EARLIER this week, it was suggested that a team of Aboriginal youth talent play a series of exhibition matches against NYL teams. As I was reading everyone’s opinions on this, I began to realise the full implications of this.

I have no problems with exhibition matches. If Tasmania can do it, then anyone can. With the assistance of Football Northern Territory, young talent could be identified through local competitions and programs. I’m sure that there are plenty of players in the NT with the potential to compete in the NYL or A-League.

However, it may be wiser to be concentrating on developing football in the Northern Territory as a whole, rather than just select kids from remote communities.

Obviously I’ve now hit the idea of A-League expansion. If there were to be an A-League team in the Northern Territory, it’s safe to say it would be based in Darwin. However, the issues of attendances, financial backing and where the games would be played are still big ones.

This is why I believe that a youth team from the Northern Territory should be proposed to join the NYL. This could assist the development of talented young players from the region. I don’t honestly know whether this is financially viable or not (this is what I get for shunning the financial world).

If, for some reason, there is no financial backing for such a project, perhaps the two new Queensland teams should be looking into scouting the area for talent for their youth teams. North Queensland Fury have a great ambassador in Jade North and they should look to use this to their advantage.

It seems that football in the NT is stuck somewhere between a rock and the A-League. With the entire state having a population less than that of Newcastle, it is difficult to imagine any match attracting very large crowds.

The development of football there cannot be ignored and it seems that exhibition matches might be a start. If they are played as curtain raisers to A-League matches as was done with the Tasmanian team, they may well attract a great deal of interest. I would be really interested in watching a match of this type and I’m sure there are many other football fans out there that would too.

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(The letter I wanted to write but didn’t…)

Dear Simon Hill,

Please stop referring to Michael Zullo as the “Magic Midget”. It’s ‘Mr. Magic Midget’ to you.

Also, while Jin-Hyung Song may be slightly built and Korean, this does not make it okay to call him the ‘little Korean’.

It’s a bit like referring to yourself as the lanky Manc. Not very nice, see?

Thank you.

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I loved the Perth Glory garden gnome sitting on the team bench against Queensland. Definitely one to be thinking about mass-producing for the future. Seriously. English Premier League clubs make garden gnomes and the A-League should too.

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Movember is in full swing and while I’m all for supporting such a good cause, there’s been some shockers. Terry McFlynn and Manny Muscat, I’m talking to you.

Everyone laughs at it already, so it can’t be harmful to up the humour. This is why I reckon we need to pit the least hairy A-League players against each other in a mo-growing contest. James Holland vs. Mitch Nichols.

Now that would be funny.