STABLE CLUBS AND EMERGING TALENT KEY TO NT FOOTY
FORMER AFLNT boss Stuart Totham says the future of member clubs right throughout the NT and a talent program aimed at getting our best young players into the AFL are vital to the long-term future of the northern game.
Totham signed off on 3½ years of running the Territory game last month.
“One of the things we’ve focused on over the last few years in particular has been our clubs and their importance in terms of the work they do that is vital to the development of our game,’’ he said.
“We’ve collaborated with them to ensure they have a really strong future and we’ve had our differences, as you do, but essentially we’ve been working together.’’
Totham said a combination of home games, where the league had made a conscious effort to change the financial model of the AFLNT and make it easier for clubs to make money, was a big piece of the new model.
“There are always clubs that are struggling and it’s important the AFLNT gets in behind them, but areas like the live broadcasts with the NT News and our own delayed telecasts, where people have to go to the football to watch it, are working very well,’’ he said.
“The bottom line is we want to give them (clubs) money to spend on their coaches, juniors and facilities.’’
The Tiwi Bombers’ struggle to establish themselves on and off the field has tested league officials since the islanders came into the competition 13 years ago.
Totham said the Tiwi community needed to take some ownership in finding a workable solution for the Bombers.
“The league can only do so much, when really it’s up to their members and supporters to get behind them,’’ he said. “The committee has to work at getting better and it has to happen because everything moves forward.
“PINT and Banks are potentially ready to join the Premier League and look at St Mary’s and what they’ve done off the field after really struggling a few years ago.’’
Talent programs and the retention of players in the pursuit of an AFL team based in Darwin are other areas Totham wants a major focus placed on.
“Player retention is an ongoing problem in the AFL right now, they can’t get male and female players to stay on the Gold Coast, so why would they come up to Darwin,’’ he said.
“So we’ve got to get more talent out of the Territory and if you have a list of 35 players, you probably need 20 of them to be locally based.
“So it’s a big challenge and back in 2019 when we made the big decision to wrap those Thunder teams up, the big play then was to reinvest the money back into our junior talent program to try to identify and develop our young players.
“We are chipping away as we saw with Sandy Brock joining the Gold Coast and two or three women on their AFLW list, so we are starting again.
“I would encourage people out there who have been critical of our programs to get in there and help because there is some work to do.’’
Totham wants Territory talent programs to be able to identify potential AFL players younger – 15 or 16 years of age – by working with AFL clubs to create better pathways.
“Between the AFLNT, head office and the AFL clubs, we need a workable solution so when the national draft is held, our players will be considered on an equal footing to all the other players across Australia,’’ he said.
Totham said an AFL club based in the Top End was not as far away as people might think.
“Now, with a taskforce in place and the right people around the bid, it’s now time for the AFL to put some real effort into places like the NT,’’ he said.
“If they said you can have a team next year, TIO Stadium would be fine, but looking forward with population growth and the like, it makes sense to have a new facility.
“A stadium in the city catering for everything, including sport, is about Darwin city having a centrepiece like any other major centre in the country.
“It’s got to be a 365-day stadium and one that’s special to the community and not about taking the sporting hub away from the northern suburbs, it’s one that’s about putting Darwin on the map.’’