Cyril Rioli, Austin Wonaeamirri and Liam Read among stars in Jabiru Bombers NTFL title win
Four-time AFL premiership winner Cyril Rioli has played a starring role as the Jabiru Bombers claimed a piece of NTFL history with a stunning flag win. See him in action.
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The Jabiru Bombers have won their first men’s NTFL title with some famous names including Cyril Rioli starring in their grand final triumph.
The Bombers have frequently been at the tail end of the Men’s Division 1 season in recent years and were again in the Big Dance after an undefeated regular season.
Jabiru did previously win a flag in the NTFA / TEAFA with their first coming in the 1988-89 season, but this is their first NTFL title.
The Kingsley Whitehurst coached side has been stacked with talent in the 2024-25 NTFL season, including four time Hawthorn premiership player Cyril Rioli and former Melbourne forward Austin Wonaeamirri.
Both forwards played starring roles with three goals each to help Jabiru beat major Division 1 rivals Banks Bulldogs 14.9 (93) to 7.5 (47).
The match was in the balance with Jabiru holding a 20-point lead heading into the final quarter, but they kicked on scoring five goals to one in the final term.
Ruckman Liam Read, who was also the resounding winners of the division’s best and fairest votes, was named the best on ground for his tireless efforts.
The big man from Melbourne said the win was huge moment in the history of the club and meant so much to the players around him.
“I know how it means to some of these boys that have grown up in Jabiru,” he said.
“To come up and join such a wonderful club in making part of that history and bring this trophy back to Jabiru is amazing.
“I’ve been up here for 18 months and I love this club and what they’ve done for me.
“I was quite happy with my performance, I was winning most of my taps and got a bit of a roll on in that final quarter, but my midfielders starred getting to the ball and making the job so much easier.
“The floodgates opened late for us, it’s sometimes nice to have close games but you never want that in a grand final so it was good to stretch them out a bit.”
It was a big day for the Bombers with the club also having a team in the Division 2 women’s final, that they lost 5.2 (32) to 1.0 (6).
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Originally published as Cyril Rioli, Austin Wonaeamirri and Liam Read among stars in Jabiru Bombers NTFL title win
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