World Footy News

After the first ever youth Oceania Cup Jason McCartney and scouts from four AFL clubs assisted to select an initial Oceania training squad.

"The standard, ability and attitude of the players was a highlight. No doubt they have great athletic capabilities and a real appetite and appreciation, even respect for this new game of AFL. They will be part of a very competitive World squad for 2010." McCartney said.

The Oceania Training Squad will no doubt contribute heavily to the World team that will compete in the NAB AFL Under 16 championships in Australia next year, something WFN will be hoping to follow up with the AFL in the coming weeks - we expect to see PNG players added, but will other nations feature besides obviously South Africa's young talent? The squad is:

Tonga is the shock winner of the inaugural AFL Oceania Cup for Under 16s. Going into the tournament PNG was favoured but pulled out with visa and flight issues, leaving New Zealand to carry favouritism.

After both Tonga and NZ went through Day One undefeated it looked like their first up clash on the Sunday morning would decide the winner, and it did, but not before more thrills.

In a gripping contest the Tongans defeated the Kiwis by just 6 points, only to be rolled by arch rivals Samoa later in the day. That left the door wide open for New Zealand to march through and claim the 2009 title. But a small matter of Nauru stood in their way, having also worked their way into a chance to snatch top spot on percentage. Bad kicking for goal and a gutsy contest from the smallest nation in the tournament saw the New Zealanders suffer a one point defeat, leaving Tonga top and the youth champions of Oceania (excluding Australia and to be fair, PNG) for 2009. Tonga's exciting victory was capped with an unexpected visit by their Prime Minister. Nauru's win slipped them into second and the Kiwis fell to third.

On the 22nd of November under lights on a very cold and wet evening, the Tokyo Goannas won their fourth consecutive Japan AFL Premiership, a remarkable achievement in a rapidly improving competition. The Goannas defeated the Eastern Hawks by 38 points in a dominant display of hard-running and relentless ball-pressure.

The Under 16 New Zealand Hawks accounted for both Samoa and Fiji on the first day of the Oceania Cup held in Suva Fiji this weekend. The Hawthorn scouts present would have been very pleased with their recent international scholarship signing, Kurt Heatherley, as he was named best for New Zealand in both games. The following is the Kiwi perspective of the day courtesy of Rob Vanstam, head of AFL New Zealand.

The Hawks' first match against Samoa was played at the Cathedral Gardens grounds right on the sea's edge on Suva's coastline.

A forty to fifty kilometre wind straight down the ground was a huge advantage for the New Zealand team in the first quarter and they went into the first change with a two goal lead. The Samoan team fought back strongly with three goals of their own to take a slight lead into the half time break.

The Hawks could not utilise the breeze as well as they would have liked in the third term and kicked only one goal to level the scores but leaving an up hill struggle in the final term with Samoa having a huge breeze at their advantage.

In the absence of Papua New Guinea (withdrew due to immigration and flight problems), New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga have emerged as the leaders after day one of the two day youth Oceania Cup in Suva, Fiji.

Day 1

NZ 5-3 (33) defeated Samoa 4-3 (27)
Tonga 2-9 (21) defeated Fiji 1-4 (10)
Nauru 4-1 (25) defeated Samoa 3-4 (22)
NZ 8-2 (50) defeated Fiji 2-7 (19)
Tonga 7-6 (48) defeated Nauru 1-3 (9)

A summary and photos of the day follow...

In a very disappointing result Papua New Guinea, red hot favourites for the youth Oceania Cup, have pulled out of the tournament.

Preliminary reports suggest that the withdrawal was a combination of immigration issues and a flight cancellation.

The good news is that scouts from Hawthorn, Geelong, Carlton and the Brisbane Lions are in Suva for the tournament, although the loss of PNG and strong winds will no doubt reduce the quality on display.

The change should leave the door wide open for New Zealand to win the inaugural tournament. A new draw has been hastily arranged. Each team with play the other once, with the highest ranked side the winner (i.e. no finals).

One of the keys to capitalising on renewed interest in starting Aussie Rules in Fiji has been finding reliable people on the ground who can support the Oceania Cup and then drive the program forward afterwards. The AFL hopes it has found two such people in Damian Ames and Robert Wolfgramm. We speak to both of these men about their own backgrounds and preview the Fijian youth side set to battle five other nations this weekend. Fiji have already claimed their first scalp with a trial match win over Nauru, while Tonga defeated Samoa in windy conditions.

Unfortunately we were unable to secure previews for PNG and Samoa. Based on their impressive young squads that compete in Queensland carnivals it can be expected that the Papuans will bring the most skilful squad, although they may be a lot smaller than some of the other teams. Samoa will most likely have a lot of young men more familiar with Rugby - possibly very good potential athletes but perhaps little Australian football experience. The same may be true for the Tongans.

The inaugural Under 16s Oceania Cup commences this week. Six countries are competing, with previous International Cup winners Papua New Guinea and New Zealand expected to lead the way. IC08 surprise packets Nauru would also be expected to do well.

Neighbours Samoa and Tonga should be solid performers but have less well developed junior programs than the biggest gun, PNG. Hosts Fiji are starting from scratch but are famous for their athletes and have the advantage of the home ground and an intensive build. In fact it was reported in the Fiji Times Online that the locals defeated Nauru in a warm up match. Note also that all teams were able to get advance clearance to play up to 6 players above the age limit.

Today (Friday) is expected to see the countries gather in Fiji's capital, Suva, where there will be an initial welcome, an address regarding talent pathways, and a cultural bridging session.

The preliminary draw is as follows (subject to late changes):

Pool A - PNG, Tonga, Fiji
Pool B - NZ, Nauru, Samoa

Saturday 12th December, all matches 4x10 min quarters

PNG vs Tonga
NZ vs Samoa
Tonga vs Fiji
Samoa vs Nauru
Fiji vs PNG
Nauru vs NZ

100 metre sprint heats and goal kicking competition

Sunday 13th December, matches 4x10 min quarters except grand final 4x15 min

20 metre sprint testing, 100 metre final, goal kicking final

3rd pool A vs 3rd pool B
2nd pool A vs 2nd pool B
1st pool A vs 2nd pool B (grand final)

Sunday 13th December will see the much awaited Wellington Grand Final between the undefeated Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs and the Hutt Valley Eagles who won four and lost four. The Wellington season was disrupted by weather conditions causing the cancellation of the Lightning Premiership, Round 9 and Preliminary Final but as those involved with international footy would know, it is about getting the season finished regardless.

The Toronto Rebels AFC in Canada are looking for a new coach and players for their 21st season in 2010. The Rebels are one of the most accomplished teams in the Ontario Australian Football League (OAFL) and, in 2009, the club celebrated its 20th season of football.

The role of Coach would run from April through to October with approximately a 14 round season consisting of one game and two training sessions per week. The Coach will be ably assisted by an Assistant Coach and captain that will be selected by the executive comittee and coach.

See below for more information.

The New Zealand Under 16 team are set to depart for Fiji to take on five other Oceania nations in the inaugural Oceania Cup.

The team will be coached by former Collingwood AFL player Fatui Ataata with current New Zealand Senior Hawks player, Andrew Crighton as his assistant.

It is well documented that a raft of PNG players receive scholarships to play in a variety of competitions around Australia which has lead to the listing of Pirika, Susuve, Meli and Labi with AFL Clubs so far. But many around the world must wonder what happens on the ground with local footy in PNG.

Occasionally WFN have reported on competitions in PNG but in what seems a momentous step forward for quality and player development AFLPNG has recently hosted their first “Super Series”. And there's also the exciting possibility of PNG entering an open age representative side in a Queensland competition in 2010.