A star-studded Team Larrakia has won the Division One Darwin 9s tournament held at Rugby Park Marrara last weekend.
The victorious Team Larrakia boasted a handful of ex-AFL and State League stars, eventually triumphing with a 10 – 2 grand final win over Team Greece.
Footy 9s is a nine-a-side hybrid version of Australian rules football that is played on a rectangular field.
Australian Football International CEO Brian Clarke told National Indigenous Times that he was pleased with the success of this year's carnival.
"The Darwin 9s this year was a huge success, expanding from eight teams in 2022 to 12 teams in 2023," Clarke said.
"Larrakia have competed in the Darwin 9s for the last two years and have developed a great rivalry with Greece, defeating them in both grand finals."
Greece got off to a fast start and kicked two goals in the opening couple of minutes before the momentum swung towards Team Larrakia.
With St Mary's star and multiple-time NTFL premiership player Nick Yarran winning plenty of the football, Larrakia were able to swing back the momentum and open up a two-point advantage at the half-time break.
It was the Steven Motlop show after half-time, the former Geelong and Port Adelaide player putting on a clinic and helping Larrakia cruise to an eight-point victory.
Larrakia proved far too good despite Greece having recorded a victory when the two sides met earlier on in the carnival.
Steven Motlop's older brothers, Daniel and Shannon, provided great service in the ruck.
Daniel was a mercurial forward who booted 208 goals during his 130 games with North Melbourne and Port Adelaide while Shannon is a premiership player at North Melbourne and later had a stint with the Melbourne Demons.
There were many other credentialed local footballers who played prominent roles for Team Larrakia.
Northern Territory Football League representative players Mitchell Taylor and Bradley Stokes proved a formidable duo in defence, while Darwin Buffaloes' Aaron Stokes was also a solid contributor.
Ronald Fejo – who has played at VFL level for Greater Western Sydney this year – was having a strong carnival before suffering a minor injury in the grand final.
Team Larrakia also fielded a team in the Darwin 9s Women's Division.
Australian Football International describes Footy 9s as 'an exciting new team sport that has been inspired by Australian Football;'.
"Footy 9s has been designed to make it much easier for people to play, without the difficulty of trying to find a large enough field and recruit a small army in order to play," the Australian Football International website states.
CEO Brian Clarke has ambitious plans for the future of the sport.
"The purpose of the event is to showcase the potential of Footy 9s to become a genuine international sport," Clarke said.
"Our long-term aim is to secure the inclusion of Footy 9s in the Olympic Games."
