World Footy News

NZ  hosted their U16 National Championships. These Championships involve 3 teams of invited footballers held after the regional Hawks Cup competitions take place within the schools. By inviting a select number of students to attend it ensures that the best available talent can attend and that issues such as various regions lacking enough to field a team does not impact on whether an interested , and talented, footballer gets the opportunity to attend. The tournament involved the best Under 16 AFL athletes in New Zealand, and featured many players who have, or will go on to play for New Zealand.

The three teams, the Giants, the Suns and the Eagles, contested the Under 16 National Championships and itwas the Eagles who triumphed, led by strong performances from Te Kopa Tipene-Thomas, Carlos Donnell-Brown, Nathan Lenihan and Utusa’itoa Ah Kuoi.

In the first match, the Eagles defeated the Giants thanks to accurate goalkicking from Cori Albert-Hape-Kino, Nathan Lenihan and Willie Schutz. They backed it up with a 2nd win, this time over the Suns. Nathan Lenihan was again precise in front of goal.

To round out day 1, the Giants took on the Suns. The match proved to be a tense battle, with only a point separating the teams at half time. The Suns stepped up to battle through and win the match.

The Eagles were in a comfortable position at the beginning of day 2, but were in no mood to become complacent. In their first match of the day, the Eagles routed the Giants, with James Watkins and Connor McGeough starring with two goals each.

The trophy was now almost secured for the Eagles, who only had to beat the Suns to win. They did so, thanks to a dominant first half performance that included 7 goals. The Suns fought back hard in the second half, in particular through the boot of Te Rei Clark, but were unable to level the deficit.

With one match to go in the tournament, the Giants were still looking for their first win. Good initial pressure saw them take a big lead at half time, which they then extended to put the game beyond doubt. Siope Ngata was unstoppable in this match, kicking 5 goals.
The impact of players who have been part of the High Performance programme was noticeable, with tournament awards mostly going to players who have represented their country previously.

Brayden Herewini from Wellington was awarded the Best and Fairest for the Giants. From the Suns, James Little of North Harbour was Best and Fairest. The award for the Eagles went to Auckland’s Carlos Donnell-Brown.

The overall tournament Best and Fairest Award went to Te Kopa Tipene Thomas of Bay of Islands College. Tipene-Thomas was a deserving winner, after maintaining his intensity admirably across all four matches.
The Under 16 New Zealand Hawks will now have a busy 2014, with tournaments and tours throughout the year.

Now that the Championships have been held and the squad has been finalized it can be seen the widespread localities in which AFL NZ have been making in-roads. Northland and Otago are provinces that are increasingly producing junior AFL footballers and hopefully it will only be a matter of time before a senior competition develops in each area. Otago presently has a Club but to my knowledge does not have a regular senior competition.
 
The team’s first assignment will be the South Pacific Cup, to be held in Coffs Harbour in April.

Following the South Pacific Cup, a small selection of players will compete at the NAB Australian Under 16 National Championships, as part of a combined South Pacific Academy team.

Players will be considered for selection into the Under 18 National Championships, and subsequently the Under 18 New Zealand Hawks. The Under 18 National Championships will be held in conjunction with various ANZAC Week events in Wellington, including the match between the St Kilda Saints and Brisbane Lions on ANZAC Day. The Anzac week of activities is simply just huge for football in Wellington and it was obvious last year that the U16’s were very keen to promote AFL meeting people on the concourse into the Stadium pre-game and assisting at the “Have a Go” clinic at The Basin on the day after the game.
Finally, the Under 16 New Zealand Hawks will take on the AFL Flying Boomerangs in a two match series in December.

The squad for the 2014 South Pacific Cup boasts an exciting mix of new international representatives and experienced footballers.

Willem vander Wilt Wellington
Francis Pedersen Wellington
Nathan Lenihan Wellington
Te Rei Clark Northland
Te Kopa Tipene-Thomas Northland
Kalib Lewis Auckland
Christian Blackie Otago
Utusa’itoa Ah Kuoi Wellington
Liam Caldwell Northland
Ben Armstrong Northland
Jirah Momoisea Auckland
Carlos Donnell-Brown Auckland
Danny O’Callaghan Auckland
Brayden Herewini Wellington
James Watkins Wellington
Israel Irving Northland
Southen Smith Northland
Viance Vano Auckland
Kaleb Forde – Fraser Otago
Naitoa Ah Kuoi Wellington
Sam Green Wellington
Connor McGeough Wellington
Nathan Curran Auckland
Christian-Jordan Tupou Auckland
Jack Matheson Wellington

Coach: Shannon Wall
Assistant Coach: Mike Gregson
Assistant Coach: Mick Coultard
Team Manager: Ken Ah Kuoi
Physio: Zak Nichols

New Zealand has participated in the Oceania Cup and more recently South Pacific Cup since 2009. These tournaments provide a fantastic opportunity for athletes to represent their country, develop their skills and showcase themselves in the hopes of securing an AFL International Scholarship.

Currently four New Zealanders hold AFL International Scholarships, with former Oceania Cup participant Shem Tatupu being elevated to the Hawthorn rookie list. Another former New Zealand International Scholarship player, Kurt Heatherley, made his pre season debut for the Hawthorn Hawks.

The 2014 AFL NZ National Combine in Wellington saw the St Kilda Football Club sign Giovanni Mountain Silbery to an AFL International Scholarship.

For more see:-
http://aflnz.co.nz/u16-nz-hawks-tour-squad-named/
http://aflnz.co.nz/high-standard-of-afl-at-u16-national-champs/