Blake Coleman is set to make his Northern Territory Football League debut alongside two former Brisbane Lions teammates on Friday.
Coleman – who was recently delisted by the Lions – will take his place in the Darwin Buffaloes team to face Palmerston at Cazalys Arena.
The Lions Academy graduate will be joined by ex-teammates Rhys Mathieson and Mitch Robinson for the Round 4 clash.
Robinson – who featured in 247 AFL games for Carlton and Brisbane – joined the Buffaloes last season and played 11 games in double-blue colours.
Mathieson is fresh off the AFL list after being told recently that he would not be offered a contract at the club for the 2024 season.
Despite limited appearances at AFL level in recent seasons, Mathieson has been a ball magnet in the VFL, registering some huge disposal tallies.
In 2022, he posted a 48-disposal game against the Northern Bullants and followed it up with a 43-disposal performance against Collingwood later in the season.
Nicknamed 'the barometer', Mathieson continued his dominance for the Lions' VFL outfit throughout 2023, but was unable to break into the senior team.
For Coleman, it is a return to the Northern Territory and an opportunity to pull on a Buffaloes jumper for the first time.
Coleman – a proud Dalabon man – was born in Katherine and grew up in Barunga, a small community located 80km away, before eventually moving to Queensland.
He was picked by the club with selection 24 in the 2020 AFL Draft and spent three seasons on Brisbane's senior list.
Despite showing strong form in the VFL – including a career-high 22 goals in 2023 – Coleman was unable to breakthrough for an AFL game.
Coleman's older brother Keidean – who featured in a handful of NTFL reserves games for the Darwin Buffaloes prior to being drafted – is coming off an excellent finals series for the Lions.
St Marys premiership player and former NT Thunder speedster Nick Yarran is also set to make his debut for the Buffaloes after joining the club a fortnight ago.
The Buffaloes are coming off a bye last weekend and remain the only unbeaten team in the NTFL this season after posting two early wins against PINT and Wanderers.
Buffaloes captain Jarrod Stokes celebrated his 200th game last weekend and he has been in phenomenal form across his opening two matches.
Palmerston are currently on the bottom of the NTFL ladder as the only team in the competition without a victory.
WAFL star Traye Bennell made his debut for the Magpies in last weekend's loss to the Tiwi Bombers, registering 11 disposals and a game-high seven tackles.
