Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with AFLNT Chair Sean Bowden about the new AFL Taskforce for an NT team

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Katie spoke with AFLNT Chair Sean Bowden about the new AFL Taskforce for an NT team · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: It's almost twenty minutes after ten o'clock eight nine four
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  Speaker 1: one one o four nine if you'd like to chat
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  Speaker 1: with us now we know that the establishment of a
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory AFL Team, it's taken another step forward with
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  Speaker 1: the appointment of a territory AFL team task Force. And
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  Speaker 1: joining me on the line right now one are the
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  Speaker 1: people from that task force. Mister Sean Bowden, who is
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  Speaker 1: indeed the chair of AFL here in the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: and the co chair of the task force. Good morning
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  Speaker 1: to you.
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  Speaker 2: Sean, Yeah, good morning Cody, Sean.
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  Speaker 1: This seems to be a great step in the right direction.
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  Speaker 1: What exactly is the task force sort of going to
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  Speaker 1: be doing in terms of trying to set up this
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  Speaker 1: AFL team for the territory.
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  Speaker 2: In general, Cody, The task force will be working through
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  Speaker 2: a business plan to establish the fundamental for how the
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  Speaker 2: team might work in the Northern Territory. We're going to
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  Speaker 2: follow on from a free to ability study that was
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  Speaker 2: done by the Bastion Group that has been made whilely
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  Speaker 2: vailable to people, and we've now got to do the
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  Speaker 2: hard work and put the put the basis together to
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  Speaker 2: show that the Northern territory, AFL teams feasible, and.
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  Speaker 1: I'm assuming that you know that the finances do have
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  Speaker 1: a big part to play, and the feasibility of the
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  Speaker 1: team is obviously going to be an enormous lynchpin in
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  Speaker 1: terms of this team getting off the board or off
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  Speaker 1: the ground, I should say, But there's lots of other
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  Speaker 1: factors that come into play as well, isn't there, Like
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  Speaker 1: when you talk about the community and the impact that
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  Speaker 1: an AFL team here in the territory would actually have
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  Speaker 1: on the community.
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  Speaker 2: No, absolutely, and we'll be pursuing what we've been calling
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  Speaker 2: an unconventional model where we do focus on the social
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  Speaker 2: impact of the team. And we've seen throughout the territory
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  Speaker 2: that where footage play and it's so loved throughout the territory,
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  Speaker 2: throughout every part of the territory, football is just a
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  Speaker 2: big part of people's lives and kids in the communities
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  Speaker 2: and in the towns and cities, they look up to
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  Speaker 2: the IFL stars, they look up to people who who've
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  Speaker 2: done their best, and they want to participate, and so
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  Speaker 2: it's a really critical activation that we think can play
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  Speaker 2: a role in with the other great work that's done
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  Speaker 2: by NGOs and government out in the bush and to
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  Speaker 2: really try and give a bit of an uplift and
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  Speaker 2: to make it a part of part of life and
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  Speaker 2: build pathways for people from the bush. But Codie, we
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  Speaker 2: shouldn't forget that an AFL team in the Northern Turkey
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  Speaker 2: has been estimated to bring to add one hundred and
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  Speaker 2: fifty million a year to the Turjury's GDP. So the
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  Speaker 2: Basting Report had a good look at that as well.
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  Speaker 2: So there are some gaps in the business model that
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  Speaker 2: we have to look at filling. We haven't haven't got
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  Speaker 2: the straight line yet, but if we can pull this off,
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  Speaker 2: we've got a very strong social dividend and we think
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  Speaker 2: a very strong economic dividend as well.
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  Speaker 1: Sean, what are some of those gaps, like, what are
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  Speaker 1: some of those areas that we really need to fill
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  Speaker 1: in order to get this off the ground and make
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  Speaker 1: sure it's viable and really make it an asset to
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  Speaker 1: the ritory.
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  Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing is for us to drill
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  Speaker 2: down to how AFL team is actually going to run
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  Speaker 2: and function in the Northern ursion In Darwin. We're bringing
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  Speaker 2: in fifty elite athletes, so the team's established and we
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  Speaker 2: get the mandate, and that's a long way off what
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  Speaker 2: should add, But say the day comes we've got fifty
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  Speaker 2: elite athletes in Bowen, we've got to be able to
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  Speaker 2: cater to that. Then there's all the support personnel, there's
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  Speaker 2: all the other opportunities that come around with an AFL team.
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  Speaker 2: We'll be bringing people in and out. Of course of
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  Speaker 2: the urnach. We're playing here every second week or probably
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  Speaker 2: two weeks in a row. You might find it this
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  Speaker 2: weeks lined up. That's going to see. Like if you
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  Speaker 2: take the information I've picked up from the Richmond Football
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  Speaker 2: Club and some of the other major football clubs, between
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  Speaker 2: three and four thousand individuals will follow Richmond, for example,
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  Speaker 2: into State. So we've got to be able to cater
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  Speaker 2: for that as well enormous influx of people that might
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  Speaker 2: come into Darwin. So there's those things. We've got to
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  Speaker 2: make sure that the as of are here. I've got
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  Speaker 2: a lifestyle as well. They've got to know what they're
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  Speaker 2: here for. And I think again that's where the facial
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  Speaker 2: dividend comes in. I think a lot of the players
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  Speaker 2: would really enjoy making that contribution to society, if I
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  Speaker 2: could put it that way, getting out there and really
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  Speaker 2: getting their hands dirty, trying to inspire young Territorians, showing
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  Speaker 2: them that it's feasible. Yeah, I mean we've got fifteen
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  Speaker 2: people played. Fifteen Territorians played in the last round of
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  Speaker 2: the AFL. I think the number is this year, so
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  Speaker 2: we've already got our players going through. So you know,
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  Speaker 2: we'll be looking to supercharge that now.
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  Speaker 1: I know, like I grew up in North Queenslane when
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  Speaker 1: the Cowboys were established many years ago, and what it
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  Speaker 1: does for you know, what it does for a location
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  Speaker 1: like North Queenslan would be I'm assuming very similar to
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  Speaker 1: what it would do for a place like the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory to be an enormous th for the Northern Territory Sean.
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  Speaker 1: There's been discussion about, you know, about a stadium being
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  Speaker 1: built and a team in the past, but in terms
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  Speaker 1: of where they'd play and the facilities and what we
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  Speaker 1: would also need to go along with this team, how
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  Speaker 1: would it all sort of how would it happen and
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  Speaker 1: how soon could it happen.
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  Speaker 2: We see it as a territory team that draws from
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  Speaker 2: the north, so I'd like just to spread our wings
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  Speaker 2: out to the east and the west of Keynes and
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  Speaker 2: to Broome and Kanana and those places. But fundamentally it'll
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  Speaker 2: be a territory team. In terms of a stadium, I
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  Speaker 2: think logic says that will need to look very closely
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  Speaker 2: at the new stadium. The IFL is very particular about
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  Speaker 2: its brand and the conditions that its players are playing,
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  Speaker 2: and I think there's a lot else that goes with
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  Speaker 2: that stadium. But if you have as a foundation an
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  Speaker 2: AFL team that's playing between twelve and fourteen matches say
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  Speaker 2: a year there, well that's a very good start in
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  Speaker 2: terms of building. And then, like you say, Katie, just
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  Speaker 2: the pride and the livability of having this sort of
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  Speaker 2: activity in the town. I mean, we do lose our
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  Speaker 2: young people here in Darlen. They do gravitate South. They
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  Speaker 2: gravitate not just for the mcgs and the Adelaide ovals
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  Speaker 2: and the Optice ovles in first, but that's a big
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  Speaker 2: part of it, and we don't have that to offer
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  Speaker 2: people there. So I think there's also a divid end
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  Speaker 2: in keeping our young people here, young adults, making it
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  Speaker 2: livable for people who come up to Darwin, they might
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  Speaker 2: find that suddenly this is a reason another reason to
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  Speaker 2: stay rather than do their two or three years and
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  Speaker 2: move back down south. So there's a lot of factors.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to take them all into account. We've going
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  Speaker 2: to try and put them in put them in careful
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  Speaker 2: orders so that the public of the Northern Territory can
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  Speaker 2: really see this and ultimately make their own decision whether
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  Speaker 2: they the public want to really get behind this.
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  Speaker 1: So Sean like, how soon would we be expecting or
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  Speaker 1: would we be hoping to have a team in the
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  Speaker 1: AFL if everything goes well and it is viable and
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  Speaker 1: you do this feasibility study and see that it could
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  Speaker 1: work for the territory.
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  Speaker 2: The Tasmanians have done us a great favor, Tody. They've
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  Speaker 2: led this out and they've worked really hard to press
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  Speaker 2: for their own team. And there's a lot of common
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  Speaker 2: sense in two teams because that evens up the drawer
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  Speaker 2: and evens up the competition. So it could be sooner
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  Speaker 2: than we think, but we're aiming our eyes on a
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  Speaker 2: ten year horizon, though if it could happen earlier, we'd
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  Speaker 2: really welcome that.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I tell you what, Shawn I reckon, there'll be
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  Speaker 1: plenty of AFL fans who are very excited, you know,
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  Speaker 1: even like I just sort of think for everybody within
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  Speaker 1: the community. It is something to be really proud of
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  Speaker 1: when you do have a team in the AFL. I've
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  Speaker 1: seen it myself in the likes of North Queensland in
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  Speaker 1: the NRL, and I really hope that we're able to
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  Speaker 1: make this happen their same Cody.
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  Speaker 2: So we've got a lot of hard work to do
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  Speaker 2: and we'll get that done and look forward to speaking
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  Speaker 2: to you and your listeners again.
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  Speaker 1: So it sounds good. Thanks mate, We appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 1: Twice in one week. Thank you.