By NOEL MURPHY
FOLKLORE has long had it that Tiwi Islanders possess a remarkable innate talent for Aussie rules football.
But Highton’s Josh Finch, who has plenty of footballing talent himself, couldn’t believe just how much until he saw it first-hand.
He was preparing for an AFLNT outing with the Tiwi Bombers, who he plays with every other week in the southern off-season, when he thought he’d tried the Tiwi basketball shoot-out, in which the aim is to kick a football through a basketball hoop.
He and mate John Meesen took 100 shots each. Finch goaled twice, Meesen zip.
Then a young islander wandered in, picked up a football and lobbed it in from half-court on his first kick – and did so again on his second. The third went errant, rimming the hoop but bouncing out.
“Another time I saw a bloke walking along the road barefoot in 35-degree heat bouncing a 1.25-litre Coke bottle back to himself just like a football,” Finch said.
“If they can’t find a footy they’ll use a Coke bottle – they just live and breathe football.”
Finch, a triple-best-and-fairest-winner with both his Modewarre team and Bellarine Football League, was lured to Darwin by Meesen, a former Melbourne Football Club player, to mentor the islanders.
“It’s probably the best experience I’ve ever had,” Finch said.
“I’m playing with them and helping them develop a more-professional outlook to the game. I’m not doing clinics yet but I’m helping them in preparing for games and in recovery.
“We’re currently sitting fifth on percentage and playing the fourth-placed Wanderers this weekend and hoping for a crack at the grand final.”
Summer football in the Northern Territory was no easy ask for a Victorian and 30C to 35C days with 90 per cent humidity made breathing difficult, Finch said.
Southerners were treated a little like rock stars but not always afforded immediate trust on the field, having to prove their worth first, he said.
Finch has been working alongside coach Willie Rioli, former Cat Ronnie Burns and ex-Demon Austin Wonnaeamirri.
He said the islanders’ marking and kicking talents were exceptional and some passages of play extremely fast and accurate.
