World Footy News

The New Zealand Falcons have arrived in Australia for their debut at the Wesfarmers Australian Country Championships. First up they've played a practice match against strong Victorian country team Maffra, before heading up to the Gold Coast where they will compete in the second division against top opposition, including a host of players with AFL connections. Australian eyes will view the Falcons as a measure of the strength of international footy.

Held every two years since 1990, the carnival pits the best country footballers against each other in one weekend. The ACT are reigning division one champions and the Vics will be desperate to turn that around. Also in the top grade are New South Wales and Western Australia. Strangely South Australia is absent (though they have participated before), as are Tasmania. The tournament is for country representatives, but the distinction is slightly blurred from state to state, depending on whether they have strong distinct regional leagues.

The Kiwis are definitely up for a hard time. Division two features very tough opposition, with Queensland, Victoria 2 and an Aboriginal All-Stars side. Queensland are allowed to field up to 8 players from their major league (below AFL level), and will be hard to beat on their home turf. Victoria has un-matched depth across the state and their second team must surely be impressive. The Aboriginal side lists some former AFL players, none better than Darryl White (a former Brisbane Lions premiership star), and is coached by former Adelaide Crows cult figure Eddie Hocking. The brothers of Sydney's Adam Goodes and Michael O'Loughlin will also play.

The qualifying games will be 17 minute halves on Friday 28th July, and the playoffs are on the Sunday. Games are being held at Carrara, Southport and Broadbeach.

New Zealand comes into the series largely as recognition for their undefeated run through the 2005 International Cup in Melbourne, knocking off rivals Papua New Guinea in the final at the MCG. The Kiwis consider playing matches against Australian opposition an important part of taking their players to the next level. No one is under any illusion as to how difficult the Australian Country Championships could be for the Falcons, but if the game is to grow internationally then opportunities like this are priceless. They go into the series with a game plan centred around kicking long and avoiding the running handball game seen so often in the AFL - obviously NZ coaching staff have identified it as an area they can't compete with experienced Aussie sides. The selected side is listed in Kiwis announce squad for Australian Country Champs and features only three Australian-born players - Steve Telfer, Mick Coultard and Frank Archer. The rest are Kiwis by birth, though only around 10 of the 26 man squad named represented the Falcons at the last International Cup. The oldest player is Telfer at 35, the youngest is exciting prospect Andrew Lealofi at just 17, and the average age is 23. It's understood many of the players have a Polynesian background (as opposed to specifically Maori as one might expect).

On Sunday 23rd the Falcons took on powerful Victorian country side Maffra in Victoria, as a warm up to the championships. No final scores reported yet but we understand the locals won by about 10 goals. This comes as no surprise as Maffra are very strong and defeated New Zealand "across the ditch" last year. A major disadvantage for the Kiwis is that they are not in season, whereas Maffra certainly are. The two sides hope to continue the series as an annual event, which should be an excellent way to gauge the development of New Zealand. By now the New Zealanders should be with their host Queensland team, the Surfers Paradise Football Club. No doubt many of their international rivals will have mixed feelings at the idea of supporting New Zealand, having been on the end of losses, but there's no doubt the Australian Football community will see them as representing the strength of the game outside of Australia. So from the WFN team, all the very best to the Falcons.

FRIDAY - 28 JULY

Division One Qualifying Matches at Carrara
10am - NSW v WA
11am - ACT v Victoria (1)
12.30pm - NSW v Victoria (1)
1.30pm - ACT v WA
3pm - WA v Victoria (1)
4pm - NSW v ACT

Division Two Qualifying Matches at Southport
10am - NZ v Queensland
11am - Aboriginal All-Stars v Victoria (2)
12.30pm - Aboriginal All-Stars v Queensland
1.30pm - NZ v Victoria (2)
3pm - Queensland v Victoria (2)
4pm - NZ v Aboriginal All-Stars

SUNDAY - 30 JULY

Minor Finals at Broadbeach
10.30am - Division Two - Play-Off for 3rd and 4th
1pm - Division One - Play-Off for 3rd and 4th

Grand Finals at Southport
11.15am - Division Two Grand Final
2pm - Division One Grand Final

Note: Rankings for day two matches are determined by day one results.

Visit us again or check out AFL Queensland for more details during the tournament.