With Tasmania becoming the 19th team could NT be no. 20?
With discussion of a Northern Territory AFL team doing the rounds again on social media, we take a look at the historic debate.
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A topic that rears its head every few years is doing the rounds once again on social media.
Following the announcement of Tasmania finally receiving an AFL license last year and the ever-growing partnership with the Gold Coast Suns continuing to draft and develop NT players, discussions surrounding a NT side are swirling once more.
Having produced some of the nations most gifted and successful footballing families, namely the Riolis, Longs and Motlops, there is certainly no lack of talent in the NT.
And with the nation’s highest participation rate, it’s not like there is a lack of appetite for footy.
A Reddit user recently started a thread about a possible NT team, seeking feedback about whether it would be supported, climate issues, infrastructure such as a stadium and where it should be based.
A number of users engaged in debate over the suggestion.
“It took a bazillion years to get a team in Tasmania, there is no chance for a team to be in Darwin ever,” a post on the Reddit thread read.
There are however numerous hurdles and roadblocks that have and will continue to impede the feasibility of a professional outfit in the NT.
Despite having a population the size of Toowoomba and 23,000 fewer than Cairns, there is still belief Darwin and the NT should have a presence in the AFL.
But when you put feelings aside and look at the numbers, they look a bit daunting.
Last year the Collingwood Magpies recorded a mammoth 110,000 member base; roughly 83.3 per cent of Darwin’s population.
Travel, weather and cost are the other topics highlighted most when discussing a Territory side.
And following the unfortunate demise of the NT Thunder in the NEAFL, one would be forgiven for assuming that the AFL would take one look at their folding and quickly turn the other way.
“There’s been talk about this for decades. The closest we came was NT Thunder in the NEAFL which was a flash in the pan. Southern teams would hate travelling here to play, they whinge enough already about going to Perth. I’d love to see it, but with such a small population base and the tyranny of distance, I just don’t think it could happen,” a commenter on the Reddit thread wrote.
One enthusiastic user on Reddit went as far as designing a playing strip for and naming the proposed NT AFL team - which of course was the Crocs.
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