Among a crowd of 5172 at Darwin’s Marrara Stadium on Friday 21 August 2020 for the Gold Coast game against Carlton was an 18-year-old local boy who dreamed of playing at the elite level. Of following his father’s footsteps to the AFL.

Tomorrow night, precisely 299 weeks later, that same local will join SUNS captain Noah Anderson and vice-captain Sam Collins in an exclusive group within the 2026 playing group. 

Joel Jeffrey will join Anderson and Collins in “The Darwin 10”.

They are the only three to play in every one of the SUNS’ home-away-game in the Northern Territory since 2022 and are looking to turn the club’s 9-0 run into 10-0 against Port Adelaide.

Jeffrey was a member of the SUNS Academy at the time of the club’s 2020 visit, when, under Stuart Dew, they lost by 33 points to a Carlton side coached by David Teague.

It wasn’t a great day for the club. They kicked 4-3 (27) to post the third-lowest score in club history at 4-3 (27) and the lowest since 2018 as David Swallow posted his 150^th game.

Only six members of the side that night will face Port tomorrow night – Anderson, Collins, Ben King, Touk Miller, Wil Powell and Lachie Weller. Plus Hugh Greenwood, who is a now a member of the coaching staff.

Jarrod Witts, Charlie Ballard and Caleb Graham are still at the club, and five other members of that 2020 side are now with opposition clubs – Jack Bowes, Connor Budarick, Sam Flanders, Jack Lukosioius and Izak Rankine.

Jeffrey, who made a late decision this year to swap his #40 jumper for #16, grew up playing with Wanderers in the Darwin competition and later the NT Thunder in the NEAFL.

He’s part of a rich history at Wanderers, who wear blue and yellow and are known as the Eagles, are an integral part of football in the NT. Formed in 1916, they were a founding member of the Northern Territory Football League, now known as AFLNT, and are based at Marrara.

They won the first four premierships in the competition, but after a sixth flag in the 1923-24 season they fell into a period of instability. They were renamed Rovers in 1925-26 and Magpies from 1926-27 to 1928-29 before reverting to Wanderers in 1929-30.

They won only one flag from 1924 to 1981 – in 1958 -  but since have added five more in 1982-83-93 and 2011-15.

Among AFL players to come out of the Wanderers are Jeffery and his father Russell, who played 50 games with St.Kilda and the Brisbane Bears from 1987-92, inaugural SUN Liam Patrick and ‘coodabeen SUN’ Troy Taylor, who was offered a place on the club’s pre-AFL training list but chose to nominate for the 2009 National Draft, when he was drafted by Richmond at pick #51 and played four games in 2010.

Brothers Daniel, Shannon and Marlon Motlop and their cousin Steven Motlop are Wanderers products who also played in the AFL with North, Port, Melbourne and Geelong, along with Gary Dhurrkay (Fremantle/North), Mark West (Western Bulldogs) and Relton Roberts (Richmond).

Joel Jeffery was signed by the SUNS with Broadbeach junior Alex Davies as Academy selections prior to a 2020 National Draft which otherwise wasn’t exactly a booming success for the club.

Jeffery loves Darwin, and not just because he grew up there. Of his 35 wins in 61 AFL games he’s enjoyed nine at Marrara – more than any ground except People First Stadium, where he’s 17-4.

His 9-0 record at Marrara is the best at a ground which will host its 32^nd AFL game tomorrow night. Collins (9-2), Anderson (9-1), Kane Cornes (4-6), Danyle Pearce (4-6) have played more games, and Nathan Jones (4-5), Tom Logan (3-6) and Ben Ainsworth (8-1) as many games but without an unblemished record.

Matt Rowell, returning to the SUNS side tomorrow night, is 8-0 at Marrara and among 18 current SUNS unbeaten in the NT capital. Others are Davies (7-0), Ben Long, Bailey Humphrey (7-0), Bodhi Uwland (6-0), Daniel Rioli, Sam Closehy (4-0), John Noble, Jed Walter, Ned Moyle, Jy Farrar (3-0), Will Graham, Jake Rogers (2-0), Ethan Read, Oscar Adams, Errol Gulbin and Ben Jepson (1-0).

Port Adelaide will be the eighth different club to play Gold Coast at Marrara tomorrow night.

The Power head to Darwin 14^th on the AFL ladder with a 3-6 record under new coach Josh Carr. 

They’ve beaten Richmond by 42 points at the MCG in Round 4 either side of Adelaide Oval wins over Essendon by 63 points in Round 2 and Geelong by 30 points in Round 7.

Key to the Power is acting captain and Brownlow Medal fancy Zak Butters, who has amassed 275 possessions this year at 30.6 possessions a game this year. 

Butters, deputising for injured skipper Connor Rozee, is joint leader in the AFL Coach’s Player of the Year Award with Nick Daicos and Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli, ahead of Fremantle’s Luke Jackson (45), Geelong’s Max Holmes (41), Neale (38) and the SUNS Christian Petracca (37).

Georgiades, third on the AFL goal-kicking list this year with 25 behind Gold Coast’s Ben King (32) and Hawthorn’s Jack Gunston (30), is the big danger in the Port forward line.

SUNS STATS TRIVIA IN DARWIN

Eight SUNS players have split the club’s 44 Brownlow Medal votes in games at Marrara – Matt Rowell (14), Touk Miller (10), Noah Anderson (6), Jack Lukosius (5), Brandon Ellis (3), Lachie Weller (2), John Noble (2) and Connor Budarick (2).

Ben King heads the all-time goal list at Marrara with 21 after his four against St Kilda last week put him four ahead of Bulldogs champion Brad Johnson and six clear of ex-SUN Jack Lukosius (15). Bailey Humphrey (10), Ben Ainsworth (10), Ben Long (9), Noah Anderson (7), David Swallow (6), Matt Rowell, Touk Miller, Nick Holman, Sam Day and Malcolm Rosas (5) are next best on the SUNS goal list at Marrara.

Noah Anderson holds the record for most possessions in a game at Marrara with his 42 against Geelong in 2024, and with three games of 30-plus at the ground, the skipper is one of eight SUNS have had 30-plus. Others are Touk Miller (3), John Noble (2), Rowell (1), Sam Flanders (1) and Alex Sexton (1).

Bailey Humphrey’s five goals against Geelong in the same game in 2024 gives him a share of the ground record with Lukosius, who kicked five goals at the ground three times. Lukosius will play against the SUNS for the first time this week.

Saturday night’s game against Port will be the SUNS’ 12^th overall at Marrara and push them one ahead of the Western Bulldogs at the top of the all-time ‘visitors list’. Port will play their 11^th game there to join the Bulldogs in second spot, ahead of Melbourne (10). Collingwood, GWS and Sydney have never played there.