World Footy News

NZAFL seem to be ticking a lot of boxes in international footy development whilst the sun is shining very fiercely on South Africa and to a lesser extent PNG and the USA as the future for finding international rookies.

With AFL Clubs each allowed to stockpile up to 24 international rookies over a 3 year period to monitor and support as prospective players, and with Ireland unable to have their players named on this list, the players must be sourced from other markets. With the League stretching to 18 Clubs within a four year period we are looking at the possibility of 432 players being on a list who have been developed offshore. As Paul Kelly, the musician, said “From Little Things Big Things Grow”

This has been recognised by one AFL Club who are currently in the process of developing a key strategic relationship with the NZAFL in identifying and nurturing young talent in New Zealand to possibly rookie list.

New Zealand were an early leader in looking to take the game offshore by the AFL. The NZAFL have existed now for a decade with some level of support from the AFL including both financial support and a strong presence at Board level. It could appear that development has been slow. However during this time new competitions have commenced, underage tours and tournaments have been conducted and anyone who saw NZ play at the IC 2005 would have seen a football team that was in many ways indistinguishable from a reasonable level Australian local team.

Limits on development have come from the AFL not following through with the great initial support of profiling the game when 3 preseason games were played in Wellington over a four year period. There is no doubt that the opportunity to present “real” footy played as it should be in the local market was a godsend for initial exposure. Though the AFL have obviously worked with the NZAFL to get more footy on television, whether free or pay to view, nothing can match the excitement generated by having AFL played in a new marketplace and the opportunities for international players to be involved in many capacities, whether in helping to host in some fashion or even playing in the curtain raiser.

Another barrier for development as all international organisations have faced, or will face in some fashion, has been the turnover of General Managers/ CEO’s. NZ is now onto its fifth individual operating in this position over a decade and it is a terrible hindrance to lose your main driver so regularly. It is not just that your “go to” man or “face of footy” goes it is also the time in between when the organization operates without a leader and everything is in a holding pattern, at best. PNG are currently in this position with the loss of National Operations Manager Peter Cates who had to unfortunately return to Australia. It is not just the loss of the main face of footy that hurts, but because everything is done on a shoestring there simply are not the development staff underneath that either have the skills, the time, the motivation or are, in the main, not simply volunteers to fill the void.

However back to the main point! Rob Vanstam has now been in the role of NZAFL CEO for a reasonable period of time and indicators are that he is doing an excellent job. The NZAFL have just held their AGM and financially they are now in the position to move to the next level with game expansion. Strategically NZ players will have the opportunities for on-going international opportunities with the International Cup in 2008 and the Australian Country Championships in 2010 at senior level and the Canberra Marist tour in October and the Barassi Youth Tournament in 2009 at junior level as key goals.

Towards driving the junior development needed to develop these players, and hopefully produce some AFL International Rookies, the NZAFL have just received a $20,000 sponsorship for football development from the Southern Trust based in Christchurch. With a switched on CEO and growing confidence in the sport it is to be hoped that this is just the start in finding even more strategic partners to assist with the growth of our great game in Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand).

Read more about the sponsorship at the NZAFL website.