NORTHERN TERRITORY TEAM OF THE 20TH CENTURY

Coach

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Coach - Steve Abala (Wanderers & Nightcliff)

Almost without exception, the NTFL's most successful senior coaches - men like Tony Shaw, John Taylor, Aldo Rossetto and Bob Elix - have hailed from the southern states, but there are always the exceptions that prove the rule.  In the case of NTFL coaches, arguably the best of these 'exceptions' was former Darwin player Steve Abala.  When appointed coach of Wanderers in 1979 the Eagles had not won a flag for more than 20 years, and indeed every season between 1963-64 and 1971-72 (9 in total) had finished dead set last.

In Abala's first season at the helm Wanderers landed yet another wooden spoon, but the following year the side's improvement began in earnest.  The Eagles reached the 1980-81 grand final against North Darwin and, after trailing by 52 points at the last change, came storming back to fall short by just a single straight kick at the death.

In 1981-82 and 1982-83 Wanderers won successive flags for the only time since World War Two, narrowly defeating St Marys on both occasions.  The second of these premiership years proved to be Steve Abala's last as Wanderers coach.

In 1988-89, seeking a fresh challenge, Abala took the coaching reins at Nightcliff, which had not won a premiership since 1964-65.  However, after overseeing just one season, which yielded a 5th place finish, he called it a day.  His achievement in resurrecting the fortunes of a Wanderers side that was going nowhere, however, make him worthy of the title of 'the Territory's Greatest Home Grown Coach'.

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