World Footy News

The following article from www.abc.net.au  looks at the recent Tiwi Islands grand-final played last weekend, but largely hidden by the larger NTFL grand finals. It is a fascinating account of both the game itself but also the people, heritage and culture that are as much a part of the game as the players themselves.

 

This is the first of two articles from ABC News which examine both the history and impact of the game on the people of the Tiwi Islands as well as looking at this year’s grand-final.

 

 

The Tiwi Islands – or by the native name Ratuati Irara (two islands) – are comprised of Bathurst and Melville Islands, 80 kilometres north of Darwin where the Arafura Sea meets the Timor Sea. It is also home to the NTFL team, the Tiwi Bombers.

 

(Picture: Bulldogs players receiving quarter-timee instructions)

 

 

Tiwi Islands football grand final: Thousands flock to see 'footy as it was a long time ago'

 

One Sunday each year thousands travel to the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin, for the local Australian Rules football grand final.

 

It is played on Bathurst Island at the community of Wurrumiyanga: population less than 1,500.

 

They come from Darwin and from interstate, and they come for many reasons; among them the desire to see a fast and high-risk brand of football known to some as "footy as it was a long time ago".

 

This year's final on March 15 will be the first time many have seen the Pumarali Thunder and Lightning or the Walama Bulldogs contesting the silverware.

 

The ritual event has an air of nostalgia, but it takes place this year amid change, including an end to ABC radio coverage and a long-term decline in the number of Indigenous players in the AFL.

 

None of these issues, however, will have any bearing on the mood of the game. Football on the Tiwis is an obsession, and the islands are said to have Australia's highest participation rate.

 

An estimated 35 per cent of Tiwi people - men, women and children - play football, and there is a long history of local players starring in the national league, including Essendon's Michael Long and Richmond's Maurice Rioli.

 

Since at least the 1940s Australian Rules football has been played on Bathurst and Melville islands, with regular games on Sunday afternoons and a 50-pound sack of flour for the winners.

 

From the 1950s the local mission school taught a muscular brand of tuition that promoted the learning of footy skills.

 

"It's just gone full on since then," veteran sports broadcaster Charlie King said. "They play high-risky footy. It's attack at all costs.

 

"They don't put in a lot of effort in shutting down players and taggers and those sorts of things.

 

"They take it from one end of the ground to the other end of the ground without actually handing it over.

 

"The skill level is extraordinary. At ground level when the ball hits the ground they just run at it at a great rate of knots.

 

"It's footy as it was a long time ago."

 

To read the full story, written by James Purtill, go to the following link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-15/tiwi-islands-football-grand-final-thousands-flock-to-game/6319366ωWT.mc_id=newsmail

 

For the record, the Walama Bulldogs defeated the Pumarali Thunder & Lightning 54 to 52 in the dying moments of a thrilling season decider. It was their first flag in 18 years. To read a follow-up article about the match itself, go to: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-16/tiwi-islands-football-grand-final-how-the-walama-bulldogs-won/6321316

 

 

Pictures courtesy ABC News – James Purtill (Top) and Steven Schubert (Bottom)

 

 

 

Picture: Last quarter mark leading to premiership winning goal.