AFL expansion: New Northern Territory task force plans to use Nathan Buckley in its push for an AFL team
Nathan Buckley has found a new role in footy and will play a massive part in the Northern Territory’s push for the next AFL team.
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The Northern Territory’s new AFL task force plans to use Nathan Buckley’s expertise to help push its case for a 20th AFL licence as it urged the league to widen its focus beyond commercial considerations.
Sean Bowden, the AFLNT board co-chairman, told News Corp on Friday the new task force was aware of the challenges it faced to convince the AFL that it should add two new teams by the end of the decade.
But he said for every indigenous star, such as Cyril Rioli, to make the AFL from the Northern Territory, there were 10 more playing in remote communities that had not yet been discovered by talent scouts.
Bowden, brother of AFL players Joel and Patrick Bowden, grew up alongside the Buckley family when they lived in Alice Springs and retains a strong bond with the Collingwood legend.
Buckley spent his formative years between 10 and 17 in the Northern Territory, and would be an invaluable support to the bid.
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Bowden said the task-force, which includes former Melbourne and Essendon CEO Peter Jackson and Seven Melbourne managing director Lewis Martin, would tap the expertise of Territorians like Buckley.
“Nathan Buckley’s knowledge would be invaluable to us and he’s a true Territorian at heart. We know he will be there to support us when the time comes. We have got a great connection and that’s what the Territory is all about, those special connections,” he said.
“Footy is in our blood here in the NT and it’s also a great activator and motivator of junior talent in the NT. We have shown over the decades we have the unique skills and passion for the game.
“We have always had an aspiration to have an AFL team.
“The territory is alive with talent and part of the purpose of the team is to activate the social dividend.
“It’s an activator for kids to find the talent pathway, to have something the believe in as they look up to the AFL stars. It’s a lot of work to do and we have got a ten-year horizon on this but we want to put our hand up for this opportunity.”
Jackson said yesterday he was aware the NT might not fit conventional parameters for an AFL team on commercial grounds but would round out the national competition.
“It’s not going to be easy and realistically it’s going to be a challenge because it will be an unconventional model. Cynics will say it can’t work and commercially in normal ways it might not, but if you don’t have a crack you won’t find out.
“Having spent a lot of time up in the Northern Territory with Essendon and Melbourne you can see the importance of footy to the communities up there and this is about achieving social outcomes with health and education to the community. You can talk to the kids through footy. It’s important that all the AFL clubs give it a chance.”
NT takes big leap in dream to join AFL
- Grey Morris
A Northern Territory AFL team kicking goals in an expanded AFL competition has taken a giant leap forward with the establishment of a seven-person task force made up of politicians and business managers.
Their primary aim is to develop a business plan aimed at landing a side in the national competition by the end of the decade when an AFL licence becomes available.
Sport Minister Kate Worden and AFLNT board chairman Sean Bowden will co-chair the task force, with input from Nigel Browne, chief executive of the Larrakia Development Corporation; Airport Development Group chairman Tony Edmondstone; managing director and network head of sport at Seven Melbourne Lewis Martin; former Melbourne and Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson; and Central Australian Aboriginal Congress health service general manager Josie Douglas making up the “Magnificent Seven’’.
The long-term aim is to identify pathways to further explore opportunities that could underpin a team not only competing in the national competition but being sustainable and inspiring for the Territory’s youth to achieve high levels of success on and off the field.
Exploring and expanding on the foundations laid by the AFLNT’s own feasibility study into the ambitious project and developing a business plan and a strategy to effectively champion, lobby and drive the Territory’s AFL licence agenda, are other main priorities.
The serious work will commence next month with plans to submit a final report in late 2022.
Chief Minister Michael Gunner said Territorians loved their footy and were passionate about having their own Territory AFL team.
“This next stage brings in a range of experts to make the Territory dream real,’’ he said.
“We will be ready for a national team when the AFL is ready to expand.”
Sport Minister and task force co-chair Kate Worden said the group’s vision was for a Territory team to become the pathway for young Territory boys and girls to achieve their dreams of playing for a local AFL team at the highest level of sport in the country.
“We want this team to become a permanent part of Territory life and a source of pride for all Territorians on the national stage,’’ she said
“The high calibre of the task force members confirms the passion and belief from across Australia in the idea of a Territory AFL team.”
Sean Bowden said establishing a Territory AFL team task force is a crucial first step in bringing to life a Territory-own AFL Team and positioning the Territory to bid for a future AFL licence.
“We have unique talent and a style of football in the Territory that can’t be taught,’’ he added. “A Territory-own AFL Team will be a pathway and an inspiration to our young people, a source of pride for the community and a major stimulus to the Territory economy.’’
Channel 7 boss Lewis Martin was brief but to the point on where the importance of a Territory AFL side sat on the national landscape.
“If there was ever a place and purpose for an AFL team, it’s the Northern Territory, where footy talks many languages,’’ he said.
Peter Jackson said his time as CEO at Essendon and Melbourne gave him the opportunity to be closely involved in AFL football in the Territory.
“It proved to be both a satisfying and rewarding experience personally,’’ he added.
“You get to see first hand how much football means to Territorians and their communities.”
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