Former Territory footballer Greg Bruce writes a book about the great representative teams of the 1980s

An NTFL defender has overcome the mental demons of surviving a plane crash by writing a book about footballing legends from arguably the NT’s greatest era.

A champion Territory representative footballer has channelled the mental anguish of surviving a plane crash nearly 25 years ago into a new project remembering one of the golden eras of the NT game.

Darwin Buffaloes life member and team of the century full back Gregory Bruce turned to research and writing after getting psychological help in 2019 following the crash nearly two decades prior.

Having retired in 1998, the same year he survived the disaster in late October about 310km east of Darwin on the way back from Elcho Island with five others following engine trouble, Bruce, then a remote field officer, became lost.

“I had many dark days,” Bruce said.

He played 10 representative games for the Territory during his career, between 1987 and 91.

Gregory Bruce, with grandchildren Xavier and Elijah, has written a book about the NT's great rep teams of the 1980s. Picture: Sierra Haigh.

“I just became a bitter, negative, unsociable person and I lost sight of my football.”

However, things began to change when he sought counselling.

Towards the end of his treatment, Bruce was steered towards talking about his footy career.

“I tried to distance myself from that, when I looked at myself as a footballer and I looked at myself in the mirror all I saw was a failure,” he said.

Bruce eventually embraced his past and decided to tackle a book 18 months ago, in a way of tracking how far he had come in his recovery.

“I set out on the journey,” he said.

After all, Bruce had played his part in helping the Territory win nine games in a row between 1985 to 89, including triumphs against reigning premiers Essendon in 86, and then the Sydney Swans by a massive 66 points the following year.

Darwin Buffaloes footballer Greg Bruce survived a light aircraft crash near the Goomadeer airstrip in Arnhem Land in October, 1998. Picture: Supplied.

That day, he manned high flying forward Warwick Capper.

“He wasn’t a bad bloke, me and him had a few chats,” he said.

He was also a member of the all-conquering 1988 NT bicentennial team which clinched the Division 2 title in Adelaide over the VFA, going through the carnival undefeated and later inducted into the NTFL Hall of Fame in 2019.

“According to a lot of people, that’s probably the best team they’ve had in Northern Territory football history,” he said.

“People always underestimated us, they never gave us a chance.

“When we went to Adelaide, they laughed at us, and we never lost a game.

“I honestly believe we had a champion team.”

That carnival including the likes of Michael McLean, Maurice Rioli and Michael Long.

For Yesterday’s Heroes: The Golden Years of Northern Territory Football 1985-1991, which was published in November, Bruce spent hours poring over old newspapers to locate reports games from that golden epoch.

Bruce was one of six passengers on the flight. Picture: Supplied.

He contacted some former Territory players to gain priceless insights, photos and memorabilia.

“It was really amazing when I read what they had to say, and how much it meant to each and every man,” he said.

“It’s brought back all those memories that I lost and didn’t respect because of what happened to me.

“It was an amazing journey.”

However, as the project got bigger, he hired local historian Matthew Stephen to finish the job.

“It goes back a long, long way. It’s a long, long story,” he said.