Riley Bice and Lucas Conlan playing for Tiwi Bombers in Northern Territory Football League

The highly-rated Tigers duo made their debut for the Tiwi Bombers on Saturday in the Northern Territory Football League Premier Division.

Bice was named in the Bombers' best players while Conlan kicked a goal in the 18.12 (120) to 7.12 (54) defeat to a Nightcliff side featuring fellow O and M star Brodie Filo.

Having helped Albury reach their first grand final since 2018 this year, the opportunity to play in the Top End represents a whole new challenge for Bice and Conlan.

"You talk to a lot of people and their names were mentioned to me," Bombers coach Patrick Bowden said.

"I looked into them and started watching a bit of Ovens and Murray footy, especially their games, and you can see they've both got great skill - and they're exactly what we need at Bombers.

"We need a centre half-back week in, week out, and Lucas fits that, and Riley's an exceptional running midfield player so he fit the bill.

"I like them because they're young and energetic and we hope they can play for us for some time."

Conlan and Bice are among the Bombers' quota of eight 'fly-in' players for the season alongside retired Essendon star Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.

Only three non-locals can play at the same time and the two Tigers are likely to travel up for a further three matches in the 2023/24 campaign.

"They're young and they've put themselves out there, to travel to Darwin and play some footy with a team that's unlike any other in Australia at that level," Bowden said.

"Riley gave me a bit of information about his background and his history and I really appreciated that.

"Lucas, although ready to play, was a bit nervous and a little bit unsure as to what he was in for but they both did a good job.

"I spent Saturday night with them, having a bit of a chat about the game and they understood that when we get the ball, it moves very quickly.

"There's a real urgency to move the ball fast and the leg speed is dramatically higher than what they are used to.

"We played against Nightcliff and they're a quality outfit, probably similar to an Ovens and Murray team so they recognised their style of football."

Brendan Kantilla, who's played 19 games for Wodonga Raiders over the last two seasons, was also in the Bombers side on Saturday.

So how is the Ovens and Murray viewed by the football community in Darwin?

"I like the league," Bowden said.

"It's unlike some of the other leagues that are rated similarly around Victoria; bigger grounds, open grounds and the weather's a bit better than those inner Melbourne competitions.

"So you see more skill level at that level whereas the Eastern League, Northern League, Essendon District League and the Mornington Peninsula League, they're played on smaller grounds so it's different football in a way.

"The way Darwin football's played, it is more similar, at this time of year anyway, to the Ovens and Murray.

"It changes a lot, though, as the season goes on because the rain starts to come and the grounds get a bit heavier and the ball gets heavier so the football up here does change a bit through that Christmas period."

Bice played three VFL matches for GWS in 2022 and was named best on ground for the Ovens and Murray in their interleague clash with the Goulburn Valley earlier this year.

The 23-year-old spoke after that game about needing to 'bite the bullet' and test himself at a higher level, however tough a wrench it would be to leave Albury.

"I see Riley as an outside midfielder," Bowden said.

"But I wanted him to play for us anyway just given his skill level, his ability and his willingness to take on the challenge.

"He did play well on Saturday.

"The Tiwi team is a community team and we want respect the fact it's a Tiwi team.

"I don't want to fill it up with players that aren't Tiwi but anyone that does come to the club, I'm trying to have them fill positions we don't quite have the ability to fill off the island.

"Those are centre half-back, centre half-forward and the inside midfielders.

"We've got a club that's unlike any other.

"We represent the 2500 people that live on the Tiwi Islands but not only them, we represent all Tiwi people living aacross Australia.

"It is a proud club, they won a premiership in the NTFL back in 2012 and have been in numerous finals campaigns over a long period of time.

"The last few years have been really difficult for the club; COVID was a major part of that given the inability to travel and move around as freely as they wanted.

"So it's been a really difficult couple of years but the club itself is proud to represent everyone associated with the islands."

Club president Lindsay Whiting thanked Bice and Conlan for agreeing to play their part in the Bombers' season.

"We didn't get the result we wanted but they both gave everything they had," Whiting said.

"They did their football clubs and community proud and we would love to see them in the Tiwi outfit more regularly.

"We want to develop longer-term partnerships with guys like Riley and Lucas.

"We're not looking to pull off a one-off flag, our goal is to put a few together and we can achieve that with the right group of guys."

Michael Thompson, who played three games for Wodonga Saints this year in the Tallangatta & District League, was also in the Bombers side on Saturday.

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