In a major breakthrough for international Australian football the South Pacific team has defeated Tasmania at the NAB AFL Under 16 Championships in Sydney.

The match was this morning from 10am at Blacktown Olympic Park.

Final scores (courtesy of AFL Asia Pacifc's Andrew Cadzow):

South Pacific 11.13 (79)
Tasmania 10.17 (77)

WA v Vic Metro and Vic Country v SA
Results from the 2011 NAB AFL Under 16 Championships Round One Division One matches played yesterday (Saturday 9th July) at Blacktown International Sportspark Sydney.

Vic Metro 2.1 (13) 6.5 (41) 7.9 (51) 14.13 (97)
Western Australia 5.3 (33) 7.5 (47) 8.7 (55) 11.9 (75)
 

The NAB AFL Under 16s are underway and the World XVIII and South Pacific have their first matches tomorrow at Blacktown in Sydney.

With all the IC11 activity this one has snuck up on us without managing to organise any writers to get along and watch the matches or take any photos. If any of our readers are in the area and can help us out then let us know - anything we can get gratefully received.

Our lead up articles can be viewer here:

World XVIII mark two announced
South Pacific U16 squad for NAB AFL Nationals
World XVIII crack first win (updated)
NAB AFL U16s confirmed to feature SP and World - includes the tournament draw

The World XVIII team have had their first win on Australian soil defeating an Indigenous Under 15 team in a warm up match this morning. Played in cold blustery conditions at Arden St, the World XVIII team won every quarter to run out winners by about five goals (no official scores were kept to our knowledge).

While their opponents were overall smaller and younger, they gave a competitive perfomance that made the game a solid hit out for the World XVIII team that will play their first match in the National Under16 Championships in Sydney on Sunday. The World team who only came together in camp yesterday looked to mesh much more as the game wore on and they all learned a little more of their team mates.

The AFL is now 21 years old and to commemorate the milestone Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper pondered what the sport's top league might look like in 2032, another 21 years time.

The paper talked to well known international advocate Kevin Sheedy, Geelong President and former AFL Commissioner Colin Carter, and AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou.

As much as the international footy community loves Sheed's enthusiasm, to read Demetriou suggesting the AFL may include clubs from outside of Australia was perhaps the the most significant aspect of the article. Many involved in international footy would love to see that happen, and Sheedy and Colin Carter (a long time advocate for South Africa) have suggested it before, but to have Demetriou state it as a possibility publicly could be considered quite a break through.

The SANFL and AFL today announced a funding plan to see South Australian football through to 2014 when the financial picture is expected to brighten considerably with both the state's AFL clubs moving to Adelaide Oval.

Key features of the deal are:

• A grant to the Port Adelaide Football Club from the AFL of $1 million for each of the three years (2011, 2012 and 2013)
• A loan to the SA Football Commission from the AFL of $2 million per year for each of the three years (2011, 2012 and 2013) to be provided as grants to the Port Adelaide Football Club, representing a total grant to the club of $9 million over three years
• The AFL to provide a facility for the SA Football Commission to draw up to $1.5 million per year for three years (2011, 2012 and 2013)
• The SA Football Commission will provide a financial package valued at $1 million per year to the Adelaide Football Club over three years (2012, 2013 and 2014), representing a total contribution to the Crows of $3 million.

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou explained that "Football in South Australia needs two strong clubs in Port Adelaide and the Adelaide Crows competing strongly on the national stage and the AFL competition wants both teams to have every chance to bring success to their supporters."

This year's edition of the World XVIII youth side has been released. The side of 14 to 18 year olds will compete in the NAB AFL Under 16 Championships Division Two, alongside fellow internationals the South Pacific and Australian states/territories NSW/ACT, Queensland, Tasmania and Northern Territory. Due to scheduling and concessions the two international sides will play one game less than their Aussie counterparts but the event will still be invaluable in exposing world talent to scouts and what is required to take their game to the next level.

As per 2010 the side will feature true internationals nominated by the AFL's international affiliates and be strengthened by Australian-based talent with recent multicultural backgrounds. Perhaps one disappointment is that the number of players from the affiliates is down from 18 to 12 this year. It's a reminder that whilst junior development is on a tremendous surge in the South Pacific the game is not quite so advanced in the Northern Hemisphere. A strong feature of the 2011 squad is a number of tall immigrants of North African descent.

This year's affiliates to provide players are Canada (4), South Africa (3), East Timor (2), USA (1), Scotland (1), Ireland (1). Notable absences are Denmark and England. The full World XVIII squad is listed below courtesy of Peter Romaniw, AFL Multicultural and International Coordinator .

The AFL today announced East Coast Eagles and Sydney University have been invited to join the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) next season. The two AFL Sydney clubs have been through an extensive application process over the last two months and will now each seek the formal approval of their members before accepting the invitation.

If successful, East Coast and Sydney University will become the first AFL Sydney clubs to join NEAFL’s Eastern Conference, making it a nine-team competition in 2012. The Eastern Conference currently includes the Sydney Swans reserves and GWS GIANTS (next year their reserves as they join the AFL) as well as five Canberra-based clubs.

The pre-eminent second tier football competition in NSW/ACT will provide players with national exposure with cross-conference games between some of the ten Queensland and Northern Territory teams making up NEAFL’s Northern Conference.

Premier Colin Barnett announced yesterday that Perth’s new multi-purpose stadium would be built on the Burswood Peninsula and is scheduled for completion in 2018.  The new Perth Stadium will have the third-biggest capacity in Australia and will be the second largest AFL home stadium.

 It will have a capacity of 60,000 seats with provision for future expansion to 70,000 seats in the style of Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium, with similar views, amenities and comfort.  This capacity range will more than adequately provide for both members and corporate seating and generous general admission and visiting team supporters.