Australian rules football in the Northern Territory

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Australian rules football in the Northern Territory
Tiwi Islands Football League Grand Final 05/06 at Nguiu stadium—Mulluwurri vs Pumurali.
Governing body	AFL Northern Territory
First played	Darwin 12 February 1916; 108 years ago (12 February 1916)
Registered players	10,021 (2022)[1]
Club competitions
Northern Territory Football League Central Australian Football League Barkly Australian Football League Big Rivers Australian Football League CAFL Country League Elcho Island Football League Gove Australian Football League Groote Eylandt Football League Gunbalanya Football League Lajamanu Football League Maningrida Football League Ngukurr Football League Ramingining Football League Wilurrara Tjataku Football League Tanami Football League Tiwi Islands Football League Wadeye Football League
Audience records
Single match	17,500 (Aboriginal All-Stars vs Carlton; 2002; AFL pre-season practice; Marrara Oval, Darwin)

Australian rules football is the most popular sport in the Northern Territory (NT), particularly among the many remote Indigenous Australian communities of the outback such as the Tiwi Islands but also in the cities of Darwin and Alice Springs. There are more than 15 regional competitions across the territory, the highest profile being the semi-professional Northern Territory Football League based around Darwin and Central Australian Football League around Alice Springs. It is governed by AFL Northern Territory which has more than 10,000 registered players. In 2017, it was reported that 18% of Territorians participate in Australian rules football—the highest rate of participation in Australia.^[2] The sport also produces more professional players per capita for the Australian Football League (AFL) than any other state or territory.

For a brief period, the NT had its own Australian rules team, making its interstate representational debut at the 1988 Adelaide Bicentennial Carnival. Selected under State of Origin criteria, the team, featuring Maurice Rioli, Michael Long and Michael McLean went through undefeated to take out the Division 2 premiership with big wins against Tasmania, the VFA and the national amateurs team. However, it has only ever appeared once. After taking over as governing body, the AFL Commission merged the Northern Territory with Queensland to create a composite side. The QLD/NT side featured only six Territorians and has not reappeared since. Northern Territory had a standalone representative side in the AFL National Championships between 1979 and 2016, this side won three Division 2 titles—Under 16 in 1999, and Under 19 in 2004 and 2012. Since 2021, the Northern Territory Academy has participated in the Talent League, providing Territorians a direct pathway to the fully professional national Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's competitions. The NT is home to the Indigenous All-Stars and Flying Boomerangs representative teams. The All-Stars hold the current attendance record for any football code in the Territory - 17,500 set in 2002. A professional club, the Northern Territory Football Club (NT Thunder) was formed in 2008 and competed in the second tier semi-national NEAFL competition.

Since the first AFL matches were played in the NT in 2004, attendances have averaged 9,320. They have steadily declined from a peak of 14,100 in 2006 (featuring the Western Bulldogs). Under the 2020 arrangement with the Gold Coast Suns and Melbourne FC, the NT receives two matches in Darwin (Marrara Oval) and one in Alice Springs (Traeger Park) each year. In addition, Darwin has hosted the AFL Dreamtime match including its first AFLW match in 2024.^[3] The AFL's Gold Coast Suns have access to the best junior talent from the Territory through its recruitment zone and the Gold Coast Suns Academy. In 2021, following a 2018 scoping study, AFL Northern Territory launched an official bid to enter a team into the national AFL competition. This bid is under consideration by the league for entry around 2030.^[4]

Since the debut of Reuben Cooper in 1969,^[5] over 100 of born-and-raised Territorians have played in the AFL and AFL Women's (AFLW). However, a significant percentage have launched their professional football careers from other states, particularly South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland. Two dynasties from the NT have together produced numerous prominent footballers: the Rioli and Long families. Australian Football Hall of Famer Maurice Rioli was known also for his career in the WAFL prior to playing in Victoria. Hall of Famer Andrew McLeod is often considered the most accomplished AFL player born and raised in the NT, and Hall of Famer Nathan Buckley is the only Territorian to win the Brownlow Medal. Darwin-born Shaun Burgoyne holds both the Territorian AFL games and goals records, with 407 games and 302 goals. Shaun Burgoyne and Cyril Rioli have played in 4 AFL premierships, more than any other Territorian. In the AFLW, Danielle Ponter of the Rioli-Long family is the most prominent NT player, having kicked the most goals and played the most games for a born and raised Territorian.