ON YOUR BIKE
Bombers demand AFLNT boss resigns over debt drama
THE Tiwi Bombers have demanded for AFLNT boss Michael Solomon to resign amid extraordinary allegations the Territory football body owe them money.
The latest chapter of the three-day saga played out in the media saw the Bombers issue a statement slamming Solomon for his role in “shaming” the Tiwi Islands people over an almost $12,000 debt.
That two-month debt was wiped on Friday – after already costing them four points from their win last week – before yesterday’s statement suggested that the AFLNT instead owed the Bombers money.
The money being referred to is the second instalment of a $10,000 AFLNT grant, after Tiwi previously received one of the same amount. Solomon hit back at the claims in an impromptu press conference at the Michael Long centre.
He said it was made “very clear” to the Bombers the grant could not be used to clear the debt and would be released only once the debt was paid.
“They are an important part of the NTFL – they’ve been in it for 10 years,” Solomon said.
“They’re really important to the fabric of what football stands for up here.
“We’ll do everything we possibly can to ensure they’re in the competition – not just for 2017, but in the long term.
“That means a host of work inclusive of that in trying to find significant sponsors for them, or benevolence from someone to ensure they have the working finances to be able to not only field a team but also be successful.”
Solomon denied rumblings Division One club Tracy Village had been rubber-stamped as Tiwi’s replacement for the next Premier League season.
The two clubs are working together for mutual benefit.
AFLNT had a “very basic” meeting with Tracy Village on Wednesday, but only as part of an AFLNT decision to enable clubs outside the eight current ones to apply for a licence – not to replace the Bombers.
“I’m not adverse to having, if there’s affordability economically, 10 teams here next year ... that means we’re on the right track,” he said.
Solomon also rejected talk he intervened to stop former Victorian Premier and Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett’s plan to come to Tiwi’s aid.
But Bombers coach Wayne Worden remains sceptical of Solomon’s motives. Worden said “last time I heard” Tiwi were in $60,000 debt overall, before receiving a $30,000 injection from AFL club Essendon this week.
“To shame the Tiwi people the way AFLNT has, there’s no coming back,” Worden said.
“There are some very upset people over there. Tiwi Bombers is not just for football; it’s about producing future leaders of the club and community and preventing suicide. The suicide rate since the Tiwi Bombers came into the competition (in 2006) has halved over there.”
Worden said AFLNT football operations manager Joel Bowden apologised to him for the way his organisation handled the situation.
Bowden declined to comment when asked several times if he apologised.