Ex-Tiwi Bombers president Dean Rioli says the club's forfeit is likely to be a ‚'one off' after a perfect storm of unavailabilities - NTFL
The former president of an NTFL club fined for failing to field a team for a Men’s Premier League match says it has put plans to in place to safeguard its future.
Aussie Rules Live Stream
Don't miss out on the headlines from Aussie Rules Live Stream. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Former Tiwi Bombers president Dean Rioli believes the club’s forfeit in Round 14 was a “one off” and grassroots plans have been put in place to secure its future.
Rioli, who stepped down from the role after the 2021-22 season, said the AFLNT’s $10,000 suspended fine was a fair penalty for its Men’s Premier League team missing the Maurice Rioli Cup against Waratah on January 14.
He agreed with coach Brenton Toy’s belief player availability had been impacted by “social unrest”, with some unwilling to leave their families while four teachers on the island were also unable to play.
He said the club needed a new generation of strong leaders, like assistants Simon Munkara and Austin Wonaeamirri.
“A lot of people who were heavily involved are no longer with us,” Rioli said.
“It’s about finding the next generation that can support that club.
“There’s a lot of work to be done.”
However, he said a new, structured junior program this Tiwi Islands Football League season would be a “huge advantage” to fast track local development.
He said with youngsters attending Tiwi College on Melville Island, they weren’t being educated in Darwin and getting experience at NTFL clubs like they had in the past.
“It just means they’re missing out on competitive football in town,” Rioli said, referring to the likes of Munkara and Edward Darcy who had taken that path.
“By the time they’d finished school, they’d played maybe 100-150 games of junior football and even senior football and moved to the Tiwi Islands with a good base.
“That’s where the big gap is. That’s something we need to address.”
He said the recent forfeit was “unfortunate” but he firmly believed it was a perfect storm of off-field issues.
“It was just a one off,” he said.
“It was a nightmare mixture of so many things that went against us that one week which we’ve jumped in front of this week.”
Rioli assured fans the club would “definitely have a full and competitive side” for the final four games.
He said running Tiwi remained a “very expensive exercise”, with its three home games each season – which did not charge an entry fee – requiring players, coaches and support staff to be transported to the islands.
“We struggle to break even every single year,” he said.
“To get an additional $10,000 fine would be devastating for us.
“We see it as fair, others probably think we should have copped the fine.”
He estimated it cost the club around $15,000 to bring players to Darwin before the Waratah game, including accommodation, meals, transport and other costs.
He also said it was impossible for the MPL squad to train in one location midweek, with players spread across Darwin, Garden Point and Melville and Bathurst islands,
Tiwi Bombers receive suspended fine over forfeit
The Tiwi Bombers will have to pay out a hefty fine if they forfeit another match in the 2022-23 NTFL season.
The Bombers were set to play Waratah in the prestigious Maurice Rioli Cup in Round 14.
However, “unforeseen circumstances” meant they did not have enough players available to compete in the match and were forced to forfeit the Round 14 encounter.
As a result of the forfeit, the Bombers have received a suspended fine of $10,000.
An AFLNT spokeswoman said the league would continue to work with the club but the suspended amount would “be implemented if the club has any connection to any similar instances”.
“AFLNT acknowledges the Tiwi Bombers Football Club faces challenges that most community football clubs across the country don’t face,” the spokeswoman said.
“As such, AFLNT will continue to work with the Tiwi Bombers Football Club, and the Tiwi community, to plan for the sustainability of the club moving forward.”
It comes as the Tiwi men’s coach Brenton Toy called for a significant review into the club, which suffers from lack of resources and operational support.
‘Eruption’: Tiwi coach reveals major problems behind forfeit
The Tiwi Bombers need to conduct a “significant” review of its Men’s Premier League team beset by a lack of resources, player development and leadership, illness and social unrest, its coach says.
In his third tenure at the club, esteemed mentor Brenton Toy said there were many “layers” to the club’s forfeit on Saturday, a Maurice Rioli Cup fixture against Waratah at Gardens Oval, where it could not field a competitive team.
It has been a rollercoaster season for the Bombers, from its first win in 988 days in late October to having a Round 10 match moved from the islands due to community issues.
He said his reserve players simply lacked the physical and technical aspects needed to play at Gardens Oval in Round 14.
Toy highlighted the numerous, historic issues which continued to rock the club, including a lack of “high level community” leadership, player development and operational support.
“This is the stuff that has been bubbling and we saw the eruption on the weekend,” he said.
The club conducted a review at the end of the 2020-21 season where it won the wooden spoon for the first time.
The club was also stripped of match points in 2017 after failing to pay a $12,000 debt to AFLNT.
The Darwin-based Toy has previously spoken of his frustration in being unable to coach his charges during the week, with his players assembling at various training bases.
However, Toy did not blame his players for making themselves unavailable in Round 14 due to a “period of unrest” on the islands and the club having a “family first” mantra.
One Tiwi player also remained on the islands during the week after his son had been flown to Darwin with breathing issues.
However, Toy said he was reluctant to talk about the root causes of the community issues, but stressed they were not specific to Tiwi.
“There’s bigger social issues there beyond my ability to comment on,” he said.
“Some of our players unfortunately were directly involved.
“It can be pretty scary.
“If that was happening in my street, I certainly wouldn’t be leaving my family for a weekend.
“They’re (family) obligations that I can’t argue with.”
Toy said the club badly needed a “second tier competition” to aid player development, which could be created through a reserves team.
Alternatively, he suggested Men’s Premier League teams could be financially assisted to take on Tiwi juniors, as the likes of St Mary’s and Waratah have done so successfully in the past.
“Clubs have steered away from Tiwi players as they know ultimately they’re going to go back to the Bombers,” he said.
“It could be a way to rebuild the stocks again.
“Our players don’t have that same level of exposure and experience in the NTFL.
“It’s taking us longer (to develop players), and there’s a massive gap and during that gap we’re losing them.”
He said the club also lacked “high level community support” which existed when the club was born in 2006.
“They held people to account, so when things weren’t going well, we were able to go to that higher level of support and ask for their endorsement for action,” he said.
“And once we had that endorsement, things happen. We don’t have that authorising environment from the decision makers.
“When we try to change behaviours, it’s very difficult, whether that’s in football or off field.”
He said the club was struggling partly because the local community was too, with a prevalent lack of respect for authority.
“That’s entirely a community, Tiwi Islands thing to deal with. That’s what I mean about layers,” he said.
An AFLNT spokeswoman said the league would be meeting with the club soon and will “release outcomes shortly after”.
Tiwi Bombers forfeit Maurice Rioli Cup
The Tiwi Bombers have been forced to forfeit their annual Maurice Rioli Cup match against Waratah due to “unforeseen circumstances”, the league says.
It’s the third forfeit of the 2022-23 NTFL season, after Palmerston’s Round 8 and 9 fixtures were declared no-result matches after fly-in breaches.
The Round 4 match between Darwin Buffaloes and Southern Districts was also abandoned just before half time due to an injury to Crocs player Nick Weightman.
Tiwi, who are currently at the bottom of the Men’s Premier League ladder, did not play after the Christmas break of the 2021-22 season due to Covid issues.
Peaky body AFLNT posted on its social media channels that “unforeseen circumstances” had forced the Bombers to forfeit.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the club said it was “saddened” to announce it would forfeit the match due to “some unrest and illness in our communities”.
“A number of our playing group has been unavailable to travel to Darwin,” the club said.
“We will regroup in the coming days with the aim of finishing the season as strongly as possible
“The club apologises to our upporters who were looking forward to the game.”
Prior to the match, Bombers coach Brenton Toy suggested selecting a team for Round 14 would be difficult, following recent wet weather on the islands.
“It’s a game we need to get a team out on the track (for) which is going to be a challenge for us,” Toy said.
“It’s a challenge every week.
“We’ve had a fair bit of weather which has impacted the roads over there.”
However, he promised his selected squad would be “fresh and up and running.”
Former St Mary’s champion and current Tiwi player Shannon Rioli said it was “disappointing” not to have played the game which honoured his uncle.
“It’s disappointing, particularly considering the Maurice Rioli Cup would have been played,” Rioli said.
“When I moved to Tiwi this was one of the marquee games for me to play in, so it’s disappointing it’s not going ahead, but it is what it is.”
He said the forfeit came down to player availability with many players on the islands caught up because of weather issues.
“We weren’t able to get the players in from the islands,” Rioli said.
“There’s half a dozen who live in town, and about the same number came across on the ferry on Friday, but we didn’t have the numbers.
“Tiwi aren’t in a great position off field, and that’s part of why I went there to help out, so hopefully this will be a bit of a wake-up call for blokes to pull their finger out and finish the year on a more positive note.”
Waratah president Rohan Langworthy was disappointed the game was unable to go ahead.
However, he said it was a positive that Waratah and the Bombers women putting together an incredibly thrilling match at Gardens Oval, where Tahs fought back to win 5.5 (35) to 4.9 (33)
“It’s disappointing, and it’s particularly disappointing for the Tiwi volunteers and staff as well,” Langworthy said.
“It is what it is, and as a positive the Tiwi Bombers women were able to come out and play a thrilling match.
“It’s disappointing for us on our game day, but there’s much bigger things at play and I’m just disappointed for the Bombers.”
LIVESTREAM PREVIEW
Waratah and the Tiwi Bombers will both be giving their all when they face off at Gardens Oval for the chance to get their hands on the prestigious Maurice Rioli Cup.
And the NT News will be there to livestream the game exclusively for you from 2.30pm, Saturday.
Tahs are a side full of big match performers from their ball magnets in the midfield to their strong goal kickers up front.
And with a finals double chance all but confirmed the Warriors will be doing everything in their power to pile on the points with the goal of potentially stealing top spot.
But they will know that despite Tiwi being bottom of the table, they will be no easy beats.
The Bombers will want nothing more than to get a win against a top team in a match with plenty of personal relevance to the side.
However, Waratah are heavy favourites and everything will be pointing in their favour.
If you are attempting to cast the livestream or replay to a television, the best result can be achieved by either using a laptop/computer or a mobile phone.
The NT News and AFL Northern Territory have come together in a partnership to livestream Men’s Premier League games for this TIO NTFL season.
REPLAY: Northern Territory wind up short Coates League stint in style
Obviously learning their lessons from a close defeat on Thursday, the NT Acadeny girls raced out to an early lead and then held off a strong Murray Bushrangers finish. Check out the REPLAY.
Replay: Steely Saints cage Tigers when it counts in NTFL Grand Final
St Mary’s had to do it the long way to score sweet revenge against the Nightcliff Tigers and claim premiership number 34 in a muddy scrap of a grand final. Watch the REPLAY.