54 — Centralian Advocate, Friday, March 22, 2013

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CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN

RUGBY FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Saturday 23rd March 20139am - 12pm

Yeperenye Shopping Centre

$100 per child

Contact Nathan Coelli for more information on 0418 615 658

Central Australian Rugby Football League

JUNIOR RUGBY LEAGUE

SIGN ON DAY

PREMIERS 2012/13

A huge thank you must firstly go to our sponsors...

Congratulations to our players, coaches and support staff finally rewarded for all your hard work!

Special thanks to the ‘old boys’ and supporters

who turned up in numbers to watch us take the

Premiership, and to our families and kids who put

on a great performance cheering us onto the field!

Gapview Hotel

ProBuild NT

Araluen Taxation Services (ATS)

Police Credit Union

Carlton United Breweries (CUB)

Prime Cut Meat Supplies

Crowne Plaza

Centralian Sports

Landmark

Peter Kittle Motor Company

Hourglass Jewellers

SPORT

Redtails need to fly high

Dale Fletcher

TIME is running out for theCentral Australia Redtails as theNTFL newcomers try to booktheir place into the big league.

The concept was an overwhelm-ing success last October when thelocal boys won three of its fourtrial matches.

But the next step is taking waytoo long to happen.

The AFLNT board has releasedan online survey, which clearlystates their position on the con-cept, they don’t want it.

Negativity and further hurdlesfor the Redtails have been handedto the side with deadline daylooming as June 1.

Money is always going to be anissue and potential sponsors would

like some reassurance from thecompetition before spending theirmoney. Who would put moneytowards something that may nothappen? I know I wouldn’t.

The club needs $700,000 perseason to be part of the NTFL andI believe support would come fromall angles once the green light isgiven to the club.

Redtails founding member Rob

Clarke has done a mountain ofwork to get this side on to the parkand this concept simply cannot dieright now.

Clarke received a letter from theAFLNT board this week outliningwhat they need to see before anyfurther planning can happen.

This letter is just another hurdlefor the Redtails to jump to make itto where they rightfully belong.

Footballers and supporters alikeare waiting eagerly for the nextRedtails match and the next fewmonths are crucial to make this areality. AFLNT CEO TonyFrawley has said the competitionwill not rush the Redtails andexpand the competition until theside has long-term security.

It’s now up to local support,sponsors, corporate partners andthe Northern Territory Govern-ment to bring together the fundsrequired to get the Redtails intothe NTFL.

The Northern Territory Gov-ernment has enough money tosupport the Melbourne Demons inthe AFL, after announcing a long-term deal through Tourism NTthis week, so what about a teamwithin our own borders?

Surely, it’s only a matter of timebefore the Government comes outto support the concept. If the so-called $700,000 per season wasguaranteed for the next fiveseasons, a green light for theRedtails would only be a matter of

time. Some may ask why are theRedtails taking so long? What isthe issue?

I think it’s a two-way street.

The more support the Redtailsshow the AFLNT board and theNTFL, the more chance we will seethe Redtails fly from next seasonand beyond.

As a competition, the NTFLhave to realise how much of a freekick this is for expansion andrealise how successful the TiwiBombers have been since enteringthe league in 2007/2008.

The powers that be in Darwinneed to be aware that the Redtailssteam train will not stop untilCentral Australia is represented inthe NTFL.

Bowhuntersright on targetARCHERY

Warren Thomson

Ronn Slusser and Tim Wissmanwill be participating in theAustralian Bowhunters Safari

Picture: COREY SINCLAIR

T H E A u s t r a l i a nBowhunters Associ-ation National Safariwill be held out of theeastern states for thefirst time when it be-gins this weekend inAlice Springs.

A massive field of 400archers will take part inthe event at the DeadCentre BowhunterClub, which starts onSunday and goes untilApril 1.

Archers will take partin traditional targetevents between Sundayand Tuesday, beforetrialling a new round ofshooting on Thursday.

Next Friday and Sat-urday will see archerstake aim at two-dimensional animals,before moving to three-dimensional models ofanimals next Sundayand Monday.

D e a d C e n t r eBowhunter Club mem-ber Tim Wissman saidthe club can’t wait tostart the event.

‘‘It’s the biggest event

we’ve ever hosted andwe are very excited,’’ MrWissman said.

‘‘The club has put in alot of effort into gettingour facility up toscratch such as buildinga shower block so par-ticipants can camp on-site and we’ve also put anew archery range in.

‘‘The infrastructurework has been tre-mendous and we are alllooking forward tohaving 400 people tak-ing part.’’

There will be about 60locals taking part in thenine days of archeryand Wissman said theDead Centre Bow-hunter Club has a lot ofsharp shooters whocould win a medal.

‘‘We have some verygood shots in the cluband three of our mem-bers won medals at lastyear’s event in Mildura

we will do well fromjuniors right through tothe veterans.’’

Archers will havet h e i r e q u i p m e n tinspected tomorrowbefore action beginson Sunday.

Bulls rumours falseRUGBY LEAGUE

Warren Thomson

Chuck Ritenour

‘I know more than

half the squad

have committed

and there are still

a few players we

have got a hold of

yet

’ Chuck Ritenour

Memo Bulls president

MEMO Bulls vice-p r e s i d e n t C h u c kRitenour ruled out ru-mours that the sidedidn’t have any playersfor the upcoming 2013season.

There were whispersof the club not havingplayers, but Ritenoursaid they will have goodnumbers ahead of theclub’s sign-on day onSunday.

‘‘I know more thanhalf the squad havecommitted and thereare still a few players wehave got a hold of yet,’’he said.

‘‘Some of the playerswill be recruiting a fewnew players and othernew players are wel-come to sign with us onSunday.

‘‘We will have ourfirst training on Tues-day with Justin Dowsoncoaching, but we arelooking for a new coachas he won’t be able to

coach us due to workand family commit-ments.’’

The club will be look-ing for more players onthe books as theystruggled for numbersand regularly playedwithout a bench lastseason.

Off the field, the clubis looking good as itlooks to survive withoutthe support of theMemo Club.

‘ ‘ W e a p p r e c i a t eCrackers for picking us

up last year, and we’venow moved to the morefamily friendly RSLClub as our new base.

‘‘We’ve got a majorityof sponsors back onboard and we are wait-ing on a few more to seeif they get on board.

‘‘The club is now in agood position with theRSL Club as we nowhave a place to go to.’’

Sunday’s sign-on daybegins at 2pm at theRSL Club and sign-onis available for the sen-ior team along with thejuniors.