David Kantilla (1938 – 13 June 1978, traditional name AmparralamtuaTatz & Tatz, p. 125.) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who is recognised as the first

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

to play in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

and the first Tiwi Islander to successfully play in a southern football league. Throughout his footballing career he was known by his 'Anglo' name David Kantilla but also had his tribal name of Amparralamtua. Kantilla was born on Bathurst Island. Standing at 196 cm, Kantilla played as a ruckman for a couple of seasons with St Mary's in the

Northern Territory Football League The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football semi-professional league operating in Darwin in the Northern Territory. The league is one of few (and the highest level) Australian Rules competitions played during ...

(NTFL) before joining

(SANFL) club

South Adelaide The South Adelaide Football Club is an Australian rules football club that competes in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL). Known as the ''Panthers'', their home ground is Flinders University Stadium Glenelg Football Club Glenelg Football Club is an Australian rules football team, which plays in the South Australian National Football League. The club is known as the "Tigers" (or the "Bays"), and their home ground is ACH Group Stadium (formerly Glenelg Oval), lo ...

on debut and winning the club's best and fairest award in his first two seasons.Tiwi Islands Football League, p. 8. Nicknamed "Soapy" following the publication of a photograph showing him lathered in soap in a bath, Kantilla was then moved back into the ruck, becoming a member of South Adelaide's premiership side in 1964 and by the time he left the club at the end of the 1966 season he had played 113 games. During his time in South Australia he represented

the state A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

at interstate football on four occasions, in 1964 and 1965. After returning to the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

, Kantilla captain-coached St Mary's in the 1968/69 NTFL season. Kantilla's brothers Bertram and Saturninus were members of the inaugural St Mary's team in 1952/53. In 1978 Kantilla was killed in a car accident at

Wurrumiyanga Wurrumiyanga (), formerly Nguiu (, ), is a community on the southern coast of Bathurst Island, Northern Territory, Australia. Nguiu was founded in 1911 as a Catholic mission by Francis Xavier Gsell. In 2010 Nguiu was renamed Wurrumiyanga, m ...

on Bathurst Island.

Honours

In 1997 Kantilla was inducted into the Northern Territory Hall of Champions, the function room at NTFL headquarters at

Marrara Oval Marrara Oval, currently branded TIO Stadium under a naming rights agreement (and previously also known as Football Park), is a sports ground in Darwin, the capital of Australia's Northern Territory. The ground primarily hosts Australian rules ...

is named for him, and in 2005 Kantilla was named on the interchange bench in the

Indigenous Team of the Century The Indigenous Team of the Century (Australian rules football) was selected to recognise the role of Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the eth ...

. He is also a member of the South Adelaide Football Club Hall of Fame.

Sources

* Tatz, C. & Tatz, P. (2000) ''Black Gold: The Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame'', Aboriginal Studies Press: Canberra. . *

Tiwi Islands Football League The Tiwi Islands Football League is an Australian rules football competition in the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory, Australia. Australian Rules football is the most popular sport on the Tiwi Islands. The Grand Final of the TIFL was broadcast on ...

(2013) ''The Tiwi Islands'', Tiwi Islands Football League,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kantilla, David 1938 births 1978 deaths South Adelaide Football Club players Indigenous Australian players of Australian rules football St Mary's Football Club (NTFL) players Tiwi Islands people Australian rules footballers from the Northern Territory Road incident deaths in the Northern Territory