At a glance:

  • Thirty years ago, St Kilda faced the Northern Territory in a practice match in the Top End as part of the 1990 pre-season.
  • On the NT representative side was Noel Long, Ben Long's uncle, who was an 11-time Premiership player for St Mary's. 
  • Ben Long will become the first member of his family to play a game for Premiership points in the NT this Saturday against Melbourne.

An eye-opening expedition to the Northern Territory has become a staple of St Kilda’s pre-season for the past three years, and thanks to Ben Long, arguably the club’s strongest link to the Top End.

In 147 years of red, white and black history, there’s never been a game played up north for Premiership points.

Saturday’s Heart of the Nation match against Melbourne in Alice Springs – which Long will take part in – will change that.

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But 30 years ago, the Saints, under new coach Ken Sheldon, pre-dated Long and the annual pre-season trek up north.

Incredibly, there was a connection to the Long family name.

Ben’s uncle, Noel Long, was part of the Northern Territory representative side which squared off in a practice match against St Kida in early 1990, and was listed as one of his side’s best in front of the 11,000-strong crowd.

As to be expected from any member of the family considered to be football royalty, Noel Long’s resumé is jaw-dropping.

Noel Long was a champion of football in the Top End.

An 11-time representative for the Northern Territory, an 11-time Premiership player and three-time best-and-fairest for the great St Mary’s Football Club, a three-time Chaney Medallist – the NTFL’s equivalent to the Norm Smith – and a member of the AFLNT Hall of Fame offers a snapshot into his extraordinary talent.

Now, some 30 years after he went up against St Kilda, his nephew is preparing to represent that very club and the Long family name in the Top End against the Demons.

It will be the first time the Long name is represented up north at AFL level; Michael Long never played in a senior game in the Territory across his decorated career at Essendon.

But this Saturday, under the Alice Springs night sky, Ben will write a significant chapter into his revered family legacy.

Flashback to the game…

Saints in the NT, pictured in 1990.

St Kilda began its new era under Ken Sheldon on a positive note, accounting for the Northern Territory by 14 points to snap the representative side’s nine-game winning streak.

Stewart Loewe received the Australia Day Medal for his best-on-ground marking display at centre-half back, while the running Nicky Winmar and Spiro Kourkoumelis were decisive through the middle.

The Saints’ new coach, who had taken the reins from club immortal Darrel Baldock, meticulously prepared for his first major test at the helm.

I was nervous, this being my first major game. But I knew we had done the preparation.

- Ken Sheldon.

Before the match, Sheldon got in touch with Essendon captain Tim Watson, who had played up in NT last season in a practice match – a game which Noel Long also took part in.

In line with Watson’s advice, Sheldon ordered the Saints to take hats and wear them onto the ground pre-match so they wouldn’t suffer from heat exhaustion like the Bombers had.

St Kilda ended the 1990 home-and-away season – the first as the rebranded AFL – in ninth position with nine wins from 22 games.

Ken Sheldon brought the Saints into September in his second year as coach, ending an 18-year finals drought in his 1991.

ST KILDA  5.1  6.4  11.6  13.10 (88)
NORTHERN TERRITORY  2.1  5.4  7.4  11.8 (74)

BEST
St Kilda: Loewe, Winmar, Grant, Kourkoumelis, Gotch, Simpson
Northern Territory: Hughes, Cubillo, Bruce, Athanasiou, Jeffrey, Long

GOALS
St Kilda: Owen 3, Winmar 2, Kourkoumelis 2, Grant, Coghlan, Lamb, Ingleton, Simpson
Northern Territory: Stanislaus 4, McGann 2, Cubillo, Briston, Rioli, Ross, Jones

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