World Footy News

New Zealand held their final training camp over the weekend of July 4th-7th under adverse weather conditions, which is nothing new in the Land of the Long White Cloud! A strong defence of their title is expected and they have named an even squad with players from across their four football regions.

Speaking with 2005 Cup winning coach and now NZ Media Liaison Officer Jim Lucy, he said “Personally I feel it is a good squad, very fit, with a good game plan and an even spread of experience and youth. Our average age (is) 24 which is the same as last campaign but probably has a few less ‘oldies’ and a lot more experienced players. Having 5 guys based in Australia honing their skills is a real bonus”.

The team is:

Coach: Rob Vanstam
Assistant Coach: Justin Davies
Captain: Andrew Congalton
Vice-Captains: Marcus Jones, Geoff Thomas

29 players:- Club, Name and Age [with Australian club where applicable]

Auckland

Manurewa - Paul Gunning (40) [Warnbro Swans (WA)]
Mt Roskill - Liam Ackland (16), Matt Callaghan (23) [Sth Fremantle (WA)], Morgan Jones (27) [University of Queensland], Marcus Jones (25), Lewis Hurst (27)
North Shore - Nic Cunneen (22), Andriu Sucu (18), Andrew Crighton (20), Matthew Crighton (17) Takapuna - Andrew Congalton (27)
University - Andrew Buckthought (27), James Monoghan (21), David Cory-Toussaint (21)
Waitakere - David Rattenbury (21), John Maling (24)

Christchurch

Eastern - James Bowden (28), Richard Marsden (25), Scott McNally (26) [Old Melburnians], Richard Bradley (26), Geoff Thomas (36), Shane Browne (26)
Mid-Canterbury - Sam Whitehead (23)
University - Aaron Harris (21)

Waikato

Tuis - Moss Doran (21) [Sth Warnnambool]. Mitch Mace (21)
Mavericks - Matt Van Wijk (23), Luke Kneebone (24)

Wellington

Eastern Suburbs - Graham Rattenbury (26)

The two non-travelling emergencies are Michael Boyce (18), the son of NZ legendary footballer Peter Boyce, and Jared Court (20)

The squad has representatives from the 4 provinces. Auckland with 16, Canterbury 8, Waikato 4, and Wellington 1, of whom 5 are currently with Australian Clubs improving their footy. The squad has 4 members who have represented NZ at the 2002 and 2005 International Cups. They are Richard Bradley, James Bowden, Paul Gunning and Geoff Thomas and a further six who were part of the 2005 success in Scott McNally, John Maling, Marcus Jones, David Cory-Toussaint, Matt Callaghan and Andrew Congalton. Five further players have played either in the Australian Country Football Championships or against the Maffra Footy Club in their annual game against the Falcons. This points towards this relatively youthful squad, with the exception of Paul "Guppy" Gunning and Geoff Thomas, being very experienced nonetheless.

Interestingly 10 players have come through the NZAFL school programmes system and with the average age being 24 this shows the commitment from the NZAFL to junior development. Lucy continued “Players to watch will be the upcoming young boys, Liam Ackland (16), Matt Crighton (17) and Andrew Sucu (18). They have trialled well and have skill, but now need the experience to help them along. Bowden, Bradley and Congalton were all chosen in the 2005 International Cup and Geoff Thomas and Paul Gunning, being experienced campaigners from 2 Cups, show this team is all about the present as well as the future.” To interested NZ football followers this is reflective of NZ’s approach over previous campaigns where youth was always promoted when available and interested.

With NZ to play the touring Maffra Eagles on August the 2nd it will prove a great test for the Falcons. Lucy added “Maffra will be a great yard stick for us to work on our combinations and develop our team morale still further”.

Final squad named the week before the tournament:

#	Player	Club	Age	Height (cm)	Weight (kg)
1	Mitchell Mace	Hamilton Tuis	21	176	74
2	Liam Ackland	Mt Roskill Saints	16	176	65
3	Scott McNally	Old Melburnians	25	185	84
4	Michael Boyce (E)	Mt Roskill Saints	18	166	60
5	James Monaghan	University Blues	20	171	88
6	Geoffrey Thomas (VC)	Eastern Blues	36	174	75
7	Morgan Jones (VC)	University	27	179	79
8	Paul Gunning	Warnbro Swans	39	171	79
9	Andrew Congalton (C)	Takapuna Eagles	27	184	94
10	Marcus Jones	Mt Roskill Saints	25	180	79
11	James Bowden	Eastern Blues	27	184	89
12	John Maling	Waitakere Magpies	24	180	73
13	Lewis Hurst	Mt Roskill Saints	27	179	85
14	Andrew Buckthought	University Blues	26	176	87
15	David Rattenbury	Waitakere Magpies	20	184	76
16	David Cory-Toussaint	University Blues	21	188	85
17	Richie Marsden	Eastern Blues	25	187	104
19	Andrew Crighton	North Shore Tigers	20	180	90
20	Andriu Sucu	North Shore Tigers	18	185	79
21	Nic Cunneen	North Shore Tigers	22	187	91
23	Matthew Callaghan	Thornlie Lions	22	194	96
24	Luke Kneebone	Hamilton Mavericks	24	178	88
26	Richard Bradley	Eastern Blues	26	192	90
27	Sam Whitehead	Ashburton Eagles	23	195	113
28	Matthew Van	Wijk Hamilton Mavericks	23	170	75
29	Graham Rattenbury	Eastern Bulldogs	25	176	79
30	Shane Browne	Eastern Blues	26	176	84
31	Matt Crighton	North Shore Tigers	17	185	85
33	Aaron Harris	University Cougars	21	184	89
34	Jared Court (E)	Eastern Blues	20	180	94
35	Moss Doran	Sth Warrnambool Roosters	21	192	95

E = emergency

Coach: Robert Vanstam
Assistant Coach: Justin Davies
Host Club: Hawthorn FC