World Footy News

The Canterbury Cobras went through their second successive undefeated campaign to claim back to back championships in the AFL New Zealand Senior NPC held at Wellington at Hutt Park.

The tournament featured great facilities and great weather and was well supported by the Wellington AFL organizing committee. Led by League President Mark Langdon and Secretary Margaret Lavery, their efforts were rewarded with a most enjoyable weekend.

NZ Championships in a major tournament year, whether previously the Arafura Cup or currently the International Cup, always see a host of new faces. The commitment to preparing for these major International tournaments means that many players cannot afford the tie, money or absence from their home commitments to again prepare for a tournament which involves further dedication to training and costs such as flights and accommodation, which are generally self-funded. This is of course are two edged sword in that of course you would wish for the best of the best to be at every tournament but this has never been the case. The obvious benefit is that a host of new players often get to represent their province for the first time, and this is always done with great pride.

There were a few firsts for the weekend with a twilight game introduced to provide travelling teams with flexibility in regards to arrival times.

Canterbury and Wellington opened the tournament with a tight clash that eventually saw the Cobras take first blood.

CANTERBURY	7.5 (47)
WELLINGTON	3.3 (21)

Goal Kickers
Canterbury:J.Thomson, M.Burr, R.Lange, C.McKenzie, R.Bradley, S.Dickson, R.Clark 1
Wellington:D.Morgan 2, J.Terry 1

Best Players
Canterbury: R.Bradley, J.Thomson
Wellington: J.Kusel, E.Ward

The Waikato Thunder set up the intensity for game two with a great Haka to challenge the Auckland team. Game two finished at 7.40pm in amazing sunshine with the magnificent mountain backdrop.

An Auckland team full of new faces performed well to out gun the ferocious tackling of the Waikato Thunder.

WAIKATO	0.2 (2)
AUCKLAND	10.6 (66)

Goal Kickers
Waikato: Nil
Auckland: M.Hacket 4, C.Mundell 2, A.Harris, R.Greenhaulgh, C.McLean, D.Rattenbury 1

Best Players
Waikato: M.Doran, P.Mouritz
Auckland: M.Boyce, S.Power

The evening’s dinner function featured full attendance of all teams. This year’s tournament featured three new coaches and each was provided with the opportunity to speak to the competing teams.

Waikato Coach, and New Zealand stalwart, Jim Lucy spoke of the great attitude displayed by all teams and the enjoyment he received from what he saw as a reunion of old friends and competitors over the years of his involvement.

Day two saw strong performances from Wellington and Canterbury in early games to set up an interesting final fixture between the Cobras and the young Auckland team. Auckland had the task of winning the final game by 20 points to snatch the title. Canterbury provided a performance that left no doubt of their status as the number one league in New Zealand.

WAIKATO	1.3 (9)
CANTERBURY	9.7 (61)

Goal Kickers
Waikato: M.Doran 1
Canterbury: S.Dickson 3, R.Bradley, J.Robles, M.Burr, R.Lange, C.McKenzie, J.Stevenson 1

Best Players
Waikato: M.Doran, L.Kneebone
Canterbury: S.Dickson, A.Howison

WELLINGTON	8.4 (52)
AUCKLAND	5.3 (33)

Goal Kickers
Wellington: C.Teniseli 4, T.Robinson, D.Annand, J.Wozniak, H.Mackay 1
Auckland: C.Mundell 2, A.Marsden, D.Rattenbury, M.Gregson 1

Best Players
Wellington: J.Burns, D.Morgan
Auckland: S.Power, R.White

WELLINGTON	7.9 (51)
WAIKATO	5.2 (32)

Goal Kickers
Wellington: C.Teniseli, J.Kusel, J.Burns, D.Morgan, D.Annand, F.Barclay, A.Wood 1
Waikato: A.Mouritz 2, L.Hope, C.Max, R.Howitt 1

Best Players
Wellington: J.Burns, D.Morgan
Waikato: A.Mouritz, http://R.Te Wharau

AUCKLAND	6.2 (38)
CANTERBURY	8.7 (55)

Goal Kickers
Auckland: C.Mundell 2, A.Marsden, D.Rattenbury, M.Gregson 1
Canterbury: C.Varcoe 2, A.Baker, S.Dickson, M.Burr, R.Lange, W.Sullivan, J.Stevenson 1

Best Players
Auckland: S.Power, M.Gregson
Canterbury: S.Dickson, W.Sullivan, S.McCarron

The teams all arrived in various states of preparation. In NZ, the International Cup occurs before the local season commences. Canterbury have finished their local season since then, Auckland have one round to play before finals, I am unsure of where Waikato are in their season whilst Wellington, having decided upon a 3 team competition, have all of their players with only one or two regular games under their belts.

The CAFL website now justly lays claim to being “the spiritual home of AFL in New Zealand and it shows on the park being the best dressed, best managed and best coached team in New Zealand. The standard of the local league has lifted in recent years and this has driven an improvement at club level. The fierce competition during the CAFL season meant that players were accustomed to intense pressure”. Auckland were proud of their efforts with a young team and given that if they had defeated Canterbury in the final game could have been the champions for the weekend. James Terry, Wellington captain , said “The boys did us proud especially since we have had only 1 or 2 club games”.

Final Results and Awards

CANTERBURY	12
WELLINGTON	8
AUCKLAND	4
WAIKATO	0

PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT
James Kusel Wellington 1st, Sam Dickson Canterbury 2nd, Moss Doran Waikato 3rd

LEADING GOAL SCORER
Matt Hacket (7 goals)

LEAGUES BEST AND FAIREST
Auckland - Roger White
Canterbury - Sam Dickson
Waikato - Moss Doran
Wellington - James Kusel

Now the NZ footballers can look forward to completing their seasons, generally interrupted by the Rugby World Cup, and representative opportunities. This is where real progress has been made in the Pacific area. Players selected in the senior squad range from U16’s to brilliant veterans such as Richard Bradley, Guy Ferguson and Moss Doran.

Those listed as (U16) will have opportunities to compete in the Under 16 Oceania Tournament to be held in Fiji Dec 12 to Dec 19 2011.

Those listed as (U20) will have opportunities to compete in the Under 20 NPC on March 17th and 18th 2012 and The New Zealand Under 20 team versus VAFA in Wellington in October 2012.

The NZ squad members selected from the NPC will all have the opportunity to play the AIS Squad in Wellington January 2012 and the PNG Mosquitoes in Fiji during Spring 2012

NZ Squad:

Canterbury: R.Bradley, S.Dickson, A.Howison, J.Court, C.Varcoe, S.Howard, J.Robles (u20), C.McKenzie (u20), K.Smith (u16)

Wellington: D.Morgan, J.Kusel, M Poole, J.Burns (u20), S.Chung, T.Lavery, G.Ferguson, J.Mueller (u16), F.Barclay (u16)

Waikato: M.Doran, L.Kneebone, M.Mace, M.Van Wijk, P.Mouritz, A.Mouritz (u20), L.Hope (u20), P.Retemeyer (u20), C.Max (u16)

Auckland: C.Mundell , A.Marsden, D.Rattenbury, M.Gregson. M.Hacket, A.Harris, R.Greenhaulgh, W.Gregson (u20), J.Ligaliga (u16), K.Thompson (u16), J.Mager (u16)

Please note, Additional players still to be added from Under 16’s, Under 20’s, injury lists and Australian-based players.

For further reading, please read Canterbury Cobras go Back to Back and this article.