Northern Territory Football League

Northern Territory Football League
Formerly Northern Territory Football Association (NTFA)
Sport Australian rules football
Founded 1916
Inaugural season 1916
CEO Michael Solomon
No. of teams 15 (8 premier league, 7 reserves)
Country  Australia
Most recent
champion(s)		 St Mary's (34th premiership)
Most titles St Mary's (34 premierships)
Official website aflnt.com.au
foxsportspulse.com/ntfl

The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football semi-professional league operating in Darwin in the Northern Territory.

The league is one of the only, and the highest level, Australian Rules competitions played during the Australian Summer with the season beginning in October and ending in March, because cricket cannot be played during the wet season, due to high levels of rain, resulting in the football and cricket seasons being swapped. The league regularly attracts high profile semi-professional players from interstate leagues due to its lack of salary cap and the timing of the season, which allows players to play extra matches during the rest of Australia's off-season.

History

See Australian rules football in the Northern Territory

While most other Australian rules leagues in Australia operate during the southern hemisphere winter, the NTFL chooses to play in the Northern Territory's 'wet season' from October to March, primarily due to hard playing surfaces during the 'dry season'.

The NTFL was founded in 1916 with The Wanderers Football Club and Waratah Football Club as founding members. Waratahs are the only club to have competed in every season of the NTFL. Darwin (Buffalos Football Club) was formed in 1917, Nightcliff in 1950, St Marys in 1952, Palmerston in 1973 (as North Darwin), Southern Districts in 1987 and the Tiwi Bombers in 2006 (with full entry in 2007).

In the 1990s, the league ran into financial problems primarily due to the Northern Territory government luring the league to the new purpose-built stadium at Marrara Oval after its construction in 1991. The move pushed the league's operating costs up drastically despite contrary promises from the NT government. Marrara Oval is now known as TIO Stadium, as part of a naming rights deal with NT health insurance company, Territory Insurance Office.

During this history of the league it has exported successful players to other leagues, notable players have included Michael McLean, Maurice Rioli and Michael Long.

In 2006, it was announced that a team representing the Tiwi Islands, called the Super Tiwis would be added to the 2006/07 season for eight games against teams that would normally have the bye. They became a permanent part of the league in the 07/08 season as the Tiwi Bombers, clad in Essendon Football Club style guernseys of black and red.

There was also a push for an NTFL representative club to compete in the Adelaide-based South Australian National Football League (SANFL). The first of a series of trial matches was held in 2006, with a long term view of admitting a Darwin side into the SANFL. A strong crowd at Marrara Oval witnessed SANFL club North Adelaide defeat a composite NTFL squad by 27 points, demonstrating that a Darwin team could be competitive. There was a push to make the event an annual match,[1] however, the NTFL decided on fielding a side in the AFL Queensland State League from 2009 (which became the Northern Conference of the North East Australian Football League in 2011) and the Northern Territory Football Club was formed.

In 2010 it was decided to merge the NTFL with the Top End Australian Football Association (TEAFA) to create a three division competition in which the NTFL would make the Premier League whilst the NTFL reserve competition and clubs from the TEAFA would incorporate the First Division and Second Divisions.

The 2012/2013 season saw Banks Bulldogs and the Central Australian Football Club placed on a four-match trial in the Premier League, for possible full-time inclusion. The Bulldogs, originally a part of the TEAFA competition, would stay in the NTFL Division One competition. But the CAFC team would continue their trial run in the Premier League, the number of games extended to 10 for the 2013/2014 season.

League structure

The league consists of both junior and senior divisions. The A Grade competition is known as Premier League and includes eight clubs (Darwin, Nightcliff, Palmerston, Southern Districts, St Mary's, Tiwi Bombers, Wanderers, and Waratah). The reserves are divided into two divisions known as Division 1 (B Grade) and Division 2 (C Grade). Division one includes all Premier League clubs, excluding the Tiwi Bombers, and four other clubs which were formerly in the TEAFA competition (Banks, PINT, Tracy Village, and University). Division 2 consists of eleven clubs with the inclusion of Jabiru, Mindil, and Olympic. The A Grade Women's competition consists of eight clubs, including all Premier League clubs, except for the Tiwi Bombers replaced by Tracy Village.

The junior division is broken into age groups, under 18's, under 16's, youth girls, under 14's, and under 12's, with all age groups split into two divisions, except for under 18's and youth girls. Under 18's is the only junior division with a fixed number of clubs, including all Premier League clubs, except for the Tiwi Bombers replaced by Big River Hawks. The rest of the junior divisions vary based on participation levels each year, however, the clubs with juniors are all the Premier League clubs and Tracy Village.

Clubs

Current clubs

Premier League Clubs

Club Nickname Home Ground Location Entered
competition		 Premierships
Darwin Buffaloes TIO Stadium Marrara 1917 23
Nightcliff Tigers Nightcliff Oval Nightcliff 1950 3
Palmerston Magpies Northline Oval Durack 1971 3
Southern Districts Crocs Norbuilt Oval Freds Pass 1984 2
St Mary's Saints TIO Stadium Marrara 1952 30
Tiwi Bombers Bombers Tiwi Oval Wurrumiyanga 2007 1
Wanderers Eagles TIO Stadium Marrara 1917 12
Waratah Warriors Gardens Oval The Gardens 1917 14

Division One/Two Clubs

Club Nickname Home Ground Location Formed Premierships
Banks Bulldogs Gardens Oval The Gardens 1978 17
Jabiru Bombers Brockman Oval Jabiru 1982 5
Mindil Sharks Gardens Oval The Gardens 1991 1
Olympic Spartans TIO Oval No. 2 Marrara 2011 1
PINT Greenants Marrara Cricket Ground Marrara 1982 7
Tracy Village Razorbacks Tracy Village Oval Lyons 1978 1
University Rats TIO Oval No. 2 Marrara 13

Coverage

Media

Television

In 2006, NTFL premier league matches were broadcast nationally for the first time ever on ABC2 each Sunday afternoon from February to March. Previously the matches had only been shown in the Territory on ABC Darwin. In 2008, it reverted to local broadcasting. During the 2014/15 season, the Saturday 3.00pm premier league match was broadcast live on ABC in Darwin.

Radio

During the 2014/15 season, one premier league match was broadcast on ABC Local Radio, the match was either the late or early Saturday game and was an alternate match to the TV-broadcast game.

Internet

Internet broadcasting commenced through YouTube during the 2012/2013 season, followed by its inclusion on the ABC iView on-demand service the 2013/2014 season which uses the recordings taken from the match day broadcast. The TV broadcast match was simulcast live on ABC Grandstand on YouTube during the 2014/15 season.

Attendance

The NTFL attracts strong local crowds. The 2005 Grand final attracted a crowd of over 5,000 people. One of the biggest crowds was the 2010/11 Grand Final between St Mary's and Wanderers, with the Wanderers prevailing with a 28-point win, which attracted an over 9,000 crowd.

Results

2015/16 Premier League

Home and away

2014/15 Premier League Ladder
TEAM P W L D PF PA % PTS
1 Southern Districts 18 14 3 1 1864 1232 151.30% 59
2 St Mary's (P) 18 13 5 0 1837 1175 156.34% 52
3 Wanderers 18 10 7 1 1370 1282 108.86% 42
4 Buffaloes 18 10 8 0 1459 1444 101.04% 40
5 Nightcliff 18 9 9 0 1712 1616 105.94% 36
6 Palmerston 18 9 9 0 1594 1605 99.31% 36
7 Tiwi Bombers 18 6 12 0 1833 1748 104.86% 22
8 Waratah 18 0 18 0 749 2316 32.34% 0
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, (P) = Premiers

Finals

  Qualifying Finals Semi Finals Preliminary Final Grand Final
                                     
1  Southern Districts 44  
    3  Wanderers 96         3  Wanderers 48
2  St Mary's 56     1  Southern Districts 53   2  St Mary's 50
3  Wanderers 66       2  St Mary's 127  
2  St Mary's 92
4  Buffaloes 80   5  Nightcliff 52  
5  Nightcliff 88

2015/16 Division 1

Home and away

2014/15 Division 1 Ladder
TEAM P W L D PF PA % PTS
1 Banks 16 15 1 0 1515 545 277.98% 60
2 Tracy Village (P) 16 14 2 0 1491 489 304.91% 56
3 Southern Districts 17 13 4 0 1375 706 194.76% 52
4 PINT 16 11 5 0 1218 756 161.11% 44
5 Nightcliff 17 10 6 1 1112 936 118.80% 42
6 Waratah 16 7 9 0 956 961 99.48% 28
7 St Marys 16 7 9 0 1118 1127 99.20% 28
8 Palmerston 17 5 12 0 1018 974 104.52% 20
9 Buffaloes 16 4 11 1 857 1285 66.69% 18
10 Wanderers 17 3 12 0 559 1496 37.37% 12
11 University 16 0 16 0 276 2100 37.37% 0
Key: P = Played, W = Won, L = Lost, D = Drawn, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, (P) = Premiers Click here for source

See also

References

  1. ↑ NTFL vs North Adelaide
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