The Territory’s 50 greatest ever sports stars revealed: Numbers 10 to 1

THIS IS IT. Our Number 1! THE Territory has produced some of Australia’s greatest ever sports people. Here we count down the NT’s top 50 stars of all time. Today we reveal numbers 10 to 1

Footballing great Michael Long went on to play 190 memorable games with AFL club Essendon

TERRITORY sport, with all of its passion and excitement built up over more than a century, has produced the very best of the best.

Sportsmen and women who can combine skill with commitment, focus and a deep seated passion and desire to succeed.

This is the best 50 Territory sportspeople in my time and well before I started as a sportswriter with the Northern Territory News almost a quarter of a century ago.

AMAZING NT News subscription offer: Only $1 for first 28 days

Then editor Matt Williams suggested — with my right arm twisted up my back — that I compile a Top 50 article on all the greats of Territory sport the task seemed relatively simple … until it came time to do it.

Some may disagree, others will agree and those in between will agree to disagree with my selections. But that is the path you take when you are picking the best in any sport, let alone combining them all and coming up with a top 50 of all time.

THE NT’S GREATEST SPORTS STARS: 50 — 41

THE NT’S GREATEST SPORTS STARS: 40 — 31

THE NT’S GREATEST SPORTS STARS: 30 — 21

THE NT’S GREATEST SPORTS STARS: 20 — 11

Number 10: Bill Dempsey/ Jimmy Anderson (Australian Football)

Born and bred Territorians, Bill Dempsey made his name at West Perth in the WAFL

Former Darwin Australian football champion and sports personality, Jimmy Anderson

Bill Dempsey and the late Jimmy Anderson were best friends in sport and life and deserve to be bracketed together in a best of all time list. Born and bred Territorians, Dempsey made his name at West Perth in the WAFL and Anderson with his beloved Darwin Buffaloes where he was runner-up in the league’s best and fairest award twice and represented the Northern Terrritory Football League five times.

Number 9: Abby Cubillo (Basketball)

Abby Cubillo was the starting point guard for the Australian women’s under-17 basketballers who won gold at the 2016 FIBA world titles

Another product of the talented Cubillo spoting family, Abby was the starting point guard for the Australian women’s under-17 basketballers who won gold at the 2016 FIBA world titles and was a member of the U19 Australian side at the 2017 World Cup. When Cubillo made her Women’s National Basketball League debut with the University of Canberra Capitals in 2018 she became the first born and raised Territorian to play in the WNBL.

Number 8: Bo De La Cruz (Touch Football/Rugby 7s)

Bo De La Cruz represented gold medallists Australia at the 2009 Rugby Sevens World Cup.

A multi-talented sportswoman who went under the Territory’s sporting radar for several years. De la Cruz was the first Indigenous woman to represent Australia at senior level in touch rugby before changing codes to represent gold medallists Australia at the 2009 Rugby Sevens World Cup in Dubai. I hope being named No.8 in my best NT sportspeople of all time puts Bo firmly on the radar screen for her magnificent contribution to Territory sport.

Number 7: Warrenne Ekins (Speedway)

Four-time Australian speedcar champion Warrenne Ekins lived for the thrills and spills of motor sport, the high-speed adrenalin rush that comes when a man pushes a machine to the absolute limit

Territory speedway’s greatest export, Ekins dominated Australian speedcar racing through the early 1990s, winning four Australian Championships. He added five NT and two South Australian titles to that list and is the only Australian to win the World Midget 50-lapper in New Zealand, rating it as his career highlight. Five successive Chariots of Thunder titles and three NT Sprintcar Championships were further proof of his great skills behind a wheel.

Number 6: Will Chambers (Rugby League)

Will Chambers has been a regular representative at Australian and State of Origin level for many years. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Chambers spent his formative years in Nhulunbuy where he showed an early appetite for rugby league. His move back to Brisbane in his teenage years hit the jackpot where he progressed to the NRL when the Melbourne Storm signed him as an 18-year-old. State of Origin for Queensland and Australian representation make him one of the Territory’s best known modern day sportsman.

Number 5: Michael Long (Australian Football)

Michael Long is one of Australia’s most recognisable sportspeople

One of Australia’s most recognisable sportspeople, “Longy’’ sprung to prominence as a brilliant youngster with NTFL club St Mary’s. Went on to play 190 mostly memorable games with AFL club Essendon and now features outside of football with his passionate work for indigenous sportspeople and their overall welfare.

Number 4: Andrew McLeod (Australian Football)

AFL footballer Andrew McLeod combined unbelievable natural talent with a fierce desire to succeed

McLeod rose from a shy youngster discarded by AFL club Fremantle to the pinnacle of Australian football through his 340 games with the Adelaide Crows. Won every team and individual award on offer in the national competition except the Brownlow Medal and many people say he should have won the AFL’s best and fairest award at least twice. Combined unbelievable natural talent with a fierce desire to succeed, attributes that entitled him to be labelled a champion.

Number 3: Nova Peris (Hockey/Athletics)

Nova Peris will be remembered for her extraordinary achievements as both an Australian representative hockey player and track athlete

Nova Peris will be remembered for her extraordinary achievements as a hockey player and athlete for Australia that put a permanent footprint on the Territory and the national sporting sceene. Multi-talented and fully focused, Peris was the first indigenous Australian to win an Olympic gold medal with the Hockeyroos at the Atlanta Olympic Games and won two sprint gold medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Number 2: Maurice Rioli (Australian Football)

Maurice Rioli was the first indigenous Australian to make a big impact in Melbourne’s VFL competition, which became the AFL in 1990

Rioli was the first indigenous Australian to make a big impact in Melbourne’s VFL competition, which turned national in 1990 by becoming the AFL. One of the great players of his generation after playing stints at WAFL club South Fremantle and Richmond and Imalu, St Mary’s and Waratah, Rioli was a regular in NT representative sides. His influence on indigenous Territorians and sports fans still resonates today through the Maurice Rioli Stand at TIO Stadium.

Number 1: Michael AhMat (Basketball)

Michael AhMat was the greatest basketballer to emerge from the Northern Territory

The first indigenous Australian to represent his country at the Olympic Games, AhMat was the greatest basketballer to emerge from the Northern Territory and that is saying a lot.

His great talent was first recognised at the 1959 national championships as an NT player, after which he relocated to Adelaide where he played a then record 588 club games.

AhMat’s great talents never transferred to coaching ranks after his unfortunate death at just 42 years of age.

AMAZING NT News subscription offer: Only $1 for first 28 days