A woman in her seventies, bent with age, is swathed head to toe in blue and she's hollering so loud I temporarily lose hearing in my left hear. <\/p>\n
\"Bring it home, boys, BRRRRRING IT HOOOOOOOME!\" <\/p>\n
She's barracking for the Tuyu Buffaloes, and her screams are rewarded minutes later when her team wins the 2014 Tiwi Grand Final. <\/p>\n
Welcome to the Tiwi Islands, two small islands about 80km north of Darwin, where AFL isn't just a passion but a way of life. <\/p>\n
The Tiwis have the highest participation rate in AFL of any other community in Australia: about 900 of the Islands' 2600 population play, a staggering 35 per cent. <\/p>\n
Big names in AFL have sprung from the Tiwi Islands, such as Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli, and Michael Long, who played for Essendon. <\/p>\n
Their season runs during the hot, wet half of the year in the Top End, when hundreds of millimetres of rain can fall in a day but which makes surfaces easier to play on than the hard ground during the dry. <\/p>\n
On Grand Final day the eight local teams have been whittled down to two: The Tuyu Buffaloes from Bathurst Island and the Mulwurri Magpies from Melville Island. <\/p>\n
The Magpies put up a good fight but the Buffaloes claim the premiership, at 13 9 (87) to 12 5 (77), their second win since 2012. <\/p>\n
Supporters flood the field, shouting and cheering as they mob the players, babies thrown up onto shoulders and older women weeping with pride as they join the fray. <\/p>\n
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See more here:<\/p>\n
Tiwi Islands: where AFL is a way of life<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A woman in her seventies, bent with age, is swathed head to toe in blue and she's hollering so loud I temporarily lose hearing in my left hear. \"Bring it home, boys, BRRRRRING IT HOOOOOOOME!\" She's barracking for the Tuyu Buffaloes, and her screams are rewarded minutes later when her team wins the 2014 Tiwi Grand Final. Welcome to the Tiwi Islands, two small islands about 80km north of Darwin, where AFL isn't just a passion but a way of life Continue reading