After three years as wooden spooners in the Northern Territory Football League (NTFL), the Tiwi Bombers finally hit rock bottom.
In January 2023, the team was unable to field a side and had to forfeit a game, nearly landing the cash-strapped remote Aboriginal footy team a $10,000 fine.
Senior coach Patrick Bowden said it had been a tough period in the wilderness.
“The Tiwi Bombers were struggling — struggling to win games, struggling to get a team on the park,” Bowden said.
Hard work has seen the Tiwi Bombers claw themselves off the bottom of the NTFL table. (ABC News: Tristan Hooft)
Fast forward less than two years and the Bombers are a completely different machine.
They’ve returned to the electrifying form that Tiwi Islanders are known for across the nation, having won four of their six games this NTFL season and looking firmly on the ascent.
One of their secret weapons in the 2024 season has been the entrance of former Richmond Tiger Marlion Pickett, who famously kicked a goal on his AFL debut in the 2019 grand final.
He’s moved to the NT along with his family, with his partner also playing footy in the Bombers’ women’s team.
“I like the heat and I like the country life, it’s not as fast as the city life, and I’m enjoying it,” Pickett told the ABC.
Pickett shares story with Tiwi players
The AFL grand final winner’s ride hasn’t been without its potholes.
He retired from the Richmond Tigers earlier this year, just over 12 months after he was charged with burglary and criminal damage offences in Western Australia.
Pickett was stood down from the Richmond Lions after he was charged with burglary offences. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)
He’s currently awaiting trial in Perth over the allegations, to which he’s previously stated he intends to plead not guilty.
“Challenges come with everything in life,” Pickett said.
“If you don’t get challenged, then you wouldn’t know how to overcome the situations and keep pushing.”
Pickett said he’s been sharing his life story and advice with communities on the Tiwis, including speaking with schoolkids on the islands.
“Growing up as an Indigenous person itself is hard — some of us aren’t given everything,” Pickett said.
“Some of us gotta work really hard in the background.
“You want to get where everyone else is, but we just gotta do the extra bit to try and make it.”
Tiwi Bombers players have to fly between the remote islands and Darwin on a near-weekly basis during the NTFL season. (Supplied)
Team effort to bring Bombers back from brink
Pickett can’t claim all the credit for helping to turn the Tiwi Bombers’ fortunes around.
The recruitment of Bowden, the former Richmond and Western Bulldogs utility, as senior coach last season has paid dividends, as has hard work from the players and management.
Bowden said the club had managed to maintain a more stable roster, which has in turn helped ensure stability for the entire season and saved players from the risk of burnout.
Tiwi Bombers coach Patrick Bowden has helped lead a remarkable turnaround for the remote territory team. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)
For Pickett, he said the turnaround came from within the Tiwi community.
“I reckon just the hunger and the drive from the community mob,” he said.
“The Tiwi is a big footy community, and there’s a lot of talent that come from up here — the Riolis and Motlops and all that.
“I think it’s just the country you know — country boys, country life, and they just enjoy playing footy.”
The Tiwi Bombers remain a hugely expensive venture, due largely to costs of flying players between the remote islands and Darwin on a near-weekly basis during the NTFL season.
Bowden said they were still in dire need of sponsors to remain a viable force for the future.
