DARWIN (Buffaloes/Vesteys/Warriors)
Affiliated: NTFL 1917-present
Club Address: P.O. Box 777, Darwin 0801
Home Ground: Football Park, Marrara
Formed: 1917 as Warriors; changed name to Vesteys in 1918, and to Buffaloes in 1926; became known as Darwin Football Club in 1962
Colours: Navy and light blue
Emblem: Buffaloes
Premierships: 1921/22, 1924/25, 1925/26, 1926/27, 1931/32, 1933/34, 1934/35, 1935/36, 1948/49, 1949/50, 1950/51, 1951/52, 1962/63, 1963/64, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1972/73, 1975/76, 1979/80, 1988/89, 2005/6 (23 total)
NTFL President's Medallists: Rueben Cooper 1921/22; Don Bonson Sr. 1931/32 & 1935/36; Walter Lew Fatt 1932/33 & 1933/34; Leo Pon 1937/38; Joe McGuinness 1940/41 (5 winners/7 wins)
NTFL Best & Fairest Award: Leo Pon 1946/7 (1 total)
Nichols Medallists: Joe Sarib 1949/50; Steve Abala Sr. 1950/51; Don Stokes 1967/68; Ali Muir 1968/69; Ron Quall 1975/76; Basil Damaso 1976/77; William Briston 1983/84; Steven Stokes 1987/88; Jason Jones 1991/92 & 1993/94; Ben Ahmat 2002/3 (10 Medallists/13 Medals)
| MINI-BIOGRAPHIES: | Michael Athanasiou Bill Dempsey John 'Bubba' Tye Darryl White |
Darwin was one of the three initial members of the NTFL. Originally known as Warriors, the club was unsuccessful in its first season in 1917 and promptly changed its name to Vesteys, after the meat factory where the majority of its players were employed.
Vesteys won another premiership in 1921/22, defeating Wanderers 5.6 (36) to 3.6 (24). In 1923/24 the club forfeited its semi final against Wanderers, and the chance of another flag, in protest at the league's choice of central umpire. Further premierships followed in 1924/25 and 1925/26 before the club changed its name again in 1926/27. Under its new name of Buffaloes the side was immediately successful, winning the grand final by 4 points from Magpies.
During the remaining pre-World War Two period Buffaloes vied with Waratahs as the pre-eminent force in NTFL football. The club was also in the process of developing a strong family tradition, which endures to this day, with a number of present day players able to look back with pride at fathers, grand fathers, and even great grand fathers who represented the team in days of yore. Names like Cooper, Bonson, Ah Mat and Lew Fatt recur throughout the Buffaloes' history.
With appearances in the first ten post war grand finals Buffaloes remained very much a force to be contended with. On the debit side, however, the team won only four of those ten grand finals, and indeed overall between the 1951/52 and 1962/63 premierships Buffaloes contested no fewer than seven grand finals without success.
The 1962/63 flag coincided with yet another name change, this time to the Darwin Football Club. The Buffalo emblem was retained, however. The 1960s proved a profitable decade for the club with eight grand final appearances for five wins. However, for most of the past two and a half decades the Buffaloes have had to accept almost continual second billing to arch rivals St Marys who, in 2002/3, finally managed to overhaul Darwin's then record of twenty-two senior premierships. Even after the Saints' fortunes went into temporary decline towards the end of the 1990s the Buffaloes still could not break through for a premiership, with their nearest miss coming in the infamous 'lightning strike' grand final of 2000/1 when they fell short of Palmerston by just 12 points.
In 2005/6, however, the Buffaloes finally managed to break what by that time had become a hoodoo stretching back almost two decades. Despite only qualifying for the finals in third place, convincing wins over Wanderers and Nightcliff in the 1sts semi final and preliminary final respectively set up a grand final showdown with St Marys. A close game was expected, with Saints favoured to win, but Darwin, with former AFL star Darryl White in irrepressible form, made a nonsense of the form-book by winning with transcendent ease by 7 goals. Final scores were Darwin 13.14 (92) to St Marys 6.14 (50), a result which handed the Buffaloes their twenty-third senior flag, leaving them just two premierships adrift of the Saints.
By contrast, the 2006/7 season could scarcely have been more deflating, as the side managed just 3 wins from 19 matches to plummet to their first wooden spoon in a decade, a results that was only marginally improved on a year later.
Besides White, other noteworthy players to have represented the Buffaloes down the years have included Bill Dempsey, who proved himself a bona fide champion during a 343 game league career with West Perth, John 'Bubba' Tye, Don Bonson senior, Walter Lew Fatt, Leo Pon, and Michael Athanasiou, .
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