The social impact on health, education, gender equality and crime reduction will be life changing

NT footy legend Maurice Rioli’s prophetic words in 1995 have come home to roost – the Northern Territory is finally working towards its own AFL side. GREY MORRIS ANALYSIS.

MAURICE Rioli’s prophetic words in January of 1995 have come home to roost – the Northern Territory is finally working towards its own AFL side.

The Tiwi Island and South Fremantle superstar and 1982 Norm Smith medallist with Richmond was a constant reminder – until his untimely death at 53 – that the NT not only deserved its own AFL side, it needed one.

But the more you look into the logic and costs behind the most ambitious sporting project the Northern Territory has ever attempted, logic and caution go hand in hand.

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I can already hear the doomsday prophets beating their drums on the costs of running an AFL side, getting louder when the new $300 million stadium in Darwin’s central business district hits the headlines.

But they forget an elite sporting organisation with a big local contingent will break down the barriers by crashing through them to the point where community values improve and everyone is equal and aiming in the right direction.

Maurice Rioli receives the Norm Smith Medal in 1982 at the MCG.

The feasibility study aimed at establishing a men’s and women’s AFL side based in the Top End will be released today with money and a lot of it at the head of the list.

Annual operating expenditure approaching $50 million will hurt until the team is established. But the silver lining is benefits – many millions if a new stadium accompanies the new side.

The social impact on health, education, gender equality and crime reduction will be life changing.