President's Welcome

Peter Coffey

A hearty welcome to all players, umpires, officials and supporters to Darwin.  It has been nine long years since our last visit and this carnival shows all the signs of being one of our largest ever.

With the assistance from the Northern Territory Government through NT Sport and Recreation and NT Tourism we are delighted to be holding our first AFL Masters and our 26th National Carnival at the magnificent TIO Stadium and surrounding grounds at Marrara.

All players will be very impressed with the facilities and the dedicated full size AFL ovals.  The stadium's lighting for night games allows us to play night games on Sunday and Wednesday.

Special thanks to Kem Cowan, Roy Baehnisch and the NT AFL Masters organizing committee for their tireless support and willingness to host our carnival.  I'm sure during our ten day stay of sun, the outback and football, we will take advantage of sampling all of Darwin's hospitality.

With forty teams attending and approximately nine hundred registered players, this will be our largest carnival ever.  We welcome our over 55 age limit; this is their second full team carnival after playing in a mixed age group in Sydney last year.  These players are out most dedicated and are the very fact that AFL Masters is where it is today and growing at the rate it is.

We have confirmed to teams the need to monitor your liquid intake leading up to, during and after your games, coaches are reminded to use the extended interchange bench (twenty four) and keep a watchful eye on any signs of heat stress.

I look forward in catching up with all of you and having one or two cold ones.

On behalf the AFL Masters Board we wish all participants, umpires and supporters a very enjoyable and injury free carnival.  Please take advantage of the hospitality offered by our host and remember it's 'Football for Fun'.