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Marrara Oval, the largest sports stadium in the Northern Territory
18% of all Territorians in 2017 participated in Australian Football,[3] the highest participation rate in Australia (and second worldwide). The sport also produces more professional Australian Footballers per capita in theAustralian Football League than any other state or territory.
The Northern Territory is home to several representative teams, most notably theAboriginal All-Stars. Also theFlying Boomerangs represent Australia internationally and the Northern Territory has a strong local competition, theNorthern Territory Football League. A professional club, theNorthern Territory Football Club (NT Thunder) was formed in 2008 and competed in the second tier semi-national NEAFL competition. Following a 2018 scoping study, in 2021 the Northern Territory AFL taskforce launched an official bid to enter a team into the nationalAustralian Football League (AFL) competition which is under consideration by the league for entry around 2030.[4]
Since the debut ofReuben Cooper in 1969 a large number of Territorians have played in the AFL, though a significant percentage have launched their professional football careers from other states, particularly South Australia. A proportionately high number of AFL players per capita are now from the Territory. Perhaps the most accomplished born and raised player isAustralian Football Hall of FamerAndrew Mcleod. Fellow Hall of FamerNathan Buckley is the only Territorian to win the prestigious Brownlow Medal. Darwin-bornShaun Burgoyne holds both the AFL games and goals records with 407 games and 302 goals. Burgoyne andCyril Rioli have played in 4 AFL premierships, more than any other Territorian.
Basketball Northern Territory (BNT) is the governing body ofbasketball in the Northern Territory. The major association in the territory is Darwin Basketball Association (DBA). In 2022, theDarwin Salties debuted in theQueensland-basedNBL1 North competition, making theNBL1 the first Australian sport league to have clubs based in and playing out of every state and territory in Australia.[5] The club folded in 2024 due to financial difficulties.[6]
Darwin hosts a round of theSupercars Championship every year, theDarwin Triple Crown, bringing thousands of motorsports fans to theHidden Valley Raceway. The Hidden Valley Raceway facility also contains a drag strip as part of Hidden Valley Raceway's main straight, and a nearby Speedway,Northline Speedway, for short circuit dirt surface racing.
Rugby league is administered by theNorthern Territory Rugby League. The territory has the highest participation rate per capita for Rugby League than any other state governing body in Australia. TheNational Rugby League has conducted numerous clinics and hosted regular pre-season matches in the territory since 1998. Local domestic competitions are based in Darwin, Alice Springs, Katherine and Gove. A combined Northern Territory team also participates in theAffiliated States Championship.
TheDarwin Hottest Sevens tournament is hosted in Darwin each January, withRugby sevens club teams from countries including Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, and Singapore competing. Darwin's Hottest 7s, with a prize pool of $65,000 in 2013, is the richest Rugby sevens tournament in the Southern Hemisphere.[44]
The Darwin Cup Carnival culminating on the first Monday of August is a very popular horse race event for Darwin Turf Club and draws large crowds every year to Fannie Bay Racecourse. The first Darwin Cup winner at Fannie Bay was Satan's Son in 1956.[45]
Darwin Sailing Club has hosting regattas and sailing events, from NT Championships and frequent Australian Championship regattas to World Sailing Grade 3 Match Racing regattas and World Championship regattas.[47]
Gove Boat Club established in 1971 and is one of the oldest.[48]
Football Northern Territory is the governing body for football (soccer) in theNorthern Territory. The Territory is also separated into three (Northern, Central and Southern) zones which have their own zone councils which administer leagues locally running their own league and cup competitions.
Since 1991 Darwin has hosted theArafura Games every two years until its cancellation in 2012.[59]
The AustralianWallabies rugby union side trained in the Northern Territory in September 2002 in preparation for the World Cup in 2003. Wallabies coachEddie Jones credited the Territory training camp as playing a crucial role in their upset semi-final victory over the New ZealandAll Blacks. The Wallabies camped at Mount Borradile inArnhem Land and encountered a 4-metre saltwater crocodile. Jones stated; "the Darwin camp for us was very positive, as the guys physically and mentally benefited from training in the heat, and it was a very important experience for us".[60]
In July 2003, Darwin hosted its first internationaltest cricket match betweenAustralia andBangladesh and thenAustralia andSri Lanka in 2004. Two portable pitches were installed at Marrara in June 2003 for the Bangladesh test. The installation was supervised byMelbourne Cricket Club curator Tony Ware.[61]
Bangladesh defeated the NT Chief Minister's XI in Darwin in July 2003. Bangladesh won by two wickets after being given a second innings target of 187.[62]
Australia defeatedBangladesh by an innings and 132 runs in Darwin in July 2003. Bangladesh's best batsmanHabibul Bashar scored 54 off 82 balls before being bowled byStuart MacGill.[63] Both Australian and Bangladesh players were presented with commemorative medallions by NT Minister for SportJohn Ah Kit and Cricket Australia chairman Bob Merriman. The medallions were to mark the test cricket match between the two countries.[64]
Sri Lanka defeated the Northern Territory Chief Minister's XI in a four-day cricket match in June 2004. Sri Lanka won by five wickets, chasing 187 to win.Tillakaratne Dilshan was not out of 66.[65]
Australia defeated Sri Lanka atMarrara Oval in July 2004 by 149 runs. Sri Lanka was bowled out for 97 and 162. Australian bowlerMichael Kasprowicz finished with figures of 7-39. Sri Lanka criticised the condition of the Mararra Oval wicket in the wake of the defeat. Acting Australian captainAdam Gilchrist stated that the wicket was "...not quite up to Test standard".[66]
Darwin hosted an AFL match betweenCollingwood and the Aboriginal All-Stars on 12 February 1994. The All-Stars beat Collingwood 13-10 (88) to 10-8 (68). Prime MinisterPaul Keating tossed the coin at the beginning of the match.[67]
TheWestern Bulldogs defeatedPort Adelaide 20.15 (135) to 11.15 (81) atTIO Stadium on 28 June 2008 in front of 11,400 fans. The victory gave the Bulldogs a temporary hold on the top of theAFL ladder.[72]
Darwin hosted the quarter-final tie of theDavis Cup starting 17 July 2015. A grass stadium court and two practice courts were built for the event.[80]Lleyton Hewitt led Australia to victory overKazakhstan with a straights set win overAleksandr Nedovyesov in the final deciding match.[81] In doing so Australia came back from a 2–0 deficit. It was reported that 12,332 people attended the three-day quarter final tie.[82]
Hawthorn Football Club brought their2013,2014 and2015 premiership cups to Darwin on 16 November 2015. The cups were on display at the Waratah Sports Club.[83]
Palmerston Magpies were affected by theEssendon supplements scandal whenAlwyn Davey andLeroy Jetta were suspended in January 2016. Jetta played in the side's mid-field while Davey was the team's coach. Davey and Jetta were two of 34 current and former Essendon players banned for the 2016 season. The Northern Territory was the only place in Australia where Australian Rules Football was played at the time of the announcement of the suspensions.[84]
Peter "The Chief" Graham defeated Julius "Towering Inferno" Long for the World Boxing Foundation heavyweight championship at theDarwin Convention Centre on 27 February 2016. Graham won on points after a cut above his right eye caused the fight to be stopped. It was judged that the cut was a result of an accidental head clash. Graham was ahead on all three judges' scorecards after five rounds of the 12 round contest.[85]
