World Footy News

Hawthorn added a new name to the list of young Kiwis that it has identified as potential AFL footballers last week in NZ.  15-year-old Siope Ngata is the newest  international scholarship holder listed by Hawthorn.

Ngata was identified by the Hawks last October at a testing session and playing in games for the New Zealand Hawks.  Like most Kiwi kids he has experience in rugby.

At the New Zealand AFL Combine held last week, the 186cm and 98kg prospect performed strongly in the athletic testing and in the kicking and clean hands drills.

He joins Ben Miller, Shem Tatupu, Kurt Heatherley and Rhys Panui Leth who have all been given international scholarships by Hawthorn (it is beleived Panui Leth is not longer a scholarship holder).

Recruiting manager Graham Wright said "At this stage Siope will stay in New Zealand [instead of coming to Australia full-time]. Invariably we'll monitor his progress over the next year or two and he'll be involved in our development programs here."

The AFL is pleased to announce that Hawthorn star Lance Franklin will captain the Indigenous All Stars when they take on the Richmond Football Club on Friday, February 8 at 7pm in Alice Springs.

Supported by the Coles AFL Indigenous program, the match will be played at Traeger Park and will showcase the Indigenous talent in the AFL.

Franklin said he is proud to captain the All Stars for the first time and looks forward to the match against Richmond.

"The Indigenous All Stars match is a really important event as it recognises the Indigenous Australians' contribution to the national competition.  It's a chance for some of the best Indigenous talent from across the country to play together."

It was also reported today in the Herald Sun that Franklin would like to have the Indigenous team play in a three team International Rules competition against the Irish and Australian teams "Personally, I would love to see the All Stars take on the Australia and Ireland teams. That would be great recognition for the indigenous players."  

The indigenous community of Maningrida almost defines the term “remote”. It sits on the estuary of the Liverpool River in Arnhem Land, right where it flows into the Arafura Sea. The nearest town of size is Jabiru, “a coupla hundred clicks [kilometres] away” according to one local. Darwin, the nearest capital city, is 400 kilometres away to the west. Like so many other remote communities throughout the “Top End” of Australia, that remoteness can be both its charm and its curse.

When Bernie Price, Regional Development Manager for AFLNT in Maningrida, arrived there after 6 years as a plumber in Yarrawonga, Victoria, he admits to a “slight career change” which has introduced him to an entirely different culture and lifestyle. But it also gave him the chance to interact with indigenous culture and combine that with his love of Australian Rules football.

His role commenced in July 2012 when funding from FaHCSIA (Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) and the ABA (Aboriginal Benefit Account) provided the opportunity for similar positions to be created in the indigenous communities of Gapuwiyak, Lajamanu, Ngukurr and Hermannsburg, as well as Maningrida. This was an expansion of the existing AFLNT program which commenced in Wadeye in 2007 and extended to Galiwinku and Groote Eyelandt in 2009.

Saturday’s Australia Day clash between the AIS U 17 squad and New Zealand provided a good contest but ultimately the talented Aussie youngsters were too good despite the Hawks fielding a team including AFL legend Wayne Schwass (pictured left), VFL champion forward Khan Haretuku and Hawthorn International Rookie Shem Tatupu. 

Game day presented perfect weather conditions and ground in the best condition possible. NZ Coach Justin Davies said “Last year NZ Hawks won the first quarter. This year the AIS came out prepared and played a scintillating first quarter with roving forward Pickett kicking four of the better traditional roving goals you will see”.

Pickett stood out at one of this year’s AIS training camps. Pickett's run in the 20metre sprint was over almost before it began, completing it in 2.85 seconds. He thought he could go faster.

It was the quickest result of any player at the camp, including the level two squad, who are hoping to be drafted this year (level one players are eligible for the draft in 2014.) Go back to last year's NAB AFL Draft Combine and only one player (Adam Saad, 2.81 seconds) beat Pickett's time.

The Herald Sun's Mark Robinson filed the following story last week from St Kilda's training in Wellington, NZ.

worldfootynews.com is commencing a series of articles about the future of Australian football in Asia.

In the South Pacific footy is booming with growing numbers of countries involved, tens of thousands of kids getting exposed through AFL and AusAID supported mass participation programs, talent pathways giving youngsters a clear route to the AFL, and players beginning to appear on AFL scholarship and international rookie lists.  In Europe there are many countries involved in Australian football and with AFL Europe formed to help them coordinate there are numerous tournaments and solid (although not spectacular) growth.  Africa is somewhat untapped but has 20,000 players in South Africa.  North America is steady although in South America the surface has barely been scratched.  But what of Asia?

"Traditionally" this region has been slow to get locals involved in the game.  Most clubs are heavily based on expat-Australians and with a few other Western nationals involved.  Japan has been the most obvious exception, with their Top League slowly growing and mostly featuring Japanese players.  Sporadic efforts have been made to get locals involved in other countries, such as a junior league in Indonesia.  China showed great promise with reportedly thousands of school children playing the game in Suzhou (near Shanghai) around 2009.  However these programs appear to be exceptions rather than commonplace, and it's not clear if they've continued.

AFL Fiji is today hosting a 2013 'AUSTRALIA DAY CHALLENGE' – with regular combatants the Cats versus the Swans in an Australia Day game. Also, the Fiji Tribe 2012 OCEANIA CUP SELECTED REPS - 11 IN ALL - WITH THEIR PARENTS ACCOMPANYING – will be meeting at 4PM today, ALBERT PARK – and will receive vital information with respect to APRIL in Australia.

MR GLEN MILES (Acting Australian High Commissioner) has as a special guest for the 'AUSTRALIA DAY' MATCH AND MEETING AT ALBERT PARK 4pm. Mr Miles will hand over our 2013 Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP) GRANT as well as TOSS THE COIN for the match.

As a new season of footy in France is underway it is time to look back at a very exciting 2011 - 2012 season. For the first time in its young history, the France championship was divided in two separate divisions; The Super League (Bordeaux, Paris, Toulouse and Strasbourg) ultimately competing for the national title and the Development League (Aix-Marseille, Perpignan and Montpellier) offering valuable game time to young or struggling teams.

This separation was decided at the end of the 2010-2011 season to ease the pressure of travel on less established teams. But even this new format proved to be a challenge for the teams in the Development League as 4 out of 6 games had to be cancelled due to a lack of players. At the end of the season, which ran from September 2011 to March 2012, the Montpellier Fire-Sharks took the title easily defeating Aix-Marseille (60-36).

On the other hand, the Super league proved to be a success, offering what is shaping up to be a great rivalry between the Bordeaux Bombers and the Paris Cockerels. Both teams started the competition as favourites, Bordeaux being the reigning champion and Paris holding on the 2011 French Cup.

Opportunities for junior talent throughout the remote areas of the Northern Territory to follow Australian Rules football pathways have been enhanced, as outlined in this media release from AFLNT.

“AFL Northern Territory’s Remote Projects Department have joined forces with Northern Territory Football League clubs to create and improve talent opportunities available for remote players across the NT.

“The NTFL Partnership Program was initiated with great cooperation from our NTFL Clubs to further develop and fast track the progression of our remote players into our talent pathways,” said AFLNT Indigenous Programs Manager Kevin Bruce.

Each of AFLNT’s nine remote projects where full-time staff are located have been linked with an NTFL team to further foster and develop opportunities. “So far, a total of 38 players from all over the Territory have participated in the program, where they not only play for an NTFL club, but spend 10 days supervised in Darwin learning life skills and participating in all training and recovery sessions that the club has,” advised Bruce.

AFLPNG is perhaps the brightest burning beacon of Australian Football development pathways outside of Australia. And so, the appointment last week of Cornelius “Connie” Papau into the newly created position of Operations Manager: Senior Football for AFL PNG heralds a further step forward for an organisation that has been steadily developing in recent years.

The following press release from AFL PNG serves as a useful introduction of Connie and a description of his role.

The New Zealand Hawks team to play the visiting AIS AFL Academy side at Westpac Stadium on Saturday the 26th of January has been announced with a major shock being the inclusion of 44 year old AFL legend Wayne Schwass joining Frankston’s VFL powerhouse forward Khan Haretuku on-field. Schwass (pictured left), who was born in NZ, will fulfill a lifelong ambition to wear the Silver Fern and his involvement is sure to not just be good for him but great for football.  He played 282 games across his career with North Melbourne and the Sydney Swans.

Of interest to football followers concerned with the international growth of the game, NZ will field 8 teenagers in their squad of 25 spearheaded by Shem Tatupu, who Hawthorn have committed to listing as an International Rookie alongside Kurt Heatherley in 2014 and Ben Miller, who is one of five young Kiwis to be awarded an International Scholarship so far.
 

St Kilda Football Club players and officials arrived tonight in Wellington to take part in the first Australia Post AFL Community Camp in New Zealand.

 “These camps provide a tremendous boost to communities across Australia and we’re hoping we can do the same in New Zealand. We want immerse ourselves in the Wellington culture and encourage them to become involved with St Kilda Football Club,” Head Coach, Scott Watters said.
  
During the camp, the Saints will take part in a host of activities, including an AFL Super Clinic, open training sessions and meeting the Wellington sporting fans.