Kevin Sheedy coaches American NORFORCE side at AFL Masters Carnival
AFL legend Kevin Sheedy has taken up the coaching reins of an American outfit in what he has called “one of the most important bridge building exercises” in the sport’s history.
Kevin Sheedy’s footy connection with the Top End dates back to 1974, pioneering the Northern Territory’s inclusion in the national game and now it’s a staging ground for another stepping stone in the game.
The AFL hall of famer, who played 251-games at Richmond and coached Essendon to four premierships, has taken up the reins of an American side to play at the AFL Masters.
The NORFORCE clash was the 6pm curtain raiser to the NTFL season opener between the Nightcliff Tigers and Tiwi Bombers.
But for Sheedy it’s a crucial chance to coach a team from America and introduce the sport to the next frontier - something that has been a long-held ambition of his.
“This game is one of the most important bridge building exercises in AFL history,” he said.
“This is the first step to recruiting Americans out of California to the AFL. I hope to see this happen before I die.”
Sheedy first came to the Territory 50 years ago where he got to see the likes of the great David Kantilla train and play on the Tiwi Islands.
It sparked a long-standing connection for him and it was in 1988 when his Essendon side took on a star-studded NT representative team that Michael Long caught his eye.
Long’s selection sparked a huge selection shift at the Bombers that at that stage had only selected one previous Indigenous player.
That was Norm McDonald, who coincidentally has a relative coaching against Sheedy in the Masters match, but from Long’s selection Essendon opened the floodgates on Indigenous talent.
Many of which under Sheedy’s coaching were Territorians including Alwyn Davey and Dean Rioli.
“We played about three or four matches up here and we could never beat the NT, they were a very good side back then,” he said.
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“That made us really understand that there’s a lot of talent up here and when they performed it started the push for people in Melbourne to get off their backsides and come to Darwin.
“I’m really proud of what we did back then and when you see Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti come down to play for Essendon it’s a long journey on from where we started.
“I love coming up here, it’s great to see the people I’ve met across the past 50 years and fell in love with across my visits.”
Originally published as Kevin Sheedy coaches American NORFORCE side at AFL Masters Carnival
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