AFL Tigers’ first-year player Marlion Pickett helps turn the fortunes of NTFL team Tiwi Bombers

After three years as wooden spooners in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL), the Tiwi Bombers have finally hit rock bottom.

In January 2023, the team failed to take to the field and was forced to forfeit the match, nearly resulting in a $10,000 fine for the money-strapped remote Aboriginal football team.

Veteran coach Patrick Bowden said it had been a challenging time in the wilderness.

“The Tiwi Bombers were struggling; struggling to win games, struggling to put a team on the park,” Bowden said.

Fast forward less than two years and the Bombers are a completely different machine.

They are back to the exciting form for which the Tiwi Islanders are known nationally, winning four of their six matches this NTFL season and looking set to rise.

One of his secret weapons for the 2024 season has been the introduction of former Richmond Tiger Marlion Pickett, who scored on his AFL debut in the 2019 grand final.

He moved to the NT with his family and his partner also plays football for the Bombers’ women’s team.

“I love the warmth and I love the country life, it’s not as fast-paced as city life and I enjoy it,” Pickett told the ABC.

Pickett shares his story with Tiwi players

There were potholes in the AFL grand final winner’s journey.

He retired from the Richmond Tigers earlier this year, just 12 months after he was charged with theft and criminal damage in Western Australia.

He is currently awaiting trial in Perth over the allegations, to which he has previously pleaded not guilty.

“Challenges come with everything in life,” Pickett said.

Pickett said he shares his life story and advice with communities across Tiwis, including speaking to school children on the islands.

“Growing up as an Indigenous person is tough; some of us aren’t given everything,” Pickett said.

“Some of us have to work really hard behind the scenes.

“You want to get to where everyone else is, but we have to go the extra mile to achieve that.”

Teamwork to bring bombers back from the brink

Pickett can’t take all the credit for helping turn around the Tiwi Bombers’ fortunes.

The recruitment of Bowden, formerly of Richmond and the Western Bulldogs, as senior coach last season has paid off, as has the hard work of the players and management.

Bowden said the club had managed to maintain a more consistent squad, which helped ensure consistency throughout the season and saved players from the risk of burnout.

Pickett said the pushback came from the Tiwi community.

“I just take into account hunger and influx from the community,” he said.

“I guess it’s just the country you know; country kids, country life and they just like to play football.”

The Tiwi Bombers remain a hugely expensive venture, largely due to the cost of flying players between remote islands and Darwin on an almost weekly basis throughout the NTFL season.

Bowden said they still desperately need sponsors to remain a viable force in the future.