As the primary sporting focus remains on the likes of cricket, tennis and bowls the region’s avid Aussie rules fans are keeping an eye on how some of the Goulburn Valley’s best football talents are faring 3,700km away.
Northern Territory Football League has only two rounds remaining before finals, with a few of the Goulburn Valley’s gun footballers impressing for their ‘other’ clubs in the tropics.
Recent Shepparton recruit Matt Shannon has starred this season for the ladder-leading Southern Districts Crocs in the NTFL.
The midfielder-forward sits second in the league for goals kicked (28) and has been in the best 10 times in 13 games.
Shannon has returned to the Bears for the 2025 season after a stint playing for Southport in the VFL.
Former Port Adelaide defender and recent Katamatite recruit Tom Clurey has also featured for the Crocs in recent weeks playing the past four games.
Waaia’s Brayden Summerville has enjoyed a successful stint playing for the Tiwi Bombers.
Summerville has played 10 games for the second-placed Bombers in a team that features former AFL footballers Marlion Pickett (Richmond), Tom Phillips (Collingwood and Hawthorn) and Ashton Hams (West Coast).
Congupna premiership pair Jack Norman (Nightcliff) and Jak Trewin (Wanderers) have featured heavily for their respective NTFL clubs.
Norman has played seven senior games for the Tigers this summer, featuring in the best twice.
Trewin, who kicked four goals and was one of The Road’s best in a drought-breaking grand final win last year, has impressed for the Wanderers, kicking 21 goals from 13 games and featuring in the best on three occasions.
The return of football in the Goulburn Valley is on the horizon, with clubs across the four main leagues beginning to ramp up their pre-season efforts in the lead-up to round one on April 5.
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