From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

Never say never. That’s what an aspiring candidate might say before being preselected, right? We reported earlier this week on whispers connecting ex-Richmond footballer Joel Bowden to a political career up in the Northern Territory, and now Bowden has given us a (non) answer. A Crikey tipster told us Bowden was setting himself up to challenge Warren Snowdon for the NT seat of Lingiari. Bowden has recently resigned from his high-profile AFL job in the NT, and is now an acting director in the Sports and Recreation department of the current Labor government. When Crikey asked Bowden, he said “never say never” to a career in politics.