In one of the most isolated parts of Australia, cut off by monsoonal rains for months every year, some of the country's most exciting young Aussie Rules footballers are being noticed. A group of AFL officials and ex-players, including a former Essendon superstar, recently travelled to the remote Northern Territory community of Wadeye to help inspire the next generation of Top End talent.
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00:00In this footy mad northern community, Aussie rules goes hand in hand with daily life and
00:11culture.
00:14But despite Waddea's love for the sport, the Northern Territory community has never produced
00:19a top tier AFL player.
00:21But there's hopes that could soon change.
00:23There's a lot of fresh talent and hopefully we'll get one or two players come out of Waddea
00:29that play AFL.
00:32A group of current and former AFL and AFLW stars recently travelled to Waddea, including
00:39former Essendon player Anthony McDonald-Tippinwoodie, handing out free footballs to a buzzing crowd
00:45in the community's main centre.
00:47Hopefully you know create that pathway to a younger generation and obviously you would
00:51have seen a lot of kids kicking around with footy and everything so yeah there's a bright
00:56future there for your players, boys and girls.
01:01They also headed down to Waddea's Oval to check out the region's burgeoning talent playing
01:06in the community's grand final carnival.
01:09It's always very electric and very fast and very exciting.
01:12One of Waddea's young guns is Matthias Maloney, who last season played with a regional South
01:18Australian football league and has his sights set on the MCG.
01:22Playing around, a little bit of experience, yeah.
01:27Ahead of next season's draft selection, the Waddea players put on a grand final showstopper
01:33with local team the Dockers beating the Suns in a nail-biter and the fans giving roaring
01:39Southern stadiums a run for their money.