World Footy News

On the 14th and 15th of March 2009, the New Zealand AFL will hold its Under 20 National Provincial Championships (NPC) in Christchurch at Westminster Park. The tournament will involve representative teams from Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury and has already created interest in AFL circles with several talent scouts to be in attendance.

From the players participating, a New Zealand talent squad will be selected and will compete as a team in the Senior National Provincial Championships in Auckland in October later this year.

The tournament favourites will be Auckland, who are expected to dominate the weekend due to the depth of talent available from a domestic league that boasts two senior grades and a stronger pathway for those looking to aspire to greater heights within the code. Over the past five years the average age of players in the competition in the Auckland region has dropped dramatically. The mix of a few experienced Australian expatriates and fit and willing New Zealand youngsters seems to be a recipe for success. Given the run-down from the teams that follows below, it appears Canterbury will finish second and Wellington will struggle to compete at all.

This recipe has resulted in an abundance of new, fresh faces from New Zealand’s shores eager to replicate the outstanding skills and intensity shown by very good Australian players. More and more players from minor leagues in Australia are making their way across the Tasman to participate in the New Zealand domestic competitions that start straight after the end of the Australian season.

Read on for a run-down of each of the competing sides.

Auckland

The Auckland squad has been training since mid-December and have conducted a number of the AFL fitness tests with some marked improvement from every player. There is a solid mix of regular senior and reserves players from North Shore, Mt Roskill, Takapuna, Waitakere and University Blues.

The trainings have been fast paced and focussed on improving the skill level and developing the style of play based on the abilities of the players within the squad. With around 25 - 28 players per session and 4 experienced members in the coaching team the Aucklanders have been able to work with individuals on their particular game and discuss with all players their weaknesses, being able then to focus on areas for improvement.

This has been extremely beneficial as the close attention and development of the younger talent is something that probably is unable to be afforded during the normal season with 30 plus players of varied ages and abilities at training. As part of bringing together a team for the NPC, the strengthening of the younger players will contribute to building a stronger Australian football competition overall.

With many players playing in potentially very different positions than they have played in during the regular season the coaching staff have held a practice match against a composite team from University and North Shore. The players were so keen that the game went from 4 x 10minute quarters to 5 x 15 minute qtrs and finally finished in a draw in fading light.

It was a great opportunity to move players around and see where improvement was needed. It was also fantastic to see that the drills and game style fostered in training sessions were executed extremely well during the practice match.

Some of the players to watch in the tournament are Andrui Sucu (Nth Shore), Andrew Turner (Uni Blues), Ben Hick (Mt Roskill), Niki Dow (Uni Blues) and Liam Ackland (Mt Roskill) along with some of the other amazing athletes within the squad. The final squad will number 24 with all players now keenly awaiting the competition.

Canterbury

Canterbury has been training since mid-December with consistently 15+ on the track. The CAFL consists of 4 senior teams, with 2 of the teams being almost 100% University students, meaning many players have been unable to attend training until early February. However, as expected, the numbers and intensity has increased in recent weeks.

Weekly practice games have been held on Wednesday nights against a composite team of older players and this has helped immensely with match conditioning and game sense / footy smarts. 3km time trials have been held with times dropping sharply, in addition some hard ‘gut-running’ sessions have been held which the players have responded well to.

Players to watch include 16yr olds Mitch Harding from Christchurch Bulldogs and Jed Williams from Eastern Blues as well as lanky centre half forward Matt Rushton from University Cougars.

The coaching team consist of Lachlan Keating as head coach, stalwart Jason Lanyon as assistant, NZ Falcons star James Bowden as skills coach / match day runner, 2008 GF BOG Medal winner Jesse Burgess taking the ruck/midfield and former Ascot Vale Superrules player Harry Peterson helping out with the forwards. Former Canterbury Maori rugby coach Alan Harding is heading up an impressive management team that also includes University Cougars players Mat Lawson and Keiran Rae. The CAFL Cobras are also fortunate enough to have 2008 Christchurch Bulldogs B&F winner Jared Kilday on board as medical officer; Jared is in the final year of a Degree in Medicine that complements his Degree in PE.

Coach Keating is confident that his team will hold their heads up high against the more experienced Auckland team and will do their jumper proud. The team will be captained by Simon Carden from the Mid-Canterbury Eagles and Sam Blackler and Jamie Fanning from the Eastern Blues will be joint vice-captains. The CAFL are grateful to the Mainland Foundation and Christchurch City Council for their support of this tournament and also to the Canterbury Community Trust for their ongoing support of junior development in the region.

Wellington

Coach John Jackson has had his squad active since very early January but he has struggled for numbers despite his own passion and efforts. With no junior development and no Reserve Grade for some years junior players are unfortunately introduced on an ad hoc basis into the WAFL.

With reigning premiers the Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs and their opponents Wellington City Saints fielding no one age appropriate in their squads, the bulk of the team was hoped to come from the North City Demons and the Hutt City Eagles. Unfortunately due to some socio-economic issues and the cost involved in travelling to Christchurch the team will be low in numbers and have some youngsters who have never actually played a formal game of footy. It would be fair to say that they may struggle to be competitive at all.

High Performance Pathway for Under 20’s

- Under 20 NPC teams selected from regional league competitions. December 2008

- Under 20 NPC tournament March 14th and 15th 2009. New Zealand Under 20 Squad selected to compete in the Senior NPC (as well as tour match TBA)

- Tour match TBA August 2009

- Senior NPC tournament October 24th to 26th 2009 New Zealand Under 20 team to compete in the Senior NPC