The Territory’s 50 greatest ever sports stars revealed: Numbers 20 to 11
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 20 to 11
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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.
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When 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
Number 20: Cyril Rioli Jr (Australian Football)
A four-time premiership player and Norm Smith medallist at AFL club Hawthorn, the player they call “Junior Boy’’ inspired thousands of Territory youngsters to play the game his way in a decade of showing his exquisite skills to the world.
Number 19: David Kantilla (Australian Football)
An early pioneer in travelling interstate to play the game he loved, the late David (Soapy) Kantilla became a genuine pathfinder when he left theTiwi Islands to play for SANFL club South Adelaide.
An AFLNT Hall of Famer, Kantilla was an integral part of South Adelaide’s 1964 premiership side and is still revered among sporting circles today.
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Number 18: Michael McLean (Australian Football)
The man they called ‘Magic’ in an AFL career that spanned almost 20 years with two clubs was the first Territorian to go directly from club football to the national competition. Ravaged by injury for most of his career, McLean’s second coming at the Brisbane Lions saw him win two club best and fairest awards and captain the Allies.
He also cpatained the inaugural Indigenous All-Stars side and coached them to several wins.
Number 17: Blake Truslove and Gary Boodnikoff (Basketball)
Darwin’s Truslove was in the National Basketball League system for six years where he plied his trade with Adelaide, Canberra and New Zealand. At 204cm he had all the skills, all of which he learnt as a junior with Darwin club Rebels and later the RSL junior and league teams. Truslove won championship rings with Adelaide and New Zealand in a 90-game NBL career. Boodnikoff, from Alice Springs, played 253 NBL games with the Sydney Kings, Victoria Titans and Cairns Taipan, winning a championship ring with the Kings in 2002-03. He was also NBL Rookie of the Year in the same year and most improved in 2005-06. Both players represented the NT.
Number 16: Stephen Blake (Athletics)
“Blakey’’ won the annual City2Surf race an incredible 20 times between 1983 and 2004, the perfect example of his ability to withstand pain and focus on the job at hand. A modest man, Blake will be remembered as ‘Mr Surf’ for his amazing winning record as long as the race is held and athletes of all ages continue to pound the pavements of Darwin.
Number 15: Darryl White (Australian Football)
‘Whitey’ became an inspiration for thousands of Centralian kids with his exploits on national playing fields as part of the champion Brisbane Lions AFL sides through the 1990s and early noughties. A reluctant star in his early days before becoming Alice Springs’ greatest sporting export, White played 268 games and was a vital cog in the Lions’ premiership threepeat from 2001-03, playing alongside great names like Voss, Akermanis, Lynch and Brown.
Number 14: Steve Abala Sr (Rugby League/Aust Football)
The patriarch of the Abala family and the 1950-51 Nichols medallist as part of the extended Darwin Buffaloes family, was one of the Territory’s finest sportsmen through the war years until the mid ‘50s. Also a fine rugby league player, he tragically died at Gardens Oval in 1956 while playing for the Navy. Abala Road at Marrara is named in his honour.
Number 13: Nathan Buckley (Australian Football)
Now coach of Collingwood, arguably Australia’s most famous sporting club, Nathan Buckley spent his formative years in Darwin before embarking on the national stage where he won a Brownlow Medal as the AFL’s best and fairest player.
Number 12: Lenny Kilmartin (Soccer)
Kilmartin wore the blue and white of Darwin club Hellenic for 403 games and left the game as one of Territory soccer’s true greats. An NT and Darwin representative player, Kilmartin had no peers in terms of goalscoring, allround skill and longevity in the world game.
Number 11: Benny Lew Fatt (Australian Football/Basketball)
A giant of Territory sport where he was a brilliant performer in Australian football and basketball where he played for Australia, Benny Lew Fatt was a sporting genius. Recently awarded the OAM for his services to sport and the Darwin community, Lew Fatt comes from a sporting family with the highest pedigree.
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