The end of Round 9 signalled the middle of the season. With nine rounds down and nine to go and many fascinating scenarios which could play out in the second half of the season, this is shaping as another exciting run to the finals. In a season which has already become known for its evenness and close results, three teams share top spot on wins, and just a game separates fourth place from seventh.

The weekend results did not yield any very close games, yet those results have made for a very close competition.

The Tiwi Bombers hosted the Waratah Warriors at their Wurrumiyanga home on Bathurst Island. Bad kicking is deemed bad football, and the Bombers all but handed Waratah a “Get Out Of Jail” card, kicking 19 behinds. But they were good enough to overcome a half time deficit to record a much needed 23 point win.

Essendon has joined the ranks of clubs keen to introduce a women's team in 2017, with the Bombers announcing they will bid for a licence when the competition begins.

The AFL continues to push forward with its plan to introduce a full-scale women's competition within two years and the Bombers are among the clubs who will ask to field a side.

The club hosted more than 80 of Victoria's best female footballers at its Tullamarine base on Tuesday evening as part of AFL Victoria's Women's Academy training program.

The club's legendary four-time premiership coach Kevin Sheedy addressed the group of players, while current coaches Mark Harvey, Mark Neeld, Guy McKenna and Hayden Skipworth were also involved in the session.

The Darwin Buffaloes had played in three games prior to this weekend where the result was decided by less than a kick. Wanderers Eagles had played in five. The two teams were separated by just two points last time they met, with the Buffaloes stealing the result. All the ingredients were there for an absolutely scorching game, given that Wanderers has lost their last match by a point after the siren last weekend to Nightcliff and Buffaloes snatched a last gasp four point win over the Crocs.

But Wanderers didn’t want to play that game. They had too much at stake, needing to get on the winning side of the leger and secure their place in the five. Their first half was impressive as they pressured the Buffaloes relentlessly to open up a huge 41 point lead at half time, keeping Buffaloes to just a goal for the half.

 

Essendon Football Club has used the 2015 Rookie Draft to secure Tiwi island product, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti. Another Northern Territory talent, Ryan Nyhuis, has also been snaffled by the Fremantle Dockers. The selections complete a wonderful week for Northern Territory talent after Richmond selected Territorian, Daniel Rioli, at the national draft on Tuesday.

 

 

McDonald-Tipungwuti was recruited to the Essendon VFL team back in 2013 after previously being a part of the Gippsland Power team for a couple of seasons. He was also a part of the successful NT Thunder NEAFL team in 2012 and also played the 2011/12 season with his brother Ephrem and cousins Adam and Albert at the Tiwi Bombers, the NTFL team located in the town of Wurrumiyanga on Bathurst Island.

Just last weekend, after six straight losses, the Tiwi Bombers’ season was unravelling faster than a woollen cardigan in the possession of a destructive kitten. They had not played poorly during the season, just not as well as their opponents. Something had to change in a hurry – and it did. During the week they had no wins and no points. By yesterday they had two wins and were now just two games adrift of the top five.

Courtesy of a ruling by the NTFL which saw the Waratah Warriors stripped of their two points for playing an unregistered player in their win over the Bombers , the Tiwi side were awarded their first points of the season. Days later the Bombers hosted the in-form Palmerston Magpies and delighted their home crown at Wurrumiyanga on Bathurst Island. Leading all day, and helped by an eight goal bag from Ross Tungatalum and some new southern recruits including Jydon Neagle, son of former Essendon great Merv Neagle, the Tiwi Bombers ran out 35 point winners. The loss for Palmerston was costly, dumping them back into fourth spot, albeit just a game behind the leadership logjam.

If ever you find a car in an old garage, covered in dust and blankets, but it has the legendary Rolls Royce symbol on the bonnet you just know it would be worth investing some time and effort into restoring it. After all, it is a Rolls Royce and it doesn’t have such a fine reputation for nothing. It is all class – no matter which model you might discover.

Much the same can be said for the Rioli name nowadays in Australian Rules football. Just mention the prospect of a Rioli at a national draft for player talent and suddenly talent scouts and managers become akin to Pavlov’s dogs. At the mere mention of the word “Rioli” they will all sit up on cue and salivate.

Such is the case at the 2015 NAB AFL Draft being held in Adelaide on Tuesday. Young Daniel Rioli is the next edition off the production line and he has tails and tongues wagging. Such is the value of his name alone that all clubs are likely to have pencilled him in as either a first round pick, or at worst an early second rounder. But Daniel is keen to ensure he is known, and drafted, on his own merits.

Round Six of the NTFL competition in Darwin was highlighted by the Palmerston Magpies and their upset win against reigning premiers, Wanderers. The win has catapulted the Magpies into second position on the NTFL ladder and sounded a warning to all teams that the Magpies deserve respect and might just be a smokey for this year’s title.

The Magpies playing list is becoming quite formidable, boasting both Aaron and Alwyn Davey from Melbourne and Essendon respectively, ex-Bomber Leroy Jetta and former Geelong premiership player Matthew Stokes. These additions certainly make the Palmerston list much stronger and a likely thorn in every team’s side for the rest of the season.

Next week they have the chance of really nailing second place when they meet the still winless Tiwi Bombers.

The indigenous representative side, the 2015 AFL Flying Boomerangs, has capped a successful week with a win over the Victorian Diversity All Stars on Saturday in Melbourne.

The group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, aged 14 -15 years old, spent this week at a high performance camp where they were guests of the Collingwood and St Kilda Football Clubs, as well as the Australian Navy.

Led by four goals from Shaydan Close, the Boomerangs were too good for the All Stars, winning 12.11 (83) to 3.3 (21), in an entertaining match at Punt Road Oval.

The squad of 25 boys was selected by AFL talent managers from around Australia based on their school attendance, leadership skills and football ability.

As women's footy continues to grow and head towards a national league, a significant announcement for women's footy was made today revealing that AFL Victoria plans to establish a women’s state league competition in 2016.

The new competition will be aligned with the Victorian Football League (VFL), featuring 10 clubs, with the six Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) Premier Division teams from 2015 – Darebin Falcons, Diamond Creek, Eastern Devils, Melbourne Uni, St Kilda and VU Western Spurs – to be joined by the top four Division 1 sides – Cranbourne, Geelong, Knox and Seaford.

AFL Victoria believes the time is right for a dedicated state league, with the 10 clubs all geographically spread across Melbourne and featuring a wealth of talent.

“This is the starting point for something really exciting in women’s football,” AFL Victoria CEO Steven Reaper said.

In one of the biggest expansion moves in Cairns for many years, fledgling junior club Pyramid Power may be about the get the green light to field a reserve grade team in the 2016 senior AFL Cairns competition.

A public meeting will be held in the sugar town of Gordonvale, 25 kilometres south of Cairns, to float the idea to the local community and hopefully convince the powers that be at AFL Cairns that the idea will have the necessary support. Pyramid Power President, Brett Kennerley, has stated that the plan has been in place for four years to field a team at senior level but many road blocks have prevented the move to date.

Should the move succeed and the new team take the field in 2016, the next step will be a full senior body for AFL Cairns by 2018, giving the league eight teams. The league in now in total support of the idea, provided local support is evident.