With the 2017 AFL Queensland U/16 tournament getting under way last Sunday - this weeks only mid week match saw the South Pacific squad make it's first appearance against the strong North Queensland side. The South Pacific lads arrived Tuesday morning and were straight into a training session to try to 'gell' before the game the next day.

The venue was Burpengary, a northern suburb of Brisbane overlooking Moreton Bay and also home to a recently developed AFL facility including 3 playing fields. As it was yesterday - from 1 pm the venue played host to the South Pacific side. However - the task was too great and the inability to finish off their hard work saw North QLD able to set up play after play rebounding from defence.

The South Pacific Under 16 team today kickoff their 2017 Queensland Under 16 Championships  at the Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex, Burpengary.

Representative teams from Brisbane South, Brisbane North, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, North Queensland and South Pacific will compete in the four day carnival.

The squad selected from across the South Pacific is dominated by PNG, with 14 representatives. 

The Queensland Under 16 State Academy Squad will be chosen at the completion of the carnival and will go on to play in the NAB AFL Under 16 Championships in June.

The 2017 NAB AFL Academy Level 1 Squad will depart for Wellington today as part of a High Performance Camp that will include a clash against an open-age New Zealand side on Monday, April 24 at Westpac Stadium.

The challenge match will be the sixth year an Australian Under 17s side has played against a New Zealand team, with players part of this year’s Level 1 Squad following in the footsteps of Melbourne’s Jesse Hogan, West Coast Eagles’ Dom Sheed, GWS’ Josh Kelly, St Kilda’s Luke Dunstan and Jack Billings, North Melbourne’s Luke McDonald and Gold Coast Suns’ Jack Martin who were part of the NAB AFL Academy in 2012.

AFL National and International Talent Manager Kevin Sheehan said the opportunity to represent Australia and develop as individuals and footballers presented an incredible opportunity for NAB AFL Academy members.

“Australia’s best under 17 players really value the opportunity to play for their country against another country in a foreign environment,” Sheehan said.

 A huge round of footy in Nauru on the weekend saw the top of the table clash decided by a goal and the other two matches by five points.  The Magpies cemented top spot with their 6 point win over the Bombers with Kenneth Oppenheimer kicking three goals for the winners.  Both sides will play off again next week, this time in the Qualifying final for a spot in the Grand Final.

FRIDAY APRIL 7, 2017
CATS SCRATCH DOGS IN A THRILLER
It was a tight and tough contest from the outset as players went in hard. The contest was tough as both teams tried hard to gain control but nothing could separate them going into the last quarter. Going with a slight breeze in the last quarter, it was the Cats that won most of the ball and kept the game in their half for most of the quarter.

But despite winning more possessions in the last, the Cats squandered their opportunities frequently missing easy shots at goal. The Bulldogs were more accurate and with young player Blame Maaki kicking 2 goals in the last quarter, they remained dangerously close.

In the dying minutes Cats dangerman Shawn Kemp Maaki slotted a goal from a tight angle to take the lead and they held on to win by 5 points in a thriller.

Round 4 kicked off on Saturday with the Magpies unbeaten run ended by the previously winless Kangaroos. On Sunday the Hawks and Dogs ended their clash with scores level and the Hawks wishing they had kicked a little straighter.  For all the details read on.

 BOMBERS TOO STRONG FOR THE CATS

Round 3 kicked off on Saturday with the Magpies 17 point winners over the Bulldogs to take outright top spot on the ladder.  The Magpies spearheaded by Kenneth Oppenheimer may have stretched that lead if they kicked accurately. 

In other games, the Cats defeated the Hawks by 32 points and the Bombers had the biggest win of the round with a 39 point win over the Kangaroos. Khyde Menke and Bronco Deiderang both kicked 5 goals in that match with Deiderang leading the league with 16 goals from the three matches so far.

The following story originally appeared on Frederick's Blog and the original article can be found here.

The South Pacific country of Tonga has been introduced to footy fairly recently, but they’ve taken to the sport quickly and have been able to earn their stripes on the international level. The small Polynesian archipelago of roughly 103,000 people is home to many talented athletes.

Tongans have historically favoured other full-contact sports throughout their history, as rugby union is their national sport and rugby league is also widely played in the islands. This influence is apparent in the growing Tongan diaspora, specifically in Australia and New Zealand.

Footy wasn’t introduced to Tonga until the 1980s, when a couple of Australian teachers visited Tongan schools and managed to show the kids the rules of the game. Later on in the 90s, Ewen Gracie, a teacher from Melbourne, worked at a Tongan high school and attempted to establish an ongoing school-based Aussie rules competition with reasonable success

Round 2 kicked off on Friday evening with the two teams hungry for success after losing their matches in Round 1. Cats led by veteran skipper Trent Depaune against the rebuilding Kangaroos.

Cats vs Kangaroos

The Friday game was a close one between two teams determined to notch up their first win for the season. The Kangaroos charged hard in the last quarter coming from 3 goals behind to level the scores with 4 minutes left. But a clutch goal from Cats veteran player Tiana Waidabu sealed the game for the Cats. Inspirational Cats Captain Trent Depaune led from the front and was named best player for his team. Young Lockett Mau was strong in defence saving a couple of goals and running the ball out of defence with speed and great evasiveness on several occasions. Pilo Dagiaro’s lethal left boot was again on display regularly hitting his forwards with great precision.

For the unlucky Roos they tried valiantly and could have easily snatched the game late in the last quarter, but it was not to be. Leaders Charles Dagiaro and Jarmen Pole won plenty of the ball and spearhead Bronco Deidenang kicked 4 majors causing headaches for the Cats defenders. Shenko Canon was solid in defence and Templa Tau was switched from defence to the forward line and his aggressive attack on the ball created options for the Roos. Young Roos Charmoro Ribauw and Lazarus Caleb impressed with their fearless attack on the football against much bigger bodies. The Roos are definitely on the improve and it should not be long before they notch up their first win for the season. But in this game, it was the Cats that triumphed by 8 points.

The following story originally appeared on Frederick's Blog and the original article can be found here.

When you think of sports in New Zealand, your mind generally goes to rugby union. The All-Blacks, the country’s national team, are the winningest team in any sport anywhere in the world. But Australia’s Oceanic neighbor is home to a small-but-growing community of Aussie rules footballers.

Footy was introduced to New Zealand in 1868, but the majority of the original clubs were eventually pressured or convinced into switching to soccer or rugby rules. Aussie rules was not seen as a sport that had staying power among Kiwis, and the game didn’t catch on for many decades.

Thanks to AFL Nauru for Round 1 details.

The 2017 Senior competition kicked off with 3 games. The Hon. Minister for Sports attended the opening and tossed the coin to launch the first game. The Opening round was sponsored by Capelle & Partners and Australian Aid.

Bulldogs vs Kangaroos
The first was the Grand Final replay between the Bulldogs and the Kangaroos. After a tight first quarter, the Bulldogs stepped up a gear in the 2nd and 3rd quarters with their star players in Niga Haulangi, Patrick Agadio, Deiri Cook and Nanitten Temaki leading the charge. Donatello Moses was lively up forward but it was Jose Uepa who normally play defence who was unstoppable in the forward line bagging a personal best of 6 goals. For the Roos, Mikey Hiram won plenty of the ball and he was supported by Jarmen Pole and Charles Dagiaro.

The dangerous Bronco Deidenang was their only shining light up forward kicking 7 goals. Recruit Skaga Dowabobo also performed well and held his own against Bulldogs ruckman Lennox Agege. In the end, the Dogs had more options and more winners across the ground running out comfortable winners by 38 points.