Will McKenzie lives in Auckland, is a former President and General Manager of what is now AFL New Zealand, founded the International Australian Football Council and instigated the International Cup, which he still regularly attends. In this article Will ponders the past, present and future of Australian football in New Zealand, with the inside knowledge of someone who has played a significant role in its recent history.
Being close to Australia, and with a long history in the game, many people look to New Zealand to see how football can develop outside Australia. New Zealand football during the 1990s, a decade when I was heavily involved in the game, has been referred to from time to time on WFN including recently in a discussion thread which has prompted me to write to give a picture of New Zealand football in the 1990s from where I was standing, and some thoughts about current and future developments.
Football of a predominantly Victorian variety was played in the colony of New Zealand from the late 1850s and was the only recognisable football code played in New Zealand until the first rugby match was played in 1870. Despite rugby taking off like a scrub fire, football did reasonably well having clubs in most parts of the colony by the turn of the 20th century when New Zealand declined an invitation to join the six other Australasian colonies in the forming of the Commonwealth of Australia. New Zealand was a member of the 1905 and 1908 Australasian Football Councils, the equivalent of today’s AFL Commission, and the New Zealand team, wearing all black, competed in the 1908 Jubilee Australasian Football Carnival at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of large crowds, getting well beaten by Victoria and Tasmania but defeating New South Wales and Queensland to finish fourth out of the seven state/colony teams. World War I crippled the sport here (as it did rugby union in Australia) and football in New Zealand did not survive the depression. The game was revived in 1974, leagues were formed in in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and a league now operates in Hamilton as well.
In late 1990, at the end of my time as a student at the University of Canterbury, and with an understanding of football having lived in Geelong during the 70s and played a bit at school I wrote to AFL Chairman and CEO Ross Oakley to suggest that the AFL consider playing a match in New Zealand as the first part of a long term plan to ‘repopularise’ the game in New Zealand. Ross responded very positively. As there was no suitable venue in Christchurch I scoured various maps of various cities and eventually settled upon Western Springs Stadium, Auckland, which is a speedway venue. However it is possible to lay turf over a dirt track and the Auckland City Council kindly agreed to lay 10,000 square metres of turf to produce a 150m by 90m playing surface.
AFL Samoa has benefitted greatly over the last year from the presence of AYAD AFL development officer Gabel Stathis. Local footy and school programs have been reinvigorated. The AFL Samoa Committee (which includes people on the ground in Samoa as well as support from Australia) is advertising for the person to follow on from Gabel when his 12 month appointment expires.
Collingwood’s Caolan Mooney will make his debut on Saturday afternoon, against Fremantle at the MCG, after a breakthrough five goal performance in the VFL last weekend.
In celebration of the outstanding achievements of women in football and their ongoing sponsorship of the Victorian Women’s Football League, Melbourne Football club celebrated last weekend’s Round 13 game against GWS Giants as “Women’s Round”.
The AFL this week announced the full World18 squad adding the multicultural youths to the already named internationals that make up the 26-man squad.
The AFL today announced the Australian multicultural Team of Champions initial squad list of 50 (see table below). To be eligible to be selected the players must either have been born overseas or had at least one parent born overseas.
By Corey Irwin
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