NORTHERN TERRITORY TEAM OF THE 20TH CENTURY

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Right Back Pocket - Fabian Francis (Southern Districts, Port Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, South Fremantle, Port Adelaide Magpies)

One of Southern Districts' most noteworthy products, Fabian Francis made a couple of aborted efforts to start a senior AFL career before finally igniting on his 3rd attempt with Port Adelaide.

Possessed of considerable upper body strength, a legacy of his combining rugby league with football as a youngster, Francis was an early developer who played senior football in the NTFL as a 14 year old, and in the AFL before his 18th birthday.  He failed to settle at his first AFL club, Melbourne, and played just 3 senior games during a 1991 season which culminated in participation in the Demons' losing reserves grand final team.  The opposition on grand final day was provided by Brisbane, and it was to the Bears that Francis headed in 1993 for a 2nd stab at AFL footy.  This time 'round he managed 20 games before a contractual dispute precipitated his departure.  Joining Port Adelaide in the SANFL, he resurrected his career by playing some excellent football in the Magpies' 1995 and 1996 premiership seasons.  In the latter of those years he was runner up to eventual Power team mate Josh Francou in the Magarey Medal.

In 1997, Port Adelaide entered a team in the AFL, and Fabian Francis was a key member from the start.  Quick, strong, and a superb kick with either foot, he was equally at home in defence, on a wing, or in the forward lines.  He enjoyed a superb 2000 season when he finished 3rd in the Power's best and fairest count, but after just one more season at the club he was left in limbo after failing to agree a contract.  A move to Fremantle looked to be on the cards for a time, only for salary cap restrictions to scupper the arrangement.  Sadly for a player with so much ability, Fabian Francis' career at the football's highest level was over, although he did play briefly for South Fremantle and Port Adelaide Magpies before finally calling it a day.

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Full Back - Rohan Helyar (Nightcliff & Norwood)

A strong, tough, resolute defender, Rohan Helyar was the Northern Territory's full back when it defeated Tasmania, Australian Amateurs and the VFA to win division 2 of the 1988 Bicentennial carnival in Adelaide.  He was also at full back, and high in the best players, when the NTFL defeated North Melbourne at Gardens Oval in the 1988 Australia Day clash.

Between 1983 and 1990, Helyar spent the winter months amassing precisely 100 SANFL games (see footnote 1) for Norwood, proving himself a reliable and highly effective defender.  He was also selected to represent South Australia on 1 occasion.

There have been flashier and more exciting players than Rohan Helyar, but players of his disposition and ilk are every bit as important to a team's prospects and overall balance. 

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Left Back Pocket - Mike Poulter (Waratahs, Norwood, Darwin)

Mike Poulter was arguably Waratahs' most highly-rated product.  After a successful junior career in the early 1960s and some promising senior performances as a forward in 1966/67 and 1967/68 Poulter joined Norwood in 1968 where he went on to play 175 games, represent the state, win a best and fairest award in 1970, and appear in the club's premiership winning team of 1975.  

Prior to joining Norwood, in 1967, Poulter had represented the NTFL in its 69 point loss to a VFL All Stars side containing such players as Royce Hart, Hassa Mann, Barry Davis, Bob Skilton, John Nicholls and Stuart Magee, and he was also a member of the victorious Territory side which travelled to Brisbane to take on Queensland in 1974.  Equally at home on the ball or holding down a key position, Poulter continued to perform to good effect when he returned home, representing both Darwin (whom he also coached) and Waratahs until compelled by injury to retire in 1982.

In 1990, when an independent panel of 20 judges was commissioned to select the 20 best NTFL footballers of the previous quarter of a century, Mike Poulter came in at number 15.

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Footnotes

1.  Some sources suggest 101 games.  Return to Main Text