As most competitions across Australia reach their finals time and begin to wind down for 2014, the people of the Top End are just waking to the pre-dawn of their new 2014/15 season. Whilst many are unaware of the “off-season” competition based in Darwin, the locals certainly are well aware and don’t see it as the “off-season” at all. To them it is GAME ON.

And far from being a small local competition, the NTFL boasts a very high standard, and can we watched via live streams right throughout their season. When a competition boasts a history of names such as Rioli, Long, Motlop and Davey you can be sure the quality will be electric.

The new season starts in just over three weeks, with a first up rematch of last season’s premiers, St Mary’s and Wanderers, to get the ball rolling in a triple header at Darwin’s TIO Stadium. That match will be followed by Southern Districts against Tiwi Bombers and Palmerston Magpies taking on Waratah. Nightcliff will take on the Buffaloes on the Sunday.

The AFL tonight confirmed the fixture for week one of the 2014 Toyota AFL Finals Series, to be as follows (all times are local):

Friday September 5

Second Qualifying Final, Hawthorn v Geelong Cats at the MCG, 7.50pm


Saturday September 6

First Qualifying Final, Sydney Swans v Fremantle at ANZ Stadium, 2.45pm

Second Elimination Final, North Melbourne v Essendon at the MCG, 7.15pm (series ticket match)


Sunday September 7

First Elimination Final, Port Adelaide v Richmond at the Adelaide Oval, 2.50pm

We will publish the International Broadcast Schedule once it is confimed. 

As part of its commitment to promoting acceptance and diversity, the Essendon Football Club has endorsed its first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) support group – The Purple Bombers.  CEO Xavier Campbell said Essendon Football Club was a place for all footy fans to feel welcome and respected.

“The Purple Bombers is great initiative,” Campbell said.  “No matter what your race, religion, gender or sexuality - everyone deserves the right to head along and enjoy the football in a safe and positive environment.”

“Our club has always championed diversity and inclusion at the football - We launched our #EFCRespect campaign earlier this season and the formation of the Purple Bombers supporter group is the next step in this important initiative.”

To view the club’s #EFCRespect campaign click here.

The Cairns AFL scene has a boundary umpire with a slightly different journey to most others. For the record, Sampho (pronounced Samp-ho with a strong “P” sound) is most likely not the first ever Cambodian born umpire in Australian Rules football ranks. I would imagine there are more in the southern states where there are larger Cambodian communities that have been exposed to the game for longer.

Nevertheless, Sampho Hing has found his way onto the Cairns football fields, and for those few hours as he runs the boundary he stands as a gleaming international beacon for our game. He becomes a subtle invitation for others to follow his lead and slowly, gradually grow the game across the world.

The first question Sampho answered was the journey from Cambodia to Australia.

With the AFL season closing in on finals time the smaller regional matches have come to an end for 2014. In saying that the two Tasmanian venues at Aurora Stadium and Blundstone Arena are still active but are part of a six match deal for footy in the state, as is Star Track Arena (formerly Manuka Oval) in Canberra which has three matches throughout the year.

The matches referred to here are the one-off regional showcases in Alice Springs, Darwin and Cairns which finished last weekend when the Western Bulldogs upset the Gold Coast Suns up at Cazalys Stadium in Far North Queensland.

Now that these matches are done and dusted, it is possible to look at the value of these games. But that value cannot simply be results or money made. When considering value, local aspects need to be taken into an overall equation.

There is an argument from down south that taking clubs away from their home fans is not always a popular move. Some say that the average fan cannot afford to travel to such far flung locations, which is probably true. Even if this results in better TV coverage, there is nothing like watching your team from the grandstands.

The AFL and Australia Post are inviting up to 30,000 new arrivals to Australia to join in the celebrations this Multicultural Round, thanks to the My Passport to Australian Football campaign.

 

The following article by Jennifer Phelan for the AFL.com website details the decision by the Melbourne Demons to commit to an additional two years of playing games in the Northern Territory.

This is exciting news for Territorians just two days out from the final Northern Territory match for 2014 on Saturday between the Melbourne Demons and the Fremantle Dockers.

MELBOURNE'S commitment to the Northern Territory has been extended for at least another two years and four home-and-away games.

The Demons will play at least one game a year at Darwin’s TIO Stadium, with a second at either that venue or Alice Springs' Traeger Park, in 2015 and 2016.

It signals an extension of their existing agreement with the AFL, the Territory's government and AFLNT that has seen them play in the region for the past five years.

Their second game for this season is on Saturday night against Fremantle at TIO Stadium, after their round 11 clash with Port Adelaide at Traeger Park.

To read this article in full, read Dees top up Top End deal on the AFL website.

I am old enough to remember the excitement of the days when an arriving circus was the be-all-and-end-all of excitement. Galloping into our happy but somewhat predictable day to day lives, the travelling roadshows would light up our days. We would admire the elephants, lions, horses and monkeys. We would laugh at the clowns and goggle at the spectacle of the high wire acts. For that brief period in time we were enchanted and lived in another world not usually ours.

Today, at least in my mind, the arrival of an AFL match to my home city, Cairns, has much of that same magic. The big lumbering elephants will be replaced by Will Minson and Zac Smith. The roaring lions, kings of their domain, are replaced by Gary Ablett and Matthew Boyd. The old warhorses are replaced by Griffen, Cooney, Rischitelli and Harbrow and the exciting, agile monkeys are the excitement machines like Dalhaus, Bontempelli, Bennell and O’Meara.

Next week the circus comes to town (no disrespect to the Stardust Circus who is already here). The Gold Coast Suns, our adopted AFL team, takes on the Sons of the ‘Scray – the Western Bulldogs. A modern team created from next to nothing which in just three and a half years is looking a genuine finals prospect (Gold Coast) up against the working class heroes from the western Melbourne suburb of Footscray (Western Bulldogs).

And the “Big Top” is our own Cazaly’s Stadium – surely one of the finest venues in regional Australia. Surrounded by the majesty of the Great Dividing Range, and adjacent Murray Prior Range, Cazalys is an Australian Rules football oasis in a tropical wonderland.

The eyes of the AFL supporting world will be firmly fixed on two northern Australian cities – Darwin and Cairns – in coming weeks as the highest level of the game continues to reach out to audiences across Australia. Fans will be flocking into TIO Stadium in Darwin and Cazalys Stadium in Cairns as the Melbourne Demons, Fremantle Dockers, Gold Coast Suns and Western Bulldogs pack their bags and head north.

Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory, will host its one and only premiership match for the season. With a capacity of 14,000, TIO Stadium is sure to have a huge crowd on deck for the game.

A few weeks back the Melbourne Demons hosted the Port Adelaide Power at TIO Traeger Park in Alice Springs (the same venue hosted an NAB Challenge between the Demons and the Geelong Cats in the pre-season). This time it is the relaxed, tropical city of Darwin that gets its chance to shine.

On Saturday 5th July, the Paul Roos coached Demons host last year’s grand finalists, the frugal Ross Lyon coached Fremantle Dockers. For Melbourne the game will be another step in their evolution under Roos from perennial cellar-dwellers into a defence minded team capable of upsetting better placed teams.

LEFT: Darwin's TIO Stadium