The newest footy oval in the NT was officially opened on Sunday May 2 by NT Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, NT Minister for Indigenous Development Malarndirri McCarthy & CEO of the Roper Gulf Shire, Michael Berto at a ceremony before the Round 1 Big Rivers Football League game between the Ngukurr Bulldogs and the Arnhem Crows.
Roper Gulf Sport and Recreation Coordinator Owen Turner presented the Ministers with a framed Ngukurr Bulldogs jumper and the Chief Minister could be heard saying that the jumper will have to be shared between himself and Malarndirri McCarthy at Parliament House in Darwin.
The new oval, complete with red, white and blue goal post padding is a big step forward for the community and will enable them to play home games at Ngukurr without having to make the long trip into Katherine each week to play in the Big Rivers Football League. For the 2010 season the Bulldogs have two home games and surely there will be more in the future.
AFL NT had a presence at the game with Community Development Manager, Jack Arnold attending the game along with representatives from the Big Rivers Football League. AFL NT has a charter to develop football around the NT and Ngukurr is definitely one of the more remote venues for a game of football. First there is the three hour drive to Katherine from Darwin, then an additional three hours to the Roper Bar. After arriving at Roper Bar there is the 30 minute boat ride up the Roper River to Ngukurr. The boast trip is essential because the Wilton river is still too high to cross by vehicle.
In the game, the Ngukurr Bulldogs ran out convincing 89 point winners over the 2009 premiers the Arnhem Crows in front of a crowd of approximately 500 people. The Bulldogs obviously took a liking to their new oval with a 13 goal to two second half setting up their huge win. The Bulldogs were too slick and skilful for the Crows with dominant players all over the ground, at times it looked like the Crows could do nothing to stop the home team. Rowan Bonson, Ishmail Warramurra, Terence Turner and Mitchell Hall were among the better players for the Bulldogs while Rexman Issac, Davian Budden and Jermaine Scrubby tried hard for the Crows.
Ngukurr Bulldogs 5.4 8.7 14.11 21.11 137
Arnhem Crows 2.0 5.1 5.6 7.6 48