The Southern Districts Football Club, nicknamed the Crocs, is 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 ...

club established in 1981. The club plays 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 ...

at semi-professional level and represent the rural area of Litchfield. Premier League ('A' Grade) The club won their first ever 'A' Grade Premiership under Coach Mark Motlop in the 1997/98 season defeating St Mary's. Michael "Magic" McLean coached for a number of seasons commencing with the 2006/07 Premiership season. Shannon Rusca became Senior Coach in the 2012/13 season. Shannon who played as the youngest Premier League premiership player as a 17-year-old in the club's first 'A' grade Premiership in the 1997/98 season was Captain in the 2006/07 season Premiership winning team playing as a Player / Assistant Coach under "Magic". Then in the 2017/18 season coached the team to the club's third Premier League premiership.

Club achievements

History

The club was formed in the early 1980s. In 1981 it entered the NTFL with one junior grade and a 'C' grade men's side. The club gradually entered more grades until it entered a side into the 'A' Grade in the 1987/88 season. The club has produced many quality players at

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

level, including

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

great

Nathan Buckley Nathan Charles Buckley (born 26 July 1972) is a former professional Australian rules football coach, player and commentator. He is listed by journalist Mike Sheahan as one of the top 50 players of all time. Buckley won the inaugural Rising St ...

. Other players from the club include

Gilbert McAdam Gilbert McAdam (born 30 March 1967 in Alice Springs) is an Indigenous Australian former Australian rules football player and one of three McAdam brothers to play in the Australian Football League (AFL). Playing career Early career McAdam g ...

Adrian McAdam Adrian McAdam (born 12 March 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL) and North Adelaide in the SANFL during the early 1990s. An Indigenous Australian, McAdam played ...

Michael O'Loughlin Michael Kevin O'Loughlin (born 20 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played his entire Australian Football League career with the Sydney Swans. O'Loughlin was named a member of the Indigenous Team of t ...

Aaron Shattock Aaron Shattock (born 2 May 1980) is a premiership-winning Australian rules footballer who played with the Brisbane Lions and Port Adelaide in the Australian Football League (AFL). AFL career Brisbane Lions (2000–2004) A midfielder, Shatto ...

Fabian Francis Fabian Francis (born 24 October 1973) is a former Australian rules football, rugby league footballer, most notable for his professional career with the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League. Early life Born in Darwin in ...

, Shannon Rusca, Steven Koops, and

Shawn Lewfatt Shawn Lewfatt (born 11 March 1977) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendo ...

. Other Crocs juniors players Roger Smith and Bradley Copeland were also drafted to AFL clubs in the early seasons of the Crocs but didn't manage to play an AFL game. More recently it has produced (

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

)

Anthony Corrie Anthony Corrie (born 22 June 1984 in Darwin,) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who had a 56-game Australian Football League (AFL) career. Regarded as of the most talented under 18s in the country, he was named All-Australia ...

, (

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since ...

)

Richard Tambling Richard Tambling (born 12 September 1986) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Richmond Football Club and the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). AFL career Richmond (2005-2010) In the 20 ...

, (

Gold Coast Football Club The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

)

Jared Brennan Jared Brennan (born 28 July 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who last represented the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He also previously represented the Brisbane Lions. Early life ...

, (

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

)

Malcolm Lynch Malcolm Lynch (born 16 March 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from the Tiwi Islands in ...

, (

) Troy Taylor, (

)

Steven May Steven May (born 10 January 1992) be an Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He served as the co-captain of Gold Coast in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Early life Steven Ma ...

, (

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

) Nakia Cockatoo, with

Zac Bailey Zachary Bailey (born 23 September 1999) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Brisbane with their second selection and fifteenth overall in the ...

being the most recently drafted player to the

in the 2017

Australian Football League draft The Australian Football League draft is the annual draft of unsigned players, especially new nominations, by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League (AFL). History ...

Other players who have for the club over the years that played for the Crocs before playing AFL or after playing AFL include

Allen Jakovich Allen John Jakovich () (born 21 March 1968) is a retired Australian rules football player. Jakovich was a prolific full forward and is notable for kicking 208 goals in his 54 Australian Football League matches, an average of 3.85 per game, for ...

who kicked 104 goals in his first season at the Crocs in the 1988/89 NTFL season, Brisbane Lions Premiership players Chris Johnson,

Des Headland Desmond Edmond Headland, Jr (born 21 January 1981) is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for Subiaco in the West Australian Football League, and a conservative political candidate. He plays as a half-forward flanker or midfield ...

and

Darryl White Darryl White (born 12 June 1973) is an Australian rules footballer whose career with the Brisbane Bears and Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL) lasted from 1992 to 2005. An Indigenous Australian, in 2005 he was named at fullback in t ...

(who played in the SDFC 2006/07 NTFL Premiership side).

Damian Cupido Damian Cupido (born 11 March 1982) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). AFL career Beginning his career at the in 2000, Cupido was an u ...

(

) and (

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

) played for the Crocs in the 2012/13 and 2013/14 NTFL seasons kicking 140 goals in his first season at the club. James Kelly (

Simon Buckley Simon Buckley (born 18 April 1987) is a retired Australian rules footballer who played in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for Melbourne Football Club from 2006 to 2009. He was drafted to Collingwood with 85th pick in 2009 AFL ...

(

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

Robert Copeland Robert Copeland (born 26 May 1981) is a former Australian Football League footballer for the Brisbane Lions and former captain of the Aspley hornets in the NEAFL. He is a dual premiership winner (2001, 2003) and was delisted in 2008. Overvi ...

( Brisbane Lions Football Club),

Laurence Angwin Laurence Angwin (born 7 October 1982) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is infamous for being sacked by Carlton after turning up to training having use ...

(

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Mel ...

Mark Jamar Mark Jamar (born 9 August 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Jamar was born and raised in the cou ...

played for the Crocs after being delisted by

but then he was picked up by the

as a top up player so had another season of AFL before returning to the Crocs and playing in the 2017/18 Premier League Premiership winning Crocs team. Ed Barlow (

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

) also played in the same Premiership team after three seasons with the Crocs.

Club song

External links

Official Southern Districts Football Club websiteAFL Northern TerritoryNorthern Territory Football League
{{Aussie Rules in the Northern Territory Australian rules football clubs in the Northern Territory Sport in Darwin, Northern Territory 1981 establishments in Australia Australian rules football clubs established in 1981