IN 2019, a group of talented young women from the Tiwi Islands made the move south, to play with Essendon's VFLW side.

The Tiwi Bombers had yet to create their now-highly successful senior women's side (having only junior girls' teams at the time), while Arthurina 'Rina' Moreen, Freda Puruntatameri, Jess Stassi and Julianna Kerinaiua were aiming to take their footy as far as possible.

The Tiwi Islands sit 80km off the coast of Darwin, the two main bodies of land being Bathurst and Melville Islands. They can be accessed by a 20-minute flight, or a 2.5-hour boat trip.

The population sits at around 2300, but the Tiwi football talent is immense. 

Both the Rioli and Long families – multi-generational football royalty – hail from the Tiwis, as does Geelong favourite Ronnie Burns, Austin Wonaeamirri and most recently, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.

But now, it's the women's turn.

The islands have their own league of an astonishing eight men's football teams, with the relatively new women's league – established in 2023 – already sits at seven sides.

Nearly a third of the population play in the Tiwi Islands Football League, played over the winter months.

The Tiwi Bombers field representative sides in the Northern Territory Football League in both the men's and women's competitions through summer.

Moreen and Puruntatameri were part of the national talent pathway prior to 2019, representing the Northern Territory and in the case of ruck/forward Moreen, the Central Allies.

But with the TIFL and Tiwi Bombers still a future dream in 2019, the quartet of women moved south for the 2019 season, staying in Sunbury, not far from the Bombers' headquarters in Tullamarine.

It's safe to say the semi-suburban Sunbury is about as far removed from the idyllic Tiwi Islands as you can get, at least 45km inland from the closest beach at Altona, and far, far colder.

The 2019 Essendon VFLW side – prior to the club's introduction to AFLW – was a squad captained by Courtney Ugle, and included Georgia Nanscawen, Alex Morcom, Ruby Svarc, Hayley Bullas, Maddy Collier, Simone Nalder, Marianna Anthony, Alana Barba, Federica Frew and then-under-18s Georgia Patrikios and Krstel Petrevski.

"It was cold down there. We had to catch a bus every morning to Essendon Football Club from where we lived. We did that every day," Puruntatameri said.

"The air was cold, but we got better and fitter down there as well. They're faster and tougher in Melbourne, you need to keep your feet. The hits are not small," Moreen said.

"It was more structure. You had to learn basic structure, how to play the game properly. And just, most of all, enjoy it. I love footy and enjoy it the way you want to enjoy." 

Now back home, Moreen and Puruntatameri play for the Bombers side in the NTFL, while Stassi can balance other parts of her life with the Tiwi footy league.

"We started with the under-15s, then under-18s, and then we didn't have a women's Bombers side in the NTFL, so we moved to Palmerston for two or three years and played there," Moreen said.

"Now we've [also] got a league back home, I'm forever grateful, and there's not much travelling," Stassi said.

"I'm a young mother, and it's much easier for me to just travel from one community to another, instead of catching what, nearly a three-hour ferry to Darwin."

A growing number of the women's friends and sisters are now picking up a footy in earnest, progressing from a kick around with friends to an organised competition.

"It's pretty awesome to see the development growing, and leave the legacy down to our younger generation and far beyond. It's going to go a long way," Moreen said.

The Tiwi Bombers faced off against the Darwin Buffaloes in a curtain-raiser to Saturday's AFLW Dreamtime Game at TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Moreen kicked two goals from the ruck, while forward Puruntatameri – who also played for Essendon's VFLW side in a practice match at the start of the year, when the Bombers came north – was a strong presence with a great sidestep.

It's a team coached by former Essendon player Dean Rioli, and on Saturday also included the likes of Ugle, former AFLW players Sarah D'Arcy (who played as a top-up with Melbourne earlier this year), Alana Barba and Mia-Rae Clifford, while 19-year-old Maria Rioli – the daughter of Maurice snr – also starred.

The game style is a mix of open play in space, pushing hard from the stoppages controlled by Moreen (who isn't adverse to tapping the ball clear and running onto it herself), combined with the usual Melbourne switch kicks and lane changes.

With a comfortable 30-point win over Darwin Buffaloes, the Bombers now sit in fourth after the opening month of the season, having finished seventh out of nine teams last year.

"We've learned development and the growth of bringing Melbourne style up to our local style. They (teammates) look out for us, whenever they're not comfortable," Puruntatameri said.

"We develop them into what we've learned from Melbourne."

To learn more about Arthurina, Freda, Jess and Juliana's story, watch the new documentary Like My Brother: https://www.likemybrother.com/