The Northern Territory Football Club, nicknamed NT Thunder, was a

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

-based

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

club that competed in the

North East Australian Football League The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL ) was an Australian rules football league in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The league was formed in November 2010, and its inaugural ...

(NEAFL) between 2011 and 2019, and the

VFL Women's VFL Women's (VFLW) is the major state-level women's Australian rules football league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The league initially comprised the six premier division clubs and the top four division 1 clubs from the now-defunct Victori ...

between 2018 and 2019. The club was disbanded at the end of the 2019 season, however its identity continues to be seen in the under-19s Talent League Boys and Talent League Girls competitions, where the Northern Territory Academy plays a handful of games each year.

History

NT Thunder was formed in 2008 and were invited to join the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL "waffle" or "W-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting f ...

, but instead opted to join the

Queensland Australian Football League The Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL or "Q-A-F-L") is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by clubs from South East Queensland. Founded in 1903 it was previously known as the Queens ...

(QAFL). At the conclusion of the 2010 QAFL season, the Thunder were invited to join the newly formed

(NEAFL). The Thunder finished the regular season with the best record in the Northern Conference and in doing so claimed their first ever minor premiership. The Thunder went on to prove their superiority by claiming the first ever Northern Conference NEAFL premiership by defeating the Morningside Panthers. A week later the Thunder defeated the newly crowned Eastern Conference NEAFL premiers, Ainslie Tri-Colours, to claim the first ever NEAFL premiership at

Traeger Park Traeger Park (currently known under naming rights as TIO Traeger Park) is a sports complex located in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia, in the suburb of The Gap, Northern Territory, The Gap. Named after Alfred Hermann Traeger, the p ...

. The Thunder won two NEAFL premierships and entered a side in the

competition in Victoria. By the end of the 2019 season, AFL Northern Territory revealed it could no longer justify keeping the club afloat, and announced its cessation from both competitions.

Honour board

Legend:
''Premiers'', ''Finals''
''Bold italics: competition leading goal kicker''

Honours and achievements

Premierships

Club Champions

*2009 – Cameron Ilett *2010 – Cameron Ilett *2011 – Jake Dignan *2012 – Jason Roe *2013 – Cameron Ilett *2014 – Cameron Ilett *2015 – Richard Tambling *2016 – Cameron Ilett *2017 – Cameron Ilett

Grogan Medallists

''The Grogan Medal was awarded between 2011 and 2013 to the best and fairest player in the NEAFL Northern Conference.'' *Cameron Ilett (2011)

Ray Hughson Medallists

''The Ray Hughson Medal was awarded in the QAFL until 2010, and in the NEAFL Northern Conference between 2011 and 2013 to the leading goalkicker.'' *Darren Ewing (2009) – 81 goals *Darren Ewing (2011) – 115 goals *Darren Ewing (2013) – 94 goals

NEAFL leading goalkicker

''The NEAFL leading goalkicker has been awarded since 2014 to the player who kicks the most goals in the NEAFL competition.'' *Darren Ewing (2015) – 78 goals *Darren Ewing (2016) – 58 goals *Darren Ewing (2017) – 61 goals

NEAFL (Northern) Rising Stars

''The NEAFL (Northern) Rising Star was awarded between 2011 and 2013 to the best young player in the Northern Conference.'' *Ross Tungatalum (2011)

NEAFL Rising Stars

''The NEAFL (Northern) Rising Star has been awarded since 2014 to the best young player in the NEAFL competition.'' *Adam Sambono (2017)

Premiership coaches

*Murray Davis (2011) * Xavier Clarke (2015)

NEAFL Coach of the Year

''The NEAFL Coach of the Year has been awarded since 2014 to the best coach in the NEAFL competition.'' * Murray Davis (2011) * Xavier Clarke (2014)

QAFL Team of the Year representatives

''NT Thunder competed in the QAFL between 2009 and 2010 before joining the NEAFL.'' *Darren Ewing (2009) *Cameron Ilett (2009, 2010) *Jarred Ilett (2009– captain) *Peter MacFarlane (2009) * Brett Goodes (2010) * Zephaniah Skinner (2010)

NEAFL Team of the Year representatives

''Between 2011 and 2013, the Team of the Year representatives were from the Northern Conference. Since 2014, the representatives have been for the whole NEAFL competition.'' *Darren Ewing (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) *Cameron Ilett (2011– captain, 2013, 2014– captain, 2015– captain, 2016– captain, 2017) *Shaun Tapp (2011) *Ross Tungatalum (2011) *Kenrick Tyrrell (2011) *Jake Dignan (2012) * Jason Roe (2012) *Matt Rosier (2012) *Chris Dunne (2013, 2014) *Justin Beugelaar (2015) * Richard Tambling (2015) * Raphael Clarke (2016) *Adam Sambono (2017)

AFL players

''The following is the list of NT Thunder players who have played at AFL level and the club they play(ed) for.'' * Jed Anderson – and * Dom Barry – *

Jared Brennan Jared Brennan (born 28 July 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who last represented the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He also previously represented the Brisbane Lions. Early life B ...

– and * Raphael Clarke – * Nakia Cockatoo – * Alwyn Davey – * Nathan Djerrkura – and * Brett Goodes – * Nikki Gore - Women * Steven May – * Ryan Nyhuis - *

Andrew McLeod Andrew Luke McLeod (born 4 August 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the games record holder for Adelaide, having played 340 games. ...

– * Liam Patrick – * Relton Roberts – * Jason Roe – * Zephaniah Skinner – * Richard Tambling – and * Troy Taylor – * Austin Wonaeamirri –

Club song

The NT Thunder club song is "We are the Territory Thunder". We are Territory boys/girls
We are Territory Thunder Yellow, ochre, black and white
We are out for plunder Premierships are on our mind
We’ll tear our foes asunder We are Territory boys/girls
We are Territory Thunder We are Territory boys/girls
We are Territory Thunder Ngiya pumanyinga (I am Thunder)
Kuwa
Ngintha pumanyinga (You are Thunder)
Kuwa
Ngawa pumanyinga, Ngawa pumanyinga, Ngawa pumanyinga (We are Thunder)
Kuwa, Kuwa, Kuwa

Match records

''Correct to the end of round 17, 2017'' * ''Highest score for:'' 193 points
Round 18, 2010 ( Gardens Oval) – NT Thunder 29.19 (193) vs. 8.3 (51) * ''Lowest score for:'' 28 points
Round 17, 2017 (

Sydney Cricket Ground The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) is a sports stadium in the Moore Park, New South Wales, Moore Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is used for Test cricket, Test, One Day International and Twenty20 cricket, as well as, Australi ...

) – NT Thunder 4.4 (28) vs. 25.24 (174) * ''Highest score against:'' 174 points
Round 17, 2017 (

) – NT Thunder 4.4 (28) vs. 25.24 (174) * ''Lowest score against:'' 15 points
Round 13, 2014 ( TIO Stadium) – NT Thunder 19.11 (125) vs. 1.9 (15) * ''Highest aggregate score:'' 287 points
Round 4, 2009 (Victoria Point) – NT Thunder 20.11 (131) vs. 23.18 (156) * ''Lowest aggregate score:'' 89 points
Elimination final, 2014 (TIO Stadium) – NT Thunder 7.11 (53) vs. 5.6 (36) * ''Lowest winning score:'' 53 points
Elimination final, 2014 (TIO Stadium) – NT Thunder 7.11 (53) vs. Ainslie 5.6 (36) * ''Highest losing score:'' 131 points
Round 4, 2009 (TIO Stadium) – NT Thunder 23.18 (131) vs. Redland 23.18 (156) * ''Greatest winning margin:'' 142 points
Round 18, 2010 (Gardens Oval) – NT Thunder 29.19 (193) vs. Broadbeach 8.3 (51) * ''Greatest losing margin:'' 146 points
Round 17, 2017 (

) – NT Thunder 4.4 (28) vs. 25.24 (174) * ''Longest winning streak:'' 13 matches
Round 11, 2015 vs. Sydney University (

Henson Park Henson Park is a multi purpose sports ground in Marrickville, New South Wales, Australia. History Henson Park was established in 1933 on the site of Daley's brick pit, Thomas Daley operated the Standsure Brick Company from 1886 to 1914. The br ...

) to round 1, 2016 vs. (TIO Stadium) * ''Longest losing streak:'' 3 matches (achieved four times)
Round 15, 2009 vs. Redland (

) to round 17, 2009 vs. (

Carrara Stadium Carrara Stadium (also known as People First Stadium under naming rights) is a stadium on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara, Queensland, Carrara. The stadium is primarily used for A ...

)
Round 2, 2010 vs. Redland (Victoria Point Oval) to round 4, 2010 vs. Southport ( Fankhauser Reserve)
Northern conference grand final, 2012 vs. Brisbane Lions (Leyshon Park) to round 2, 2013 vs. Aspley (Graham Road Oval)
Round 20, 2013 vs. Redland (Traeger Park) to round 22, 2013 vs. Aspley (TIO Stadium) * ''Most goals in a match by an individual:'' 14 goals
Darren Ewing, round 19, 2013 (Leyshon Park)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Queensland State Football League clubs Australian rules football clubs in the Northern Territory 2008 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 2008 2019 disestablishments in Australia Sports clubs and teams disestablished in 2019 Sport in Darwin, Northern Territory Sport in Alice Springs Former North East Australian Football League clubs