E Timor players join Darwin AFL carnival
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This weekend's AFLNT season opening carnival in Darwin will feature a combined team of East Timorese players and Australian soldiers.
It is the first trip out of the fledgling nation for some of the players, who have teamed up with East Timorese men living in Darwin and the Defence Force.
Team spokesman Luke Gosling says it is a great experience for the players to run onto Marrara stadium.
"It's a fantastic opportunity for the Timorese guys and they're really happy obviously to be in Australia," he said.
"It's their first trip out of East Timor so to come over to Darwin and be playing in such a big ground with a big crowd like we've got out at Marrara, they've absolutely stoked."
Mr Gosling says football is a new sport for East Timor, where soccer is the number one game.
"The Australian expats living over in Dili give their time to clinics," he said.
"There's a lot of Timorese youth who are unemployed in Dili and it's just providing them with another opportunity to learn english and play a different sport."
