The top 50 players of the Central Australia Football League since 2000
Central Australia has long been a treasure trove of skilful and exciting footballers, and to celebrate them we’ve compiled a list of some of the best since 2000. Check the full top 50 list.
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The Central Australia Football League has a rich history of producing skilful and productive footballers, all of them making maximum use of Alice Springs’ pristine winter weather and superb playing surfaces.
Names like Darryl White, Matt Campbell, Abe Ankers, Gilbert McAdam, Graeme Smith, Liam Jurrah and the Bowden brothers, Joel and Patrick, roll off the tongue like raindrops in a mid-year downpour.
But selecting 50 of the best of them in 25 years since the first bounce of the 2000 CAFL season, presents a serious challenge and one that is fraught with danger.
But this masthead never shies from a challenge, even if 250 players could easily fit into a “Best Of” category where Australian football is played right across the Red Centre.
This masthead sends its sincere thanks to Alice Springs footy guru and author Stan Coombe for his valuable assistance in compiling these lists.
Scroll down for the full top 50.
50. Leo Jurrah (Rovers)
A big goal kicker with the Double Blues, Jurrah Sr also plied his trade with the Darwin Buffaloes in the NTFL.
Leo Jurrah was a jewel in the CAFL crown as a player who could walk the walk with his marking and deadly accuracy in front of goals.
49. Jayden Dick (Wests)
A four-time best and fairest winner at Wests and a long-time captain of the club, Dick continues to perform at a high level for the Bloods.
He can find the football in contested situations or on his own and dispose of it with immaculate skills.
48. Marcus McDonald (Federal/Pioneer)
A clever goal kicker from Papunya with a superb goal sense and an ability to provide a target for teammates coming down the ground with his smart leads.
Has all the skills and is a big contributor to the scoreboard.
47. Mark Bramley (Wests)
A strong marking, smart disposal centre half-back who was an important player in the Bloods’ golden era when they won five premierships in six years.
Bramley was the best player on the ground in Wests’ 2004 grand final win over Souths when the black and reds won by three points in a low scoring game.
46. Dylan Barry (Rovers/Souths)
A smart goal sneak when playing as a midfielder, high half forward or a forward pocket, Barry has also plied his trade with NTFL club Southern Districts and North Adelaide in the SANFL.
He possesses a powerful left foot kick and big appetite for goals when given any space by unwary defenders.
45. Shaun Cusack (Souths)
A ruckman-forward who could play down back, Cusack was a lead-from-the-front player who was in the best players every week for the CAFL Kangaroos.
Could take a pack mark and use his feet and hands to give the ball to his running players with a minimum of fuss.
44. Fred Campbell (Pioneer)
A clever midfield-half forward type who rose through the playing ranks to reach the elite level when the Sydney Swans drafted him after the 1997 National U18 Championships in Melbourne.
Now an astute coach, Campbell won the Everingham Medal when his Eagles beat Wests in the 1997 decider.
43. Steven Brooks (Federal)
A key forward who kicked goals almost at will when he controlled the goal square for Federal in the early noughties.
At 210cm (6ft 8in), Brooks was a standout player in the Demons side of his era with his ability to take marks in a park or on the lead, which straightened up running players looking to deliver his way.
And as a result he kicked plenty of goals, including a century in 2009 when Federal lost the grand final to Pioneer in extra time.
42. Liam Patrick (Rovers/Federal)
A big leaping, mercurial player who came in from the Northern Territory’s western desert region to make his name in the CAFL, NTFL, Big Rivers league and ultimately, the AFL.
His pace and marking skills impressed observers of the game, with the “Lajamanu Lightning Bolt” making it to AFL ranks through a zone selection in the 2009 AFL Draft where he played 13 games for the Gold Coast Suns.
41. Henry Impu (Wests)
A Western Aranda speedster who made his name in the midfield or on a wing with his great leg speed and sublime skills.
Impu won the 2017 Minahan Medal with his eye catching performances, highlighting once again the tremendous pace Centralian footballers possess on the playing field.
40. Joe Cole (Pioneer)
An inside mid who was an important player for Pioneer through the noughties with his ability to find the football and get it to teammates further up the ground.
Won the 2008 Minahan Medal as the best player in the league, a fitting tribute for a player who gave his best years to the green and gold.
39. Trevor Dhu (Pioneer)
A goal kicking machine well into the noughties where he booted a series of big scores with his uncanny ability to read the play and take contested or uncontested marks.
The 2001 season was his best in the Alice Springs competition, kicking 100 goals from which 25 came in one match.
38. Craig Turner (Pioneer)
A ruckman and key defender at the Eagles who lost the 2003 Minahan Medal on countback to teammate Ryan Mallard.
He was a skilled servant in green and gold for many years with his high leaping and big marking key elements in Pioneer’s ability to play finals football regularly.
37. Michael Gurney (Wests)
A former club captain at the Bloods, Gurney was a club best and fairest in his role as a tough, no nonsense defender with the club.
He was named the club captain at Wests’ 50-year celebrations, a fitting reward for his on-field contribution.
36. Gareth Remfrey (Rovers)
If one player personified the skill of CAFL club Rovers in the 25 years since the start of the 21st century, it was Double Blues midfielder Gareth Remfrey.
Often described as a model of consistency, he won the 2019 Everingham Medal as the best player on the ground in the grand final win over Souths in between a number of club best and fairest awards.
35. Willie Foster (Pioneer)
A lionhearted ruckman and proficient forward who won the 2014 Everingham Medal in a losing side when Souths beat Pioneer in the grand final.
Foster’s strength and tremendous athleticism made him a premier player in basketball, skills he brought to the CAFL competition.
34. Ryan Mallard (Pioneer)
A big marking, fast leading forward for Pioneer, who won the Everingham Medal as the best player on the ground in the 2010 grand final win over Federal.
The 2003 Minahan medallist, Mallard was known for his contested marking and accurate kicks for goal, Mallard came from a big football family who were outstanding players for the Eagles.
33. Darren Talbot (Souths)
A hard running, highly skilled wingman who won the league best and fairest award in the mid-1990s but played well into the 2000s where he became a cult figure with the Kangaroos faithful.
32. Matt Rosier (Wests)
A clever midfielder who could read the play both ways and complement that with excellent disposal skills.
He was a regular in Territory Thunder sides in their NEAFL days when he played in premiership sides where he always made significant contributions.
31. Willie Tilmouth (Souths)
Tilmouth was a superb player for the CAFL Kangaroos where his work around the ball and big goal sense always had him in the best players.
He was the league best and fairest in the late 1990s and continued to dominate the competition into the mid noughties.
30. Daniel Gorry (Federal)
The 2022 Minahan Medal as the CAFL’s best and fairest player, Gorry can play in the ruck or up forward where his strength and long kicking are valuable assets in a side chockful of running players.
29. Nathan Mutch (Federal)
The man they call “Nitro” has a big appetite for the football and uses it very well.
Won the league best and fairest award in 2015 after winning the Everingham Medal as the best player on the ground in the heart stopping 2013 grand final win over Pioneer.
28. Shawn Foster (Pioneer)
Can play up forward or down back with equal skill, kicking goals or preventing them almost at will with his ability to find the football and do something with it.
Foster won the 2022 Everingham Medal with a match winning five goals in Pioneer’s grand final win over Souths.
27. Sherman Spencer (Rovers, Souths, Yuendemu)
A quicksilver small forward who terrorised opposition defences with his pace and evasive skills with two CAFL clubs and his home community of Yuendemu.
A player with a massive appetite for goals, he was impossible to tackle when in the mood.
26. Paul Campbell (Pioneer)
The 2010 Minahan medallist and premiership player was a standout through the midfield for the Eagles.
His ability to spot up teammates further up the ground by hand and foot was a big weapon in his side’s armoury and dominance in the competition.
25. Kenny Morton (Ti Tree, Rovers)
A ruck-utility originally from Ti Tree, north of Alice Springs, who could run and jump all day on the wide expanses of Traeger Park.
He tied with Wests’ midfielder Henry Labastida when he won the prestigious Minahan Medal as the best players in the league in 2007.
Morton’s big possession games combined with his fitness were big factors in his Centralian career that included a playing stint with NT Thunder.
24. Thomas Gorey (Federal, Pioneer, Souths)
A big goal kicker on CAFL stages through the noughties with his marking and clever ground work landing him a bagful of majors.
Did the rounds with three Alice Springs clubs where his athleticism made a defender’s day one of watch and worry as he went on his goalkicking way.
He regularly kicked three, four and five goals, including four on debut with Territory Thunder.
23. Jayden Prior (Federal)
Prior could play at both ends of the ground with great authority.
He won the 2016 Everingham Medal with a faultless five-goal haul when his Demons beat Pioneer in that year’s premiership decider.
Prior was never flustered despite the responsibility thrust on him as a goalkicker and at other times, a goal stopper, including a three season playing stint with NT Thunder in the former NEAFL competition.
22. Tosh Kunoth (Federal, Souths, Wests, Rovers, Palmerston)
The perfect fit for a goal scoring forward, Kunoth became a master of the game.
A league best and fairest after tying with Daniel Stafford for the 2018 Minahan Medal, he proceeded to win the 2020 Everingham Medal after a big bag of goals in the grand final win over Pioneer.
Historians say he is the best player to come out of the Hart’s Range district and his bulging trophy cabinet proves that.
21. Henry Labastida (Wests, St Mary’s, Sthn Districts)
A wingman, forward with West Alice Springs, Labastida’s ability to find the football and contribute on the scoreboard through the noughties have made him a favourite son at the CAFL Bloods.
He won the Minahan Medal in 2007 when he tied with Rovers’ Kenny Morton as league best and fairest.
He repeated the dose in the grand final of that year when he won the Everingham Medal as the best player on the ground in Wests’ four-point win over Pioneer.
20. Gibson Turner (Pioneer, Rovers)
A gifted footballer who could produce the unbelievable and do the unpredictable as a midfielder-forward of the highest quality.
When the man dubbed “Gibbo” was on, spectators, teammates and opponents were treated to a big performance that attracted the attention of AFL club Richmond who drafted him as a rookie in 2011.
19. Lachlan Ross (Pioneer, West Adelaide, Essendon)
An evasive midfielder-forward who was still playing at a high level in the early noughties, Ross was a key player in the Pioneer juggernaut that dominated the CAFL competition in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Won the Everingham Medal as the best player in a CAFL Grand Final 11 years apart, proof of his longevity and consistent high standards in the Australian game.
18. Daniel Stafford (Souths)
A big marking forward who spent his early years in a Central Anmatjere jumper where he sprang to prominence with a seven-goal haul in his home club’s win over Souths in a 2012 final.
A two-time Minahan medallist as the CAFL’s best player, Stafford has lined up with NTFL clubs Darwin and Palmerston where his powerful marking and accurate kicking for goal have been big assets.
17. Peter Rolfe (Federal)
Rolfe is the youngest player in the eight decade history of the CAFL to win the coveted medal as the league’s youngest player as a 17-year-old.
A clever midfielder who could read the play even at an early age and do a lot with the football.
The left-footer was strong overhead with a big awareness around goals, Rolfe went on to play a century of games with SANFL club South Adelaide.
16. Gilbert Fishook (Souths, Wests, Anmatjere)
An acrobatic footballer who was best suited to the forward line where his big leaps in marking contests and breakaway pace on the lead were big barriers for opposition defenders.
He reached his peak in the early noughties, particularly the 2003 CAFL season when he kicked a match winning nine goals in a grand final shootout with Pioneer when 34 goals were kicked.
Fishook’s kicking for goal was also exceptional, where his balance and follow through was a lesson for veterans and youngsters.
15. Richard Cole (Pioneer, Collingwood, Essendon)
A quiet, unassuming person off the field, “Richie” Cole did most of his talking on the ground.
His strength in the clinches and ability to find teammates with a “Hammer Of Thor” left foot were his main assets in a playing career that took him to the AFL with the Magpies (56 games) and Essendon (seven).
One of a handful of Territory footballers to play in an AFL Grand Final with the 2003 Magpies, he had a brief stint with the Darwin Buffaloes where his kicking to position was a highlight.
14. Kelvin Maher (Souths, Sthn Districts)
The best player on the ground in the Kangaroos’ 1999 grand final win under coach Gilbert McAdam.
A proud Centralian, “Mahery” had all the skills required to reach the top, including a sparkling career with Districts in Darwin’s NTFL where he won two Nichols medals as the league’s best player.
He spent two seasons with SANFL giants Glenelg where his run and carry in the midfield and ability to find the goals when resting forward were big attributes.
13. Tom Logan (Federal, Brisbane, Port Adelaide)
A half forward, wingman type, Logan was a regular underage player for the Northern Territory in between his early senior career with Federal.
Moved to fellow red and whites Waratah in Darwin with his family where he was drafted by the Brisbane Lions before Port Adelaide secured him for the next eight seasons where he played 114 of his 117 games.
12. Patrick Bowden (Rovers, Bulldogs, Richmond)
Bowden began his CAFL career at Rovers as a 17-year-old in 1998 where he booted nine goals in one of his early games in the seniors.
Essentially a marking player up forward or down back at the Western Bulldogs and his family club Richmond where he wound down a career at the national level after an injury riddled season in 2007.
11. Charlie Maher Jr (Souths)
A three-time Minahan medallist, one of only three players (Lance White and Abe Ankers) to achieve the feat, Charlie brought spectators through the gates with his dancing feat and great stamina.
As CAFL identity Stan Coombe said in his book on the Centralian game, he sold more candy than the traditional footy canteen on match days and was an Alice Springs mainstay in NT Thunder sides in their early years.
10. Nigel Lockyer Jr (Rovers, North Adelaide)
Another Centralian footballer with a sense of the spectacular in a playing career with CAFL powerhouse Rovers in their five premiership run from 2017-21.
Possessed with an uncanny goal sense and ability to hunt the football, Lockyer won the coveted CAFL triple, the Minahan, Everingham and a premiership medal in the 2021 season.
9. Curtly Hampton (Pioneer, GWS Giants, Adelaide)
A running half forward-defender with two AFL clubs and CAFL giants Pioneer.
Hampton had plenty of skill and a hunger for the football that attracted the attention of recruiting staff from AFL newboys GWS.
He kicked some spectacular goals at the elite level with his loping runs and ability to break tackles before injury and back problems drew the curtain on his career at the elite level.
8. Liam Jurrah (Yuendemu, Nightcliff, Tiwi Bombers, Melbourne)
A big leaping, goal kicking forward from Yuendemu in the central desert, who like several indigenous players from the Red Centre, electrified the national competition with Melbourne from 2009-12.
Adjusted to the big city with no fuss, taking the AFL mark-of-the-year against Port Adelaide in 2010 and winning the Demons’ goalkicking a year later in a brief 36-game career.
7. Adrian McAdam (Souths, Sthn Districts, North Melbourne)
Has any Territory football lit up the Australian Football League like Adrian McAdam did in the Melbourne winter of 1993.
Part of a North Melbourne forward line that included Wayne Carey and John Longmire the man they call “Adie” booted 23 goals in his first three games as a Kangaroo.
He continued to play with exquisite skill in the CAFL and Darwin’s NTFL well into the noughties.
6. Graeme Smith (Pioneer)
The heart and soul of the great Pioneer sides of the 1990s and into the 2000s, AFLNT Hall of Famer Smith was a multiskilled footballer who dominated the CAFL competition.
He was a natural centre man who could play anywhere on the ground and was rewarded with two league best and fairest awards and two grand final best on ground medals for his beloved Eagles.
5. Joel Bowden (Wests, Richmond)
Another prolific possession gatherer as a forward, midfielder or what the media calls a utility player.
Bowden’s playing record shot him into the AFLNT Hall Of Fame, known for his left foot kicking that was “deadly” as Centralians like to describe it and his run and carry even more so.
Continued the proud Bowden tradition began by his premiership winning dad Michael at Richmond by winning two Jack Dyer medals and two All-Australian jumpers in a 265-game career at the top level.
4. Gilbert McAdam (Souths, Central Districts, Waratah, St Kilda, Brisbane)
The man they call “Gilly” was a brilliant player with every club he played for.
A rebounding half back flanker enshrined in the AFLNT’s Hall Of Fame as a swooping half forward or prolific midfielder, McAdam was all class whenever and wherever he played the game.
He starred with Souths in the CAFL during the 1990s and 2000s and coached at league level while pulling on the boots.
3. Abe Ankers (Federal, Waratah)
If there is one player who personifies the hard running and great skills that personifies players in the Alice Springs competition, it is Federal midfielder Abraham Ankers.
Like the mythical figure from the bible with the same name, Ankers demands and gets faith and obedience from teammates and fans alike.
A three-time league best and fairest (Minahan medallist) and an Everingham medallist as the best player on the ground in the 2023 grand final win over Souths, Ankers is one of the greats.
2. Matt Campbell (Pioneer, Darwin, North Melbourne, North Adelaide)
A goal kicking small forward who can play through the middle and in defence with his ability to read the play, find the football and use it cleverly by hand and foot with plenty of foot speed.
Won the CAFL’s best and fairest award the Minahan Medal in 2004 at age 17 and is still plying his trade with Pioneer in the CAFL.
He also plays for the Darwin Buffaloes in the NTFL where he continues to impress with his pacy breakaways and big number of important possessions.
1. Darryl White (Pioneer, Rovers, Darwin, Sthn Districts, St Mary’s, Brisbane)
Any talk of the best players in the 78-year-old history of the Central Australia Football League has to centre around Brisbane Lions and Pioneer great Darryl White.
The man they called “DJ” won three premiership medallions in a 268-game career with the Leigh Matthews coached Lions, all of them in consecutive seasons from 2001-03.
An AFLNT Hall of Famer, White played until the end of the noughties in Alice Springs, the Top End of Australia and on the Murray River with a tremendous skillset that combined high marking, kicking with both feet and a sense of anticipation that took him to highest level of the game.
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