Tiwi captain Kim Kantilla a shining light for the Bombers in the 2025-26 NTFL season
A Tiwi footy star has revealed the secret behind his viral bounces that viewers thought were AI-generated, in a season where his dedication has been rewarded with the captaincy. Read about his journey.
Kim Kantilla stunned thousands with back-to-back bounces that seemed to defy physics, a moment that encapsulated his on-field skills and commitment to the side.
The Tiwi Bombers is a team full of highlights with skilful goals, marks and other manoeuvres almost always locking in a spot on the highlight reels.
Kantilla isn’t short of skills himself as proven in Round 5 against the Buffaloes when he went back-to-back with two outrageous double bounces in the lead up to a goal at Wurrumiyanga Oval.
For many who watch the NTFL, that’s Tiwi footy at its finest, but commenters less used to the magic the Bombers display on a weekly basis instead referred to it as an AI fabrication, such was the talent on show.
“My wife Reharnee showed me the comments and we both had a good laugh about it,” Kantilla said.
“I try to stay away from social media as much as I can but it was something we had a laugh about, I didn’t take the comments personally.
“That’s just how it is for us, even when we’re not playing or training we’ll have a footy in our hands, like when walking with family I’ll try to work angles.
“We just practice all the time whether on an evening stroll or out and about I’m bouncing the ball and that’s how it came up in the game.
“Growing up even when we didn’t have a footy we would kick a coke bottle and pretend until we had enough to buy a ball; for me I always wanted to play from when I started walking.”
Kantilla is one of the big success stories of Tiwi footy, playing his junior footy at Waratah and quickly proving himself one of the most talented prospects in the NT.
But it was a season in the Gippsland league in 2021 that earned him the attention of South Adelaide in the SANFL, an opportunity he couldn’t refuse.
“I was in red hot form, playing good footy and then South Adelaide said they were interested in me coming down,” Kantilla said.
“I spent a week there, and also did a week with Southport Sharks, and then South Adelaide said ‘go home, spend time with your family and then come back down, we’re going to sign you’.
“Moving away wasn’t a huge issue, I had done boarding school which helped with the home sickness and while eye-opening being a big city, I settled in.
“The structure and style is different down there with bigger bodies while the NT is more fast, flowing footy, you’re always on the move and running.”
Around the same time he made his move to the Bombers, during a period they were struggling at the bottom of the table.
He proved a shining light in the side’s resurgence under new coach Patrick Bowden, taking on the club captaincy this season.
It was a move fully supported by his wife, who he’s been with since eighth grade, and three kids who love seeing him take the field.
And it’s the youth coming out of the islands that he’s most keen to mentor, such as Jason Puruntatameri, Thaddeus Puautjimi, Dwayne Kerinauia, Frances Tipungwuti and Anthony Munkara.
“The side wasn’t doing too well when I moved back, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to give the side a hand,” Kantilla said.
“Covid and less home games in that period were big factors and club culture too, we turned the place around and got people on board to set the standard that got us back to where we want to be.
“These young guys coming through have so much talent, I’m super proud of them, and they’ll be the ones to carry this team for the next 10 years when the likes of myself are no longer playing.”
Coach Bowden called Kantilla a shining light of the football club in the way he goes about his business on the field, but also off it.
“He’s someone that strives to be better, he’s always pushing himself with his fitness and wellbeing,” Bowden said.
“He’s also an amazing family man who always put his family first, as well as the club coming to play footy in Darwin every week.
“Our young players look up to him and try to match, sometimes to their detriment because you can’t do what he does, but if they grow up to be as talented and grounded off the field as he is then it’s something to look forward to.”
The Tiwi Bombers are going for three wins in a row when they take on Wanderers at TIO Stadium on Saturday.
More Coverage
Originally published as Tiwi captain Kim Kantilla a shining light for the Bombers in the 2025-26 NTFL season
‘Outrageous’: United Nations blocked from NT prisons, watch houses
