academy\u2019s home campaign, with the under-18 girls\u2019 side eager to extend their unbeaten record at TIO Stadium.<\/p>\n
The Academy girls take on the Bendigo Pioneers in the first NT-based talent game from 4pm on Saturday, following their dominant defeat of the Calder Cannons last season.<\/p>\n
They will be missing reigning NTFL NT News Rising Star Lakhyah Hill through injury but there\u2019s plenty to make up for the loss including two-time All Australian Peggy Rock.<\/p>\n
Rock was outstanding in the 2026 Marsh AFL National Development Championships campaign in Sydney, where she averaged 21.5 disposals across the two games.<\/p>\n
The squad also features both Best on Ground medallists from the 2026 NTFL All Star Saturday Futures match, Amber Quinn and Tiwi Bombers Best and Fairest winner Taniesha John-Forrest.<\/p>\n
Further strengthening the side are NT News Rising Star nominees Daisha Daly, Rosie Wilson, Aaliyah Mukhlis, Lailanie Rioli, Maitea Golowyn and Jenara Grant.<\/p>\n
Grace Anstess (16.5 disposals per game) and Kayla Ilett (21 disposals average) enter the match in strong form following impressive performances at the National Development Championships.<\/p>\n
The Under 18 Boys will then take centre stage as part of a marquee day of football, featuring as the curtain raiser to the Gold Coast v St Kilda, when they face Greater Western Sydney.<\/p>\n
They return to action after Gold Coast\u2019s second Top End match v Port Adelaide against the Western Jets on May 16, while the girls will face Gippsland Power on June 6.<\/p>\n
Talent Manager Josh Kleine said it was fantastic they could continue to host home fixtures in the Northern Territory. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic to see the AFL Talent League return to Darwin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cExpanding from one boys\u2019 and one girls\u2019 match last year to two of each this year is a great step forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt creates more opportunities for our players to showcase their talent at home, in front of family, friends and the wider community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat kind of support is invaluable and makes the experience even more special for everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
FULL TEAM<\/p>\n
FB: Amber Quinn, Ashlin Bucklar, Daisha Daly<\/p>\n
HB: Grace Anstess, Taylor Mason, Marika Carlton<\/p>\n
C: Makenzy Smith, Layla May, Rosie Wilson<\/p>\n
HF: Taniesha John-Forrest, Kayla Ilett, Shakana Rankine<\/p>\n
FF: Maya Wauchope, Taitum Tipuamantamerri, Lailanie Rioli<\/p>\n
FOL: Cate Twaddle, Aaliyah Mukhlis, Peggy Rock<\/p>\n
I\/C: Chanelle Fejo, Brylee Akers, Montana Marranya, Maitea Golowyn, and Jenara Grant<\/p>\n
FIXTURES<\/p>\n
Under 18 Girls <\/p>\n
May 2 \u2013 NT v Bendigo Pioneers, 4 pm \u2013 TIO Stadium <\/p>\n
May 21 \u2013 NT v Calder Cannons, 6pm \u2013 Highgate Recreation Reserve <\/p>\n
May 24 \u2013 NT v Murray Bushrangers, 11am \u2013 Highgate Recreation Reserve <\/p>\n
June 6 \u2013 NT v Gippsland Power, 4pm \u2013 TIO Stadium <\/p>\n
Under 18 Boys<\/p>\n
May 9 \u2013 NT v Greater Western Victoria Rebels, 2:45pm \u2013 TIO Stadium <\/p>\n
May 16 \u2013 NT v Western Jets, 11:30am \u2013 TIO Stadium <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A team of the Territory\u2019s top young talents will launch the NT Talent Academy\u2019s home campaign, with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[311504,311522,311517,64,63,689,26506,3526,311507,50005,230484,311520,311510,311505,134,3420,2485,1139,311516,311502,253469,311508,311515,311518,311512,311503,311511,214576,311506,673,8867,677,6082,701,311523,311514,1124,1122,311501,670,311513,311521,311519,311509,427,253421,660,3520],"class_list":["post-643627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-aaliyah-mukhlis","tag-academy-girls","tag-amber-quinn","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-bendigo-pioneers","tag-calder-cannons","tag-cate-twaddle","tag-centre-stage","tag-curtain-raiser","tag-daisha-daly-hb","tag-disposals-average","tag-dominant-defeat","tag-entertainment","tag-gippsland-power","tag-gold-coast","tag-greater-western-sydney-giants","tag-home-campaign","tag-home-fixtures","tag-impressive-performances","tag-jenara-grant","tag-kayla-ilett","tag-marika-carlton","tag-marquee-day","tag-match-v","tag-maya-wauchope","tag-nathaniel-chambers","tag-national-development-company","tag-new-south-wales","tag-northern-territory","tag-oceania","tag-port-adelaide","tag-queensland","tag-recreation-reserve","tag-side-eager","tag-south-australia","tag-st-kilda","tag-star-nominees","tag-sydney","tag-talent-game","tag-taniesha-john-forrest","tag-taylor-mason","tag-top-young-talents","tag-tv","tag-unbeaten-record","tag-victoria","tag-western-jets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}