jmac91
Perth Bandits Head Coach
It was recently Announced that the NT Thunder will no longer play in the NEAFL and the VFLW. What is next for AFLNT? Will they move to a way more viable League (WAFL/WAFLW or SANFL and SANFL Womens).
No More NT Thunder. What's Next?
WAFL clubs couldn't afford to play in Darwin, and travel for the Thunder would be more expensive as well, so that will not work. Not unless the AFL subsidised it, which I doubt.
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They had the costs of playing in a national league without actually playing in a national league. Without a benefactor funding it all, they were doomed.
Bear in mind Australian football requires a squad of 22 to travel plus coaches and possibly support staff. That's more than most other sports which increases expenses.
Bear in mind Australian football requires a squad of 22 to travel plus coaches and possibly support staff. That's more than most other sports which increases expenses.
They had virtually no supporters - games were played in front of tiny crowds. No chance of there ever being an AFL team in NT.
The costs of running the team became too much and their resources had dried up.
Rewind back to 2011 and the had sponsorship deals wth rio tinto and inpex, up and coming soon to be AFL players and quite a fair bit of support, home games from 2010-16 used to get about 1,000 people to them and when they hosted the 2015 GF they had almost 6,000 turn up (not bad when you consider Darwin only has about 150,000 people), but last year you'd say they probably got about 100-200 people to home games.
On the field the talent and results have dried up, the support from the community both in terms of interest and financially has dried up, and the costs of playing half your games a 4-5 hour flight away just caught up with them.
I'm very sad about whats happened.
Fixtures & Results | AFL Northern Territory
www.aflnt.com.au
NTFL comp underway.
TIWIS BEAT SAINTS IN NTFL SHOOTOUT
THE Tiwi Bombers won the battle of the football cousins yesterday when they won a wildly fluctuating Jack Long Memorial game against St Mary’s
& rumours of Cyrils return turned out to be premature, RIOLI BOMBERS DEBUT DELAYED
THE Tiwi Bombers won the battle of the football cousins yesterday when they won a wildly fluctuating Jack Long Memorial game against St Mary’s
& rumours of Cyrils return turned out to be premature, RIOLI BOMBERS DEBUT DELAYED
CYRIL Rioli has made a fairytale comeback to footy, kicking the winning goal for the Tiwi Bombers in a one-point victory over Palmerston in Saturday's NTFL match at Bathurst Island.
www.afl.com.au
....kicking the winning goal for the Tiwi Bombers in a one-point victory over Palmerston in Saturday's NTFL match at Bathurst Island.
Fairytale finish for Cyril's footy comeback in the NT
Hawks great Cyril Rioli boots the last goal of the game to help the Tiwi Bombers to a stirring win in the NTFL
www.afl.com.au
....kicking the winning goal for the Tiwi Bombers in a one-point victory over Palmerston in Saturday's NTFL match at Bathurst Island.
The SANFL was going to admit a team from Darwin years ago but the AFL nixed it so they could instead play in the NEAFL, their vision for the next version of the reserves comp.
Should have let them into the SANFL at the time, between the AFC and Port reserves plus a Darwin team the comp would have been in much better shape and the Darwin team would have saved money on travel.
Should have let them into the SANFL at the time, between the AFC and Port reserves plus a Darwin team the comp would have been in much better shape and the Darwin team would have saved money on travel.
BringBackTorps
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This 20.1.2020 NT News article claims there have been recent discussions, between the AFL & the NT govt., for a possible AFL team to be based there.
Some time after 2030 was mentioned, & very few details provided.
twitter.com
(then go to sportsindustry tweet 21.1.2019 " Darwin's Plan For An AFL Team")
IMO, Darwin's population (c. 148,000) is too small for an AFL team to be based there; & the AFL will very likely admit a Tasmanian team c.2025.
Probably in the next 30-50 years, there will be a "Northern Australia " team- playing home games split between Cairns, Townsville & Darwin (with one game in Alice).
Only after GC, GWS & Tasmania have become financially sound, have good crowds & are reasonably successful (ie winning at least 50% of their games), would the AFL consider another team.
As HFC & NMFC will be departing Tasmania after 2021, hopefully more games will be played every year in nthn. Australia.
EDIT: Melb. Herald Sun 22.1.20 reported that a start date from 2035 might be considered.
Also, Michael Long said he hoped a Darwin-based AFLW side might commence before a men's side- no date mentioned.
Some time after 2030 was mentioned, & very few details provided.
sportsindustry (@footyindustryAU) | Twitter
The latest Tweets from sportsindustry (@footyindustryAU): "News Wrap | Friday, May 8th | WA AFL teams miss out on home games early, India still plan on coming to Australia, Kayo subs take a 30% hit, RA solvency questions https://t.co/ZI3V1TYArR"
twitter.com
(then go to sportsindustry tweet 21.1.2019 " Darwin's Plan For An AFL Team")
IMO, Darwin's population (c. 148,000) is too small for an AFL team to be based there; & the AFL will very likely admit a Tasmanian team c.2025.
Probably in the next 30-50 years, there will be a "Northern Australia " team- playing home games split between Cairns, Townsville & Darwin (with one game in Alice).
Only after GC, GWS & Tasmania have become financially sound, have good crowds & are reasonably successful (ie winning at least 50% of their games), would the AFL consider another team.
As HFC & NMFC will be departing Tasmania after 2021, hopefully more games will be played every year in nthn. Australia.
EDIT: Melb. Herald Sun 22.1.20 reported that a start date from 2035 might be considered.
Also, Michael Long said he hoped a Darwin-based AFLW side might commence before a men's side- no date mentioned.
Last edited:
This 20.1.2020 NT News article claims there have been recent discussions, between the AFL & the NT govt., for a possible AFL team to be based there.
Some time after 2030 was mentioned, & very few details provided.
sportsindustry (@footyindustryAU) | Twitter
The latest Tweets from sportsindustry (@footyindustryAU): "News Wrap | Friday, May 8th | WA AFL teams miss out on home games early, India still plan on coming to Australia, Kayo subs take a 30% hit, RA solvency questions https://t.co/ZI3V1TYArR"
(then go to sportsindustry tweet 21.1.2019 " Darwin's Plan For An AFL Team")
IMO, Darwin's population (c. 148,000) is too small for an AFL team to be based there; & the AFL will very likely admit a Tasmanian team c.2025.
Probably in the next 30-50 years, there will be a "Northern Australia " team- playing home games split between Cairns, Townsville & Darwin (with one game in Alice).
Only after GC, GWS & Tasmania have become financially sound, have good crowds & are reasonably successful (ie winning at least 50% of their games), would the AFL consider another team.
As HFC & NMFC will be departing Tasmania in a few years, hopefully more games will be played every year in nthn. Australia.
The NT wont/cant pay the money.
thegreig
Club Legend
Tasmania
Canberra
Newcastle
North Queensland
And to a lesser extent New Zealand and the Sunshine Coast are all better options and would be a higher priority for the AFL then NT. People seriously have no idea how small the place is
Spot on - and it's actually getting even smaller -
NT at the bottom of the barrel - Alice Springs News
New equipment investment in the Territory down 3.5% on a year ago, the trend of economic growth is down 5.4% annually and employment is down 6.6% for the year to end June 2019, writes Opposition Leader Gary Higgins.
www.alicespringsnews.com.au
Only one capital city in Australia saw its population fall last year
The drop comes despite a multi-million-dollar government spending program to attract people to the region and bucks the nationwide trend of capitals accounting for more than three-quarters of the country's population growth.
www.abc.net.au
Just the other day, I was talking to a cousin, a plumber, who has just left Darwin (one of many) after living there for nearly a decade, saying the economy there is "shot" and the "only thing still keeping the place surviving is Centrelink". The whole economy up there is now basically reliant on the Federal Gov't spending (our taxes).
As the OP states, if the NT can't even support a NEAFL team (which it couldn't) there's no way known it could get remotely close to supporting an AFL club.
The AFL would be better off ensuring the NTFL and CAFL are well funded and resourced. Facilities, coaching courses, etc. Support it from juniors through to seniors.
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of course it will
Canberra has a population of 400,000 people. That will eventually increase to 500.000 people and enough to get 20-25,000 a game at manuka oval
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