The NZAFL Championships are to be held in Christchurch on today, October 23rd and tomorrow October 24th at Westminster Park. Auckland, Canterbury, Waikato and Wellington will be competing for the Senior Championship whilst the Victorian Amateur (VAFA) U18’s will head over from Australia to play two games against the NZ Hawks U20 side.

Read on for information on the draw and the competing Leagues.

The 2010 David Rodan Cup secondary schools footy tournament will get underway later this week in Fiji. David Rodan has more than just his name associated with this tournament, and is working hard in Fiji currently, including generating a fair level of pre-tournament news coverage.

The 2010 AFLPNG Coca-Cola Junior National Championships has wrapped up in Lae with the Highlands Province taking home the coveted Championship Shield. The 3-day tournament was a concoction of great football, loud music and tremendous participation by all players, officials, families and friends. Under 13, 15 & 17 Boys and Under 15 Girls came in from four regions across PNG to participate in the championships. The Highland Raiders, The Southern Sharks, The Northern Thunder and the NGI Stingrays congregated on the lawns of Igam Barracks to battle for the championship.

Emmaus Wartova recently played a great game in the AFL Queensland Grand Final. Playing for the Labrador Tigers against Morningside Panthers his team were right in it until a stunning last quarter blitz reaped back-to-back premierships for the proud Panthers at Giffin Park. Former Brisbane Lions player and Labrador star Tim Notting also had a game to remember with 4 goals.

Back in late August WFN told you about Andrew Cadzow having been in Fiji helping with preparations for the David Rodan Cup.

With the footy seasons in New Zealand all up and running here is a brief overview of recent news from around the country.

Auckland:-

The Auckland season (http://www.aafl.co.nz) is about half way through and last year’s Grand Finalists Waitakere Magpies and University Blues are sharing the top two positions. Rounding out the four are North Shore Tigers and Mt Roskill Saints with regular cannon fodder Manurewa Raiders and Takapuna Eagles completing the ladder. In the last round of scores available the Saints beat the Eagles on default, the Magpies defeated the Raiders 120- zip and the Blues won 14.13: 97 over the Tigers 9.2:56.

The AFL has announced that retiring Adelaide Crows champion Andrew McLeod will work for the AFL on national projects such as the Indigenous and Multicultural Combines in his role as community engagement and talent co-ordinator.

He will also travel to Tonga later this year to coach the Flying Boomerangs and will co-ordinate the No School No Play program. The Flying Boomerangs is an Indigenous Australian squad that has previously toured South Africa and Papua New Guinea.

McLeod said he was looking forward to helping to develop young indigenous players and fulfilling a role that expands across the wider Australian football community. “This is something I am passionate about and have wanted to do for some time,” he said. “The opportunity to give something back to the game and the community is truly exciting.”

McLeod won back to back flags with Adelaide in 1997 and 1998 and was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as best on ground in both matches.

This story slipped under the radar from early August, and alas, the video link seems defunct (Ed. it worked for me). From August 2nd, the Australia Network News reported AFL dream for Nauru footy players.

In a recent article WFN profiled Graeme “the kid” Wilson and his work with footy in the Solomon Islands. This included a brief overview of the RAMSI organisation (Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands). We just touched upon young Freddie Una, the ‘rising star’ of the Solomons footy program who flew the flag in the South Pacific team in the recent U16 Nationals. Here we feature an article that goes into greater depth on Freddie.

Dion Nash is considering a return to cricket nearly a decade after giving the game away. The 38-year-old former New Zealand allrounder and Black Caps selector retired after the 2001-02 season but is hungry to play again, this time for Grafton United in the premier Auckland competition.

Nash said "I've only really played a bit of Aussie Rules for the Mt Roskill Saints since I retired. I've been beaten up doing that and broke my thumb at one stage." Further prodding revealed he also won a premiership with the Saints.