Adelaide Crows star Danielle Ponter believes a St Marys premiership win in tomorrow's Northern Territory Football League women's grand final will feel more special than her AFLW triumph.
The 2023 AFLW All-Australian has been playing for her home team, the Saints, who will take on PINT in tomorrow's NTFL women's grand final at TIO Stadium.
Ponter expressed to SEN's Fridays in the Top End just how much winning a local premiership would mean to her.
"I keep going around town and letting everyone know that a Saints premiership would probably be a bit more important than an AFLW one to be completely honest," Ponter said.
"It sounds silly but it's true for me. It's really important, not only just for me, but the club as well."
Ponter and her team will have their work cut out for them however with their opponents having not lost a game for over a year.
PINT defeated St Marys by 33 points in the semi-final just a fortnight ago, but Ponter believes her team will be able to bounce back strongly from the loss.
"After the loss the girls were quite upset but we hit the track running that following week," she said.
"We just trained really hard and we were able to come out and play the way that we did against Nightcliff.
"So hopefully we can carry that on this week up against PINT, who we know are a really strong team – it'll be exciting."
According to the star Saints forward, tomorrow's game will be about her team having the belief that they can win.
"We definitely have some skilful players in our side, I think it's a confidence thing for us," she said.
"PINT have been such a strong side in the competition for so long and when you come up against a side like that it can be quite intimidating.
"If we're feeling confident and we believe in ourselves, it could go a long way in this game.
"We'll just get out there and do our best and see if we can come out with a win."
Ponter's father Shane is a six-time premiership player as a member of St Marys' dominant sides of the 1990s.
She dominated junior footy with the club and claimed an unbelievable four consecutive Youth Girls competition best-and-fairest awards as a youngster.
The Maranunggu and Anmatjerre woman is coming off an excellent season at AFLW level where she booted a career-best 20 goals for the season, despite spending plenty of time in the midfield for the Crows.
The 24-year-old kicked a game-high three goals in Adelaide's one-point preliminary final defeat to North Melbourne.
The silky-skilled Ponter is already a two-time premiership player and twice leading goal-kicker for Adelaide and has played 58 AFLW games since making her debut in 2019.
The Crows star said she enjoys coming back to play for the Saints and that it ultimately helps her perform better when returning to the elite environment of the AFLW.
"I get to come back and play some footy with my cousins and have my family around me," she said.
"As much as it is fun to play football, it's an opportunity for me to get back home and see family – it's a win-win."
