Grant Weeks has picked up where he left off for Golden Square by bagging nine goals on debut in the Northern Territory Football League.
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Weeks was fifth-best for St Mary’s which obliterated Darwin 38.13 (241) to 3.3 (21) on Saturday.
“The ball was in our 50m most of the day, I probably should have kicked more, but nine – I’m pretty happy with that,” Weeks said.
With two of former Essendon star Dean Rioli’s brothers – 16-year-old William Jnr. and Shannon, who are also Cyril Rioli’s first cousins – and former St Kilda midfielder Xavier Clarke in the team, St Mary’s was a silky-skilled outfit.
William Rioli booted eight goals for St Mary’s, while Clarke was named the team’s best after slotting five majors.
Weeks said it was tough to judge the overall standard given the lop-sided result.
“(It was) fairly good, it’s obviously different to Bendigo because there’s a fair few indigenous boys, so it’s all taking on blokes and playing on,” he said.
“When you play the top teams like Tiwi or Nightcliff the standard’s going to go up a fair bit more so it’s hard to judge. The skill level is close to the Bendigo league anyway.
“It was good footy up there, I enjoyed it.”
Weeks, who broke the Bendigo Football League’s goal-kicking record with 164 majors last season, didn’t venture far from full-forward, but still found the heat difficult to adapt to early on.
“The heat was fairly tough, but after the first half I got used to it – it cooled down a little bit in the second half which made it a bit easier,” he said.
“I was kind of lucky because there was a fair bit of breeze, so the humidity stayed down so you could catch the ball a bit.
“But when they play their night games it’s just like playing wet weather footy because of the dew and the humidity.
“If I get another game up there it would be good to experience a night game.”
A farmer in Colbinabbin, Weeks is unsure if he’ll get back to the Northern Territory to play as it depends on his work commitments.
“I haven’t committed to anything yet, they know what position I’m in with work and they’re happy with that,” he said.