Russell Jeffrey, Willie Rioli Sr among those honoured in AFLNT Hall of Fame
NTFL champions, AFL stars and one of the NT’s most influential women’s teams were among those honoured in the 2023 edition of the AFLNT Hall of Fame. SEE ALL THE PHOTOS
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Fourteen names synonymous with Territory football, as well as the 2003 NT Kites Women’s Championship side, have been etched in history as the latest AFLNT Hall of Fame inductees.
In front of a crowd of more than 250 people at TIO Stadium the group were given the highest honours in Territory football.
Growing the game from the Tiwi Islands to Central Australia, the latest class of inductees join the previous 67 names who had been awarded Hall of Fame honours.
The latest group have records which span NT rep footy, the NTFL, the CAFL, the SANFL, the VFL, the WAFL and even the AFL.
There were four Nichols medallists among them with two also being named in the AFLNT Team of the Century and three having won the Chaney Medal, awarded to the best on ground in a grand final.
And Russell Jeffrey, who starred in the AFL and was a pioneer as a coach and player in the NT rep team, has been elevated to legend status.
The 2003 NT Women’s championship team, the Kites, were also recognised, with the side which finished fourth in Darwin credited for lighting the flame which set women’s footy alight in the NT.
Co-skippers Rosanna De Santis and Vicki Botterell helmed the side while Danielle Chrisholm, Vanessa Peris, Natasha Medbury and Natalie Althouse all making their mark in the David Peris coached side.
The team had plenty of talent from the Tiwi Islands including Geraldine Dixon, Priscilla Yunupingu, Tammy Kerinua and Charlene Puruntatameri.
The side beat the Australian Defence Force twice to finish an all-time high of fourth with Peris and Medbury both selected as All Australians, and from 2004 the NTFL women’s comp took life.
Women make up more than 37 per cent of registered NT footballers today, the highest participation rate in the country and plenty of that is owed to the 2003 side.
Hall of Fame:
John Pepperill - Player
Pepperill was the NT’s football’s first Mr Magic, a nickname given to him through his ability to float through the air when taking a high mark and running away from opposition players with ease.
He won the Nichols Medal in the 1969-70 season, two years after winning the Minahan Medal in the Central Australian Football League.
Norman Hagan – Player
Hagan loved to kick goals in a playing career that took him to CAFL powerhouse Pioneer and NTFL club Darwin Buffaloes.
The double blue jumpers were at the height of their powers when the elusive half forward flanker, who also played out of the goal square, joined them from the Red Centre.
His glory years were in 1972 and 73 when he shattered goalscoring records across the Territory booting a league record 24 goals against North Darwin in the 1973.
Ronald ‘Barney’ Quall - Player
Possessed with extraordinary skills by hand and foot and an uncanny ability to evade opposition players, Quall made Gardens Oval his own playground winning six premierships with the Buffaloes.
He first played football with Works & Housing juniors in the 1960’s for one season at the age of 11 before moving to the Double Blues.
Quall played one year in the reserves, before commencing a long and distinguished league career commenced with Buffaloes in 1964/65, playing in six premierships 1966/67, 1968/69, 1970/71, 1972/73, 1975/76 and 1979/80.
Ian Smith - Player – Coach
Smith’s playing and coaching career embraced four decades of NT football with his beloved North Darwin\Palmerston Magpies and the Darwin Buffaloes totalling 253 games.
The 1979-80 and 80-81 seasons were highlights of his coaching tenure at the Magpies, coming runners up before winning in the latter season beating Wanderers in a thrilling grand final.
runners-up in ‘79-80 replaced by a premiership cup in ‘80-81 when the then North Darwin beat Wanderers in a thrilling grand final.
Alan Smith - Player
Smith’s playing, coaching, umpiring and administrative career can be traced to NTFL clubs Nightcliff, Wanderers and Southern Districts.
The reliable ruckman played in Nightcliff’s 1964-65 premiership side when the Tigers beat the highly fancied Darwin Buffaloes in a huge upset.
In 1965-66 he won the Tiger’s Best and Fairest medal, he then went on to represent the NTFL twice against North Adelaide and again in 1969 against his old side St Kilda where he rucked against Carl Ditterich and Brian Mynott.
Ken Bonson - Player
Nightcliff had four Bonson brothers through the 60s and 70s, all blessed with immaculate skills and a big appetite for the game.
Don, Joe and John Bonson were regular league footballers when their youngest brother Ken joined them in the Tigers’ line up midway through the club’s premiership season of 1964-65. Essentially an on-baller, Ken went on to win the 1970-71 Nichols Medal as the Northern Territory Football League’s best and fairest player in a season where he captain-coached the Tigers’ side beaten by Waratah in the first semi-final.
Don Bonson Jnr - Player
Bonson Jr was one of five brothers to play for NTFL club Works and Housing/Nightcliff through a golden era that included premierships in 1956-57, 60-61 and 64-65.
He played more than 200 games for the Tigers, captaining the side in the 1958-59 season and again in 62-63, while also filling in the coaching role across three seasons.
A fiercely competitive player who led from the front with his determination and aggression, Don was described by Nichols medallist Benny Lewfatt as a genuine leader of men who was ahead of his time.
Shannon Motlop – Player
Motlop’s meteoric rise from journeyman footballer to be a seven-game AFL premiership player with North Melbourne is one of the genuine good stories of Territory football.
Wearing number 44, Motlop had played only seven games at the elite level when he was selected in the Kangaroos’ 1999 grand final side, booting two goals in their 35-point win over Carlton.
The kid who began his junior football at NTFL club Nightcliff took his left foot kicking to Wanderers, later moving to SANFL club North Adelaide where he debuted at senior level in 1998.
Basil Campbell – Player
Campbell will always be associated with WAFL club South Fremantle where he kicked 102 goals in a 122-game career that included the infamous 1980 Grand Final win over Swan Districts.
In 1973 as a 16-year-old, Basil played 11 games for the Collingwood under-19 and reserves sides while boarding at Monivae College in Hamilton.
Known as an aggressive and all-action type of player who was solidly built, Campbell was an instantly recognisable figure on the field wearing his protective helmet, he quickly became a crowd favourite.
That 1980 grand final winning side included fellow Tiwi Islanders. Maurice Rioli and Benny Vigona as the Top End trio played extraordinary games to blitz Swan Districts by 58 points.
Brian Long - Player
Long was one of the jewels of NT football through the 1980s and early 1990s.
He was a grand final player with WAFL club East Perth and a regular selection in NT Teal Cup sides through the late 1970s and captained the junior rep side in 1979.
One of seven Long brothers to wear the green and gold of NTFL powerhouse St Mary’s in a 205-game career that included eight senior premierships, he was also a seven-time representative player.
Brian Deslandes – Administrator/Coach
Deslandes was a major contributor to the formation and ongoing success of junior football right across the NT.
An inaugural member of the NTFL’s Junior Football Council when it was formed in 1970-71, he served as its chairman from 1984-90 and a board member for more than two decades.
He coached the NT primary school side in 1978, ‘79 and ‘82, including the successful 1979 side that beat South Australia to win the national title, the first time in history to do so.
He served as the NTFL’s junior football delegate for three seasons, coaching the names of Michael McLean, Cyril Rioli, Stuart Totham and Willie Rioli.
Percy Ellis - Umpire
One of Territory football’s most iconic goal umpires and recognisable figures, Percy Alwyn Ellis waved the flags in 552 games at senior and junior level.
He commenced his career between the goals before Cyclone Tracy and was one of two “goalies’’ regularly officiating in four senior NTFL grand finals in 1978-79, ‘79-80, ‘80-81 and ‘84-85.
He also waved the flags in six reserves grand finals and the 1981-82 Colts’ decider, while he controlled the goals in the historic NTFL-Glenelg Australia Day clash in 1985.
Willie Rioli Sr – Player
Rioli Sr had all the skills associated with his beloved Tiwi Islands during a playing career where he lit up the NTFL competition for more than 20 years.
His leadership qualities and superb skills earned him the captaincy of the NT’s secondary schoolboy and Teal Cup sides in 1988 and ‘89.
He won a NTFL premiership 1987-88 debut season and became the youngest ever recipient of the Nichols Medal when he beat Southern Districts’ recruit Allen Jakovich in the 1988-89 count.
A member of the NT side that won the Division 2 crown at the 1988 Bi-Centennial Carnival and a seven-time representative player against AFL clubs Essendon (three times), St Kilda, Geelong, Port Adelaide and Collingwood.
Russell Jeffrey – Legend
A player and coach who gave his heart and soul to Australian football, with the ochre, black and white colours of the NT.
Was a captain for Wanderers in 1992-93 when the Eagles won a memorable grand final against St Mary’s where he was awarded the best on ground Chaney Medal.
He was at the coaching helm when the Palmerston Magpies snapped a 20-year premiership drought by winning back-to-back senior flags in 2000-01 and 2001-02.
In 2016 in recognition of his talent, hard work, and a lifetime of commitment to NT football, he was named as centre half back the AFL Northern Territory Team of the century.
In 2019 his contribution to the 1988 Bicentennial carnival team was recognised when the history making side was inducted to the AFL Northern Territory Hall of Fame.
Jeffrey has been elevated to legend status at the 2023 AFLNT Hall of Fame.
ALL THE PHOTOS
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