World Footy News

With the passage of Tropical Cyclone Marcus striking Darwin today, the AFLNT has postponed the grand finals further. Having already made the decision to postpone from tonight to Sunday, the damage from the Category 2 cyclone has forced further postponement.

The NTFL has released a statement regarding the decision.

AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) wishes to advise that it has postponed the 2017/18 TIO NTFL Men’s Grand Final Day after receiving strong advice from Power and Water Corporation and NT Police that was not conducive to going ahead.

No decision on rescheduling the eight finals has been made yet and AFLNT Executive, football and operation staff, will meet with stakeholders tomorrow morning to plan the completion of the season.

 Late on Saturday evening, AFLNT received advice that the power stations that feed TIO Stadium and surrounds were down and were unlikely to be back up and running or operating reliably by Sunday evening. 

This not only means the light towers will not work but electricity and sewerage to the public toilets, change rooms, scoreboards, disabled access, various food and bar outlets, offices and corporate facilities will not function. 

Further to this, we have been advised that the water is unsafe to drink and car parks and surrounds have limited access due to damage that may not be cleared in time. 

AFLNT Chief Operating Officer Stuart Totham said the safety of Territorians was paramount and despite Grand Final Day being the biggest day on the Darwin footy calendar AFLNT has a duty of care to act responsibly. 

“We came into the weekend planning to play our finals on Sunday, and the team worked tirelessly to refit everything, but unfortunately we received strong indications that we would experience power and water issues tomorrow and the loud and clear advice from NT Police was not to proceed. 

“Police advise there have been 26,000 homes affected by Tropical Cyclone Marcus and that the water we rely on to operate is unsafe and poses a health risk to patrons and participants. 

“This makes it impossible to open TIO Stadium to fans tomorrow and while we’re sure footy fans are disappointed the nature of cyclones is their unpredictability and seriousness.

“We will now work diligently with all the stakeholders, especially clubs to finish our season the way it deserves.” 

Further details will be reported as soon as they become available after the meeting tomorrow.