AFLNT Chairman Sean Bowden pledges to return Australian football to the people of the NT

AUSTRALIAN football must survive if life as we know it in the Northern Territory is to continue, AFLNT chairman Sean Bowden said last night

Sean Bowden wants the sport of Australian football to remain at the forefront of Territory lives. Picture: Felicity Elliott /AFLNT Media.

AUSTRALIAN football must survive if life as we know it in the Northern Territory is to continue, AFLNT chairman Sean Bowden said last night.

The hybrid game with roots that stretch back to the end of the 19th century is under serious threat from the coronavirus pandemic and financial repercussions arising from it.

But Bowden, appointed to the role of board chairman this month, is confident his organisation with assistance from parent body the AFL and the Commonwealth and NT Governments, can ride out the storm.

“With 25 per cent of the Northern Territory’s population participating in Australian football it is vitally important the game is retained as part of our lifestyle,’’ Bowden said.

“What we are talking about is the lifeblood of sport in the NT where Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek have thriving competitions and our remote communities live and breathe the game.

“Australian football and all it embraces, from the players on the field to the coaches, support staff, families and spectators is all about life on those communities and their culture.’’

Bowden said the AFLNT had an obligation to make sure the tradition of the game continued, particularly in these difficult times.

“The game will go on and we must prepare for the time when we overcome these health issues to be able to use football as an important tool in getting communities right around the NT going again.’’

Bowden highlighted Wadeye, in the Territory’s northwest, as the guiding light for how important football was to the people who live by the game.

“There are 2800 people at Wadeye and they have a football competition that in some weeks, runs every day,’’ he said.

“We have two remote development officers in the community who are Commonwealth funded and they will stay as long as permitted.

“We’ve just lost 80 per cent of our staff and we’re planning to bring those people back to continue to work hard for the game.

“We will go back to basics when all this is over and put things right again, it’s very important we do that if we want normality to return to life in the Northern Territory.’’