What do you think of his choices? Today Grey names his CENTRES selections.

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IT’S the great unanswered question in the long history of the AFL — what would a Northern Territory side look like if it was a fully-fledged team playing premiership matches every week?

Many theories have been put forward on the ‘whys’ and ‘why nots’ of a Darwin-based Territory AFL side, most of them surrounding the infrastructure and long-term viability of a team from Australia’s far north.

1. The full back line: The NT’s ‘greatest’ AFL side

2. The half back line: The NT’s ‘greatest’ AFL side

But what really matters to the average punter is the 18 players on the field and four interchange players waiting for their chance to wear the ochre, white and black jumper against AFL heavyweights like Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond and West Coast.

I have chosen Territory players from 38 years of AFL representation through several clubs and placed them in a 22-strong side I believe would have competed on a level playing field with any of the elite in this country.

Former Western Bulldogs and Brisbane utility Michael McLean would be my captain, freeing up the likes of Maurice Rioli Sr, Nathan Buckley, Michael Long and Andrew McLeod to play their own leadership roles.

This is not intended to be a best-of-side, even though there are several superstars in the starting XVIII who made their name with rival clubs.

What I have looked for is balance, experience and the all-important ‘X’ factor Territory footballers have always delivered on Australia’s greatest sporting stage.

— GREY MORRIS

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CENTRES

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Steven Motlop (Geelong and Port Adelaide)

Position: Wing

Games: 177 (135 Geelong, 42 Port Adelaide)

THE third Motlop brother to play at the elite level, Steven has displayed all the skills required to compete against the best players in the country in a career nearing the 200-game mark.

An integral part of the Geelong sides that played regular finals football from his debut season in 2010 to his last season in a Geelong jumper in 2017 before being traded to Port Adelaide, Motlop’s explosive running and disposal skills continue to be big parts of his game.

Being named on the wing in the Territory side will give him more space to carry out those skills and terrorise opposition defences with his quick transfer of the football by hand and foot.

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Maurice Rioli (Richmond)

Position: Centre

Games: 118

Honours: 2-time Richmond B@F, 1982 Norm Smith Medal, AFLNT Hall Of Fame

THE Territory’s forward line players will be guaranteed a regular supply of the football with the great Maurice Rioli controlling proceedings out of the centre.

A player with exquisite skills and a big appetite for the football and kicking goals, Rioli was the first Territorian and the first player from a losing side to win the coveted Norm Smith Medal in his first season at Richmond in 1982.

Rioli, who passed away on Christmas Day almost 10 years ago, was declared “untackable’’ by Carlton great Anthony Koutifides when I asked him about Rioli’s famous evasive skills.

A footballer who epitomised all that Territory football has to offer, Maurice was the first Rioli to establish himself on the AFL’s big stage.

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Michael Long (Essendon)

Position: Wing

Games: 190

Honours: 1993 and 2000 Essendon premiership player, 1993 Norm Smith Medal, 2-time All-Australian, AFL Hall Of Fame, AFLNT Hall Of fame

‘LONGY’ took Territory football to another level with his explosive foot speed, extraordinary evasive skills highlighted by the Long sidestep and a radar-like left foot kick that split open opposition defences.

He was the first Territorian to win a premiership medallion when he starred in Essendon’s 1993 side, adding the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground to his trophy cabinet collection that September day, 27 years ago.

Now a spokesman for his people and the Australian game, his role as a wingman in the Territory’s own AFL side would extend to the forward line where he loved kicking goals and running out of defence.

One of seven brothers from the Melville Island family to wear the St Mary’s jumper in the NTFL, Long formed a special bond with four-time Essendon premiership coach Kevin Sheedy that continues to this day.

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SO, that’s GREY MORRIS’ Territory AFL team CENTRES. WHAT do you think of his picks?

DON’T forget to check back here on Tuesday when GREY selects his team’s HALF FORWARDS