World Footy News

As reported recently on World Footy News, former Ethiopian refugee Tutlan Goaner was trialling with AFL club Essendon, in the hope of securing an international rookie listing. The Bombers passed on the tall but light-weight footy convert, in a move that sparked some criticism that the attention around Goaner was a publicity stunt. It certainly showed that the Australian media has a thirst for stories with an international flavour.
The Herald Sun\'s Damian Barrett reported Bombers football operations manager Dominic Cato as saying that the 22-year-old would benefit from a season in a lesser league.

\"He is a little bit of a working project,\" Cato said.

\"He probably needs to be exposed to competitive football so he can get a bit of an understanding about where he is at and we can take it from there.\"

Alas it wouldn\'t surprise if this is the last we hear of the AFL hopeful, but let\'s hope not. If nothing else the Essendon move has opened the Aussie public\'s minds once again. And maybe Goaner will at least make a go of Aussie Rules in one of the many smaller leagues in Victoria.