The Kartpurr Magpies win the inaugural 2009 Wadeye Football League Premiership in Wadeye yesterday.
After 22 rounds of football the Wadeye Football League was finally decided yesterday with the Kartpurr Magpies taking out the 2009 Premiership over the Wudapali / Nama Dockers in a hard fought contest.
The day began with an AFL Juniors exhibition match between a number of the local junior footballers who showed some glimpses of talent for years to come in the Wadeye Football League.
Up to a 1000 locals from the Wadeye communities wandered down to the Wadeye Recreation Reserve to witness this epic contest which started out in blistering heat and finished in a downpour of rain.
The Magpies were never headed in the contest holding a comfortable lead throughout the match in a contest which was played out to the end in testing conditions. With accuracy in front of goal being the key, the Magpies took advantage of every opportunity in front of goal to run out away with a 34 point victory. Best on ground for the game was given to Cooney Ariuu.
Regional Development Manager Ben Kelly was wrapped with the turn out of the day and the success of the season, “Football means a lot to these people and it shows with the turn out we had yesterday.” Northern Territory Thunder High Performance Manager, Murray Davis and NTIS Head Coach Brett Hand witnessed the contest and were impressed with the talent that was presented in front of them.
The Wadeye Football League consisted of six team this year and will be looking at expanding to a seven or eight team competition for the 2009-10 season. The Wadeye Football League is apart of the Wadeye / River Region project of the AFL Northern Territory and is supported by Eni Australia and FaHCSIA.
Final Results MAGPIES 12 10: 82 defeated DOCKERS 6 12 : 48
Best players Magpies: Cooney Ariuu, Leon Kinthari, Gary Ariuu, Barty Narburup Best players Dockers: Alister Lantjin, Lawrence Warnier, Darren Lantjin, Alex Lantjin
Best on Ground Medal: Cooney Ariuu
Umpires: Mark Atkins and Brendan Higgins