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Speaker 1: But I tell you what. If you are a football lover,

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Speaker 1: well you'll know that the nt AFL season kicks off today,

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Speaker 1: so October two at TiO Stadium. Now I believe that

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Speaker 1: the Nightcliff Tigers are taking on the tee Wee Bombers.

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Speaker 1: I think that's the first round kicking off tonight. Then

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Speaker 1: tomorrow it's going to be the Grand Final rematch. But

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Speaker 1: I'll tell you what. The person who knows more than

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Speaker 1: I do is the AFL chair here in the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 1: Sean Bowden, Good morning to you. Hang on, I better

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Speaker 1: make sure I've got him through the desk properly. No,

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Speaker 1: my phone, As luck would have it, my phone is

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Speaker 1: freezing up. Now I think I've got him. Good morning Sean.

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Speaker 2: Good morning from you gave you.

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Speaker 1: Gave you a big pump up mate, and the phone

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Speaker 1: line didn't work.

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Speaker 2: Perfect.

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Speaker 1: Oh it's well the season kicking off tonight.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's a new start to night. It's a

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Speaker 2: cracking game tee we versus Nightcliff Thursday Night footy and

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Speaker 2: available through the streaming services and that it's going to

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Speaker 2: be a great game. And you know the tea we

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Speaker 2: are up and about Nightcliff they've got a bit to

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Speaker 2: prove from last year, so you know, it's a great start.

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Speaker 2: And then I think, as you did say in the intros,

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Speaker 2: the Grand Final replay Friday night on top of all

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Speaker 2: this Master's footy, so it's just footy footy. Ever it

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Speaker 2: really is seems to be into it at the moment.

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Speaker 2: It's come on us pretty quick. We're at this sort

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Speaker 2: of boring little game last Saturday and now we've got

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Speaker 2: the big stuff starting up here in the top ends.

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Speaker 1: So you don't have you don't have Snoop Dogg there though,

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Speaker 1: singing at the at the opening game though, do you No, We.

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Speaker 2: Couldn't convince him. But but we'll work on that. We'll

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Speaker 2: work for next year.

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Speaker 1: I tell you what, it's fantastic. It's so good when

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Speaker 1: the footy season starts back up. Have we ever had

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Speaker 1: games on a Thursday night before?

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Speaker 2: Is that a first? This is this is I believe first,

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Speaker 2: and it's a I think it's a great way to

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Speaker 2: open the year. And you've seen that territories will come

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Speaker 2: out any day of the week if you put on

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Speaker 2: the right event. I saw that with the fantastic cricket

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Speaker 2: that was on a month or so ago. People are

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Speaker 2: back good sport and good, good community interaction, and I

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Speaker 2: think that let's let's see how we go tonight. But

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Speaker 2: I think it's a good slot to be in and

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Speaker 2: it just extends that little bit of footy for people.

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Speaker 2: We all live busy lives, so we're trying to get

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Speaker 2: it so you know, there's plenty of opportunities for people

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Speaker 2: to get the games they want to see and get

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Speaker 2: to the games they want to be out.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree, hopefully, Like I feel as though it'll

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Speaker 1: be a good thing and hopefully, you know, it rolls

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Speaker 1: out really smoothly. Talk us through in the in the

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Speaker 1: remaining games for the men's prems this weekend. Who else

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Speaker 1: have we got playing?

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Speaker 2: Well, obviously Southern Districts in Saint Mary's there that's the

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Speaker 2: big grand final replay and both teams a muscling up

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Speaker 2: for the season and that's going to be a ripper.

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Speaker 2: And then Wanderers and dar which is going to be

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Speaker 2: a good game. They're both building clubs and I've got

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Speaker 2: super impressed by the work done by their committees and

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Speaker 2: their presidents and the leadership they're both clubs. Over the

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Speaker 2: off season. They've really worked hard and put their shoulder

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Speaker 2: of the wheel. They're going to put competitive teams on

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Speaker 2: the field this year, and the club's clubs are building,

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Speaker 2: which is great. And then on Sunday Pints and Wartah,

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Speaker 2: which is another really evenly matched competition. Pints are a

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Speaker 2: bit of an unknown sort of team this year, but

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Speaker 2: they've got their coaches back from the year before and

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Speaker 2: Warta of course have been very very solid over the

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Speaker 2: last decade. So ye, Rick Nolan coached and that's going

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Speaker 2: to be a that's going to be another really good guy.

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Speaker 1: And it's always, I suppose interesting, isn't it. At the

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Speaker 1: start of the season. You know, on paper, your teams

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Speaker 1: can look really really sort of strong, you know, you

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Speaker 1: start the season fresh, no injuries, all that kind of thing.

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Speaker 1: But then seeing how well those teams gel together as well,

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Speaker 1: sometimes for the first time.

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Speaker 2: Very true. And I'm told we had a terrific opening

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Speaker 2: last night up in the Nimble Room in Parliament House

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Speaker 2: and thanks to Jins and Charles and Robin Carl and

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Speaker 2: the team Loriza who seed the event. It was a

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Speaker 2: really really good event with everyone there and really interesting

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Speaker 2: stuff coming out of the chats I was having. We've

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Speaker 2: got five hundred interstate players registered already and in Darwin.

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Speaker 2: Now last year we had fifteen hundred by the end,

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Speaker 2: so that's the turn across the year that we've got

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Speaker 2: five hundred already and a couple of the coaches spokes

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Speaker 2: I an't known, but they're quietly saying we're looking for

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Speaker 2: early season wins and that's a bit of a sort

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Speaker 2: of a turnaround from the old saying up here it

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Speaker 2: doesn't start till after Christmas. I think clubs are realizing

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Speaker 2: it is competitive and you need to get your wins

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Speaker 2: in when you can get them. And once you're in

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Speaker 2: the finals, as Sa Mary showed last year finishing fifth,

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Speaker 2: you're in reach. And now we've opened up the flying

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Speaker 2: rule again Weld this year, and so you know, clubs

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Speaker 2: have got more options. The people coming in have to stay.

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Speaker 2: This is really important because these people contribute to our

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Speaker 2: community and our economy. Of course, but you can there's

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Speaker 2: no limit on the flyings. So that's if people want

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Speaker 2: to come and play, we're going to have. You know.

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Speaker 2: I think that might explain some of the extra numbers,

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Speaker 2: but yeah, it's the teams will build you. We won't

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Speaker 2: know till Christmas, but I think the message I'm getting

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Speaker 2: it's going to be super competitive into Christmas, which is great.

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Speaker 1: And Sean in the women's camp, what can we expect

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Speaker 1: this weekend and and how are they looking?

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Speaker 2: Uh similar similar games the tea Wee women I've got

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Speaker 2: a close eye on. They've been training hard, I'm told

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Speaker 2: and a couple of couple of new co coaches, Mary

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Speaker 2: Dune oversees them from on high and I think she's

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Speaker 2: whispering to people that she's got a bit of confidence

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Speaker 2: up awesome and out of Southern districts. They've got bursting

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Speaker 2: numbers again in the women and the girls. But you know,

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Speaker 2: Pints perennial really strong st Mary is really strong and

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Speaker 2: hopefully and hopefully looking for the muckmucks, the wanderers and

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Speaker 2: the buffs to really lift into it as well. So,

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Speaker 2: you know, the women and girls Catie, I think, as

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Speaker 2: we've talked about before, is absolutely a duel in our competition.

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Speaker 2: We just love it. And the numbers continue to grow.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's phenomenal. I mean you touched on crops there.

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Speaker 1: I know in those junior girls age groups, like in

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Speaker 1: some of the age groups they've got sort of three

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Speaker 1: four teams they do.

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Speaker 2: And look, I was told many years ago a group

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Speaker 2: of girls turned up at CROCS and they didn't have

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Speaker 2: any junior under fifteen girls teams and then unders team

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Speaker 2: and the girls turned up thirteen fourteen I was and

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Speaker 2: they demanded a team, and they got a team. And

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Speaker 2: to their credit, I'm not sure that they I'd like

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Speaker 2: to find them really to gratulate it, because they burst

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Speaker 2: through that committee room door and demanded bed so they

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Speaker 2: got it. Tracks has gone for strength to strength and

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Speaker 2: the women since well sewna.

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Speaker 1: It's a brave person telling a group of teenage girls

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Speaker 1: that they can't play sport.

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Speaker 2: So I hear, but look it is. It's going to

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Speaker 2: be a great year. Last year, Codie, there were five

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Speaker 2: three hundred people who played football registered players are down

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Speaker 2: to your film. That's a big number when you think

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Speaker 2: about the population of Darwin. We're on trend to increase

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Speaker 2: that a little bit. And you know two hundred and

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Speaker 2: sey umpires. We've got out there really good mix of

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Speaker 2: girls coming into the umpiring as well, and I think

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Speaker 2: people saw the big numbers once we get to the

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Speaker 2: end of the season, people coming in the guards watching

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Speaker 2: watching quality footy, and of course I do want to

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Speaker 2: shout out to the n ten years have built this

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Speaker 2: partnership with us again this year and and the team

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Speaker 2: in there. You know, we're live streaming, but we've got

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Speaker 2: a Match of the day that is open access and

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Speaker 2: we've really got some big ideas around what do with

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Speaker 2: that and how to build the content around it. So

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Speaker 2: this is projecting us to the rest of the country

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Speaker 2: and I think that's what we want. We want to

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Speaker 2: get into suburban Melbourne. We want to get into suburban Adelaide.

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Speaker 2: Not just like we've got very strong coverage in the

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Speaker 2: country country leagues, but these things that are very exciting

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Speaker 2: and I think it's good for you know, the kids

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Speaker 2: can watch and the men and the women can watch

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Speaker 2: themselves on TV, and people down south can see what

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Speaker 2: we've got up here in the territory.

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Speaker 1: Well, and you do you know, if you know somebody

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Speaker 1: who's playing and you live into state, I do that

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Speaker 1: with the footy, you know, with the league in Queensland

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Speaker 1: as well. That's it is what you do and it's

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Speaker 1: wonderful to be able to do that. Sean, tell me

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Speaker 1: in terms of the juniors, when do they get underway

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Speaker 1: and across the board. I mean you touched on those

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Speaker 1: numbers five three hundred people playing footy. Do we have

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Speaker 1: a bit of a breakdown between the male and female components?

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Speaker 2: One hundred and seventy five teams was the information I

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Speaker 2: had last night wo and that they're going to play

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Speaker 2: eleven hundred games or around a mark forty plus percent

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Speaker 2: of edging over forty as women and girls and territory

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Speaker 2: wide forty thousand people participating in footy. That's including the

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Speaker 2: Alla Springs Leagues and the Barkley League and the Big

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Speaker 2: Rivers League. So it's it's it's big buying at a

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Speaker 2: at a grassroots level. And of course I mean we

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Speaker 2: saw Zach Bailey on the Grand final, one of our

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Speaker 2: local guys running a MUK on the Grand Final. Very

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Speaker 2: unlucky not to get the norm Smith. We've got territory

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Speaker 2: players play at the highest level across the clubs. Charlie Cameron,

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Speaker 2: I'll hear one of his younger brothers is here in

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Speaker 2: daw and there's young tickets turned up in darw And

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Speaker 2: so you know, we've got at the community level and

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Speaker 2: we're also keep pushing up into the elite level, which

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Speaker 2: is which is terrific.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it is wonderful to see well, and kicking off

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Speaker 1: with a massive few days of footy all beginning tonight.

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Speaker 1: What time is it kicking off if anybody wants.

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Speaker 2: To head along, I think of seven doing tonight is

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Speaker 2: the men's game and it's a late one tomorrow night.

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Speaker 2: It's an eight pm Grand Final replay. Because we've got that,

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Speaker 2: we're slotting the Masters in. Oh well, so.

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Speaker 1: Probably a bit cooler as well, might.

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Speaker 2: Be because the boys are a bit that are a

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Speaker 2: bit out of it, out of the change rooms a

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Speaker 2: bit later in the evening. That's probably a good thing

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Speaker 2: for them as well. Yeah, get them home to bed

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Speaker 2: and they can get ready for next week.

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Speaker 1: Yep, absolutely well, Sean, it is going to be a

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Speaker 1: massive season, there is no doubt about that. Good to

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Speaker 1: speak with you this morning, and no doubt we'll catch

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Speaker 1: up with you regularly across the season.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Codie, and thanks for all your support as well,

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Speaker 2: and all the best for the NRL Grand Final next week.

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Speaker 2: You've got an interest there.

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Speaker 1: Well do, but you know the Dolphins aren't in there, mate,

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Speaker 1: so my interest in sways a little bit. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: you're a bit you know. You love the footy. I

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Speaker 1: love the footy all codes, no matter what I.

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Speaker 2: Love the sport. I get that. You know, Richmond went

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Speaker 2: playing last week. It was like, who do you care?

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Speaker 1: That's what happens. What happened to have a great exactly

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Speaker 1: exactly Sean. Great to speak with you. We'll catch up

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Speaker 1: with you again soon.

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Speaker 2: Thank you,