World Footy News

Rugby’s Super 14 side, the Wellington Hurricanes might be pros in rugby union, but in Aussie Rules it was the Wellington Rep team, the Tigers, who triumphed.

At Elsdon Park, Porirua, the Hurricanes squad went down 53-37 to a Wellington Tigers AFL selection. The Hurricanes, who are presently preparing for their season, took the field in an attempt to add interest to their pre-season and to look at skills that could be adapted to their game such as kicking and overhead marking as part of this cross training exercise.

Though the Hurricanes had had a crash course in the rules of Australian football and featured the Ellison brothers who have both played plenty of Aussie Rules in the local Wellington competition, including Tamati who was part of NZ Rugby 7’s Gold medal performance at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, they struggled initially. They were penalized heavily early on until the umpires adopted a more lenient translation of the rules which was more fitting for such a cross code exhibition.

The Wellington players would not have been overly concerned about the translation of the rules as many of them were, or still are rugby players who play Aussie Rules as their second sport and have had to make the same translation of understanding themselves. Indeed some of them were, or are, teammates or opposition of the Hurricanes when they play in the local Premier Rugby competition. Indeed most overseas competitions involving locals of that country, unless they have a Reserves competition of some sort, would be very familiar with this scenario on a weekly basis where newcomers turn up on the day and are thrown in at the deep end!

Wellington are renowned for their hard-at-the-ball efforts and their physical support of each other and Wellington co-captain Byron Roff stated ”You could really see the game lift up a gear after about 10 minutes when our guys realised they could match it with the Canes physically and, likewise, they got a feel for the rules and knew the Tigers were up to the challenge and if they didn't get into it they were going to get thrashed. Blokes like NZ Falcons on-ballers Josh Hema and Guy Ferguson and Wellington NPC player Darren West were enjoying the physicality and dishing out as much as they were taking. The Tigers definitely came away with a fair bit of respect from the Hurricanes."

Though much of the game was fairly close checking, when the ball was being carried there was no doubt who were the experienced AFL side with the Tigers confident in front of goal. Obviously it took most of the Hurricanes a while to get the hang of it but once they got hold of the basics they made their presence felt with a few good marks, goals and team play. Big Hurricanes lock Jason Eaton was left as a passenger at full-forward as the Tigers dominated the opening quarter, before Eaton sent out the battle cry: "We've got to resort to physicality," and a feisty tussle ensued. A few of the Super 14 players showed some AFL potential and according to Wellington Tigers Coach John Jackson “Nearly all of them would be extremely handy running off the half back flank!!” In a team containing All Blacks such as Conrad Smith, Jerry Collins, Rodney So'oialo, Piri Weepu, Chris Masoe and Maa Nonu those to stand out were Weepu, Smith, Tamati Ellison, Cory Jane and Jimmy Gopperth.

Accorrding to the NZAFL report, the final quarter provided some good entertainment for the few hundred spectators with some big tackles coming in from both sides. The 'Canes tackled the Tigers in packs and the Tigers gave back as much as they received. In the end the AFL side held out, their superior skill and experience with the leather ball seeing them through for the win in what was an altogether successful gala occasion.

Hurricanes skipper Rodney So'oialo added "It's something different and the boys really enjoyed it. They all had a bit of fun, a challenge and we obviously started realising that we had to harden up a little bit, these little [AFL] guys out here are pretty tough. That's what this game was about, a little bit of fun, a little bit of contact and obviously it simulates some of what we've got to do in the Super 14."

Wellington’s co-captain Byron Roff had this to say; "The feedback from the Hurricanes trainers after the match was excellent. They wanted their players to do plenty of running and to get a bit of body contact as they have just introduced full contact training into their pre-season programme. It was also about them pulling together as a team, outside of their comfort zone. They achieved all of this as neither team was holding back and they weren't happy about being behind on the scoreboard so they rallied together fast. Both the trainers and the players were quite surprised that we were able to match it with them physically. Sure our boys took a few big hits but we got up and got straight back into them. We dished a couple out as well for the record. It wasn't good footy but it was very entertaining for the crowd and there were a lot of big shepherds and tackles going in.

Final scores

Given that the Wellington selection had been put together in the off-season, it would seem that they acquitted themselves very well and were able to maximize their opportunity in terms of promotion and opportunity. Coach Jackson said "I was live on radio sport twice giving a run down of game/score etc as well as on Newstalk ZB pre-match. It is a great way for us to promote the game, get some media coverage & most importantly have some fun. The Hurricanes were very keen to enjoy themselves BUT wanted to get something out of it."

Let's hope for the promotion of Aussie rules in NZ that they did and this game can be the forerunner to an annual game and maybe set the scene for similar encounters between other NZAFL regions and their local Super 14 side. Given that the game was also part of TV1's news coverage for the evening that doesn't appear a pipe dream!

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