Robbie Hale named new Banks Bulldogs coach for 2022-23 NTFL season
Banks Bulldogs’ new coach has marked his intentions on continuing the club’s recent success and push towards premier league with the signing of an NTFL champion.
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The death of a coaching mentor inspired Banks Bulldogs’ new coach to take up the mantle, and now his sights are on helping the club make the jump to the NTFL Premier League.
Robbie Hale has plenty of experience in Top End coaching St Mary’s junior teams to flags, where he also won two premierships as a player, and was later assistant coach to Waratah coach Ryan Ayres.
One of his mentors at Saints was Darwin sporting identity Darren Flanagan who died in May prompting Hale to push harder towards his goal of coaching men’s footy.
And Leigh Crossman’s move from Banks to Nightcliff left an opening which Hale snapped up.
The Bulldogs have won back-to-back premierships at Premier Reserves’ level, and are hoping to have their first ever Premier League team within the next few years.
And the chance to back up that success alongside potentially taking the club into their premiership year is something Hale is thrilled to be a part of.
“I wanted to get back into coaching after the passing of Darren Flanagan who helped me a lot on my coaching journey”, Hale said.
“I wanted to get back involved in a footy club and I wanted to coach men’s footy, I’ve done enough at junior level so this was the opportunity for me.
“I’m happy to give them the two years and see how we go, not focused as much on premier league but more on being competitive and trying to get back-to-back grand finals.”
There’s still plenty of ground Banks need to cover before they become the 10th NTFL premier league team following in the footsteps of their fellow former TEAFA side, PINT.
Hale said an investment in junior teams would be a focus over the next couple of years, while the club got their first women’s team in 2022-23, which won the Division 2 comp.
“It’s important for the footy club to join the Premier League but there’s a few off-field things which need to be sorted out,” he said.
“It’s a tough area with five or six different clubs in the same region fighting for the same kids so building that junior base is going to be important.
“I think holistically we could make the jump but it’s important for us to have as many things prepared as possible, and it’s possibly still a two to three year process at the moment.
“Coaching Premier League football is one of my goals and these two years will put me in good stead for the job if they do make the jump.”
On the playing front Banks has already scored their first major coup securing Nightcliff premiership player Shaun Wilson as an assistant playing coach.
Rory Fairchild and Isaiah Baldock, who Hale coached at junior level, are also making the jump over from St Mary’s while Ben Baker is making the trip to the NT from the Howlong Spiders.
Hale said there were already conversations underway with other players from southern leagues to replace outgoing players such as Jonathan Lanyon.
“(Baldock and Fairchild) are players for the future of the club and if the Premier League push happens they’ll be leaders,” he said.
“We’ve got a fair few recruits such as SANFL premiership players and medallists we’re yarning to at the moment. It’s just about getting about getting them and some locals across.
“(Wilson) brings professionalism, the way he prepares for games is elite and he obviously has leadership skills brings a bit of pace.
“I think Banks can be a very southern sort of side so he’s going to bring a bit of pace to the midfield and he can go across half back as well when needed.”
Signed: How Tiwi Bombers plan to bounce back under new coach
Newly-appointed Tiwi Bombers coach Patrick Bowden has said the club’s “exciting and exhilarating” brand of football inspired him to take on the senior coaching role for season 2023-24.
Bowden, 41, will return to coaching for the first time since 2018 and the former AFL footballer says “there is only upside for Tiwi football” on arrival at Wurrumiyanga Oval.
“The opportunity is massive,” Bowden said about the Bombers.
“Sometimes you go to a football club and you wonder if you have got the talent to be able to win.
“There is no wondering about whether there is talent on the Tiwi Islands, you know you have got it.
“It is just a matter of harnessing that talent and developing the talent to work as a team.
“And if that talent can work as a team and they put it together, they are unstoppable but it’s about doing that consistently for four quarters.
“I look at it and think to myself, there is a lot of upside with Tiwi football.”
Bowden played 50 games for the Western Bulldogs and 25 for Richmond between 2001 and 2007.
Immediately after his AFL career, he won a premiership in a best and fairest winning season with Victorian club Balwyn in 2008 before moving into coaching a few years later.
Ahead of joining the Bombers in 2023-24, Bowden enters the top job with more than six years of coaching experience.
The son of former AFL footballer and Indigenous advocate Michael Bowden was coaching at WAFL club South Fremantle for two years before moving back to Victoria where he coached Ringwood for three years and Norwood for a season.
He made finals appearances as coach with these sides on multiple occasions.
Bowden returned to Darwin at the start of 2019 to be closer to family and help raise his two children while watching “plenty” of local NTFL footy as a spectator.
Bombers president Lindsay Whiting said Bowden had impressed the club with his approach and ideas.
“He brings a wealth of knowledge and with his background and what positions he has held in the past, he would know some of the challenges we have faced,” Whiting said.
“And don’t get me wrong, there will be a lot of challenges that he is unaware of at the moment but we will jump those hurdles when they arise.
“And I am talking about the logistical challenges, the weather conditions, the road conditions, whether it’s crossing the Beagle Gulf from the Island to Darwin, the last minute changes to put players on a plane.
“These are some extra challenges that he is aware of but just hasn’t faced them before.
“But as to what he is bringing to the table; he came to us with a plan which is what intrigued us and what caught us initially.
“His CV is pretty good as well.
“As I said, he put a plan together and that was probably the tipping point for Paddy.”
Bowden said his style of coaching was about “helping people develop, caring for their wellbeing on and off-the-field rather than trying to drag and pull every ounce of their life out of them just for football”.
“Football is an outlet to life.
“I want my players to play with happiness and joy rather than under pressure.
“If players are playing with happiness, they get the most out of themself because they are enjoying what they are doing.”
He said improvement was the aim and potentially a finals appearance for the first time since 2019-20 when the club finished third.
“Expectations are to get better,” he said.
‘What we are looking for is improvement and if we can push some teams and get close, I think we can run them down and win games and hopefully end up in that top five.”
He said he was hopeful of the Tiwi Islands continuing its strong history of producing AFL stars which includes the likes of Cyril Rioli, Maurice Rioli Snr, Michael Long and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.
“There is a long history of Tiwi football greatness and I hope that we can get these young players showing themselves so they can continue to go further with their football whether it is down south or even 100+ games in the NTFL.”
It has been a tough few campaigns for the Bombers recently with just one win coming from their past three seasons where they have had to forfeit seven games.
Season 2021-22 was their toughest campaign where they suffered their second winless year in a row and had to forfeit six games.
But last season was a step in the right direction with the club gathering a win and draw from 18 games.
“The way the Tiwi footballers play the game, watching them play good football is so exciting and exhilarating for everyone whether you go for Tiwi or it’s you’re club playing against them,” he said.
“And watching them not be able to do that over the last couple of years isn’t good for NTFL football, it’s not good for Tiwi football.
“And I just looked at it last year and thought I wonder if I can help in some way and the opportunity was there so I thought I would put my hand up and have a crack at it.”
Bowden, whose brother Rhett is a school principal at the Tiwi Islands, said the club’s recruiting was prioritising a ruck and centre half back.
“I won’t be shameful in saying we need a ruckman, I would love a local ruckman to come on board and play week in, week out.
“If we can get that, I think our smaller players on the outside can really do some great work with their speed and ability.
“We need a ruckman, we definitely need a centre half back.”
He also said “we want the past players to come back, we want to celebrate those players”.
It is believed the club could potentially have past greats Shannon Rioli, Michael Coombes and Austin Wonaeamirri helping out this season.
Bowden said the club was going “really well” with locking in players for the season.
“The core group are staying with Tiwi,” he said.
“And we want some of the players who have played over the last two or three years that might have not played as much football as they used to, to come back and play the season.
“With numbers comes strength and with strength comes good football and wins.”
The club could benefit by having fit and ready-made players from the TIFL season which has been in action over the dry season after weather had pushed it back from its regular wet season timeslot.
The Bombers last won a premiership in 2011-12 when they defeated Nightcliff by 14 points.
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