As reported in a previous article, Liam Ackland traveled to Adelaide from Auckland to trial in an SANFL Under 18 game for the Glenelg Tigers against the Central Districts Bulldogs on Saturday 25th July.

The following is Essendon's media release on Meli's signing.

Essendon has signed exciting Papua New Guinea prospect David Meli. The 178cm, 76kg small forward is the second International player ever signed by the Bombers (after Irishman Michael Quinn at the end of 2008) and the first player signed by the club under the AFL's International rookie system.

The 16-year-old PNG resident (he turns 17 in September) is currently living on the Gold Coast to further his football career. He is expected to begin training at Windy Hill in November.

In breaking news AFL club Essendon have international rookie listed Papua New Guinea's David Meli. The future AFL club, the Gold Coast, listed Amua Pirika and Stanis Susuve in firsts for the game, but the listing of Meli is perhaps an even more significant step forward.

We've followed the rise of Meli from being an emergency for the Mosquitoes 2008 International Cup squad through to his performances for the Queensland under 16s (see Meli to the fore for Scorpions) and the Southport Sharks, as one of the wave of PNG players on scholarships in the Sunshine state. High hopes were held that he would be drafted, and in fact it could be argued AFL clubs were slow to take what is almost a "free hit" outside the draft.

More on David Meli's recruitment soon.

As many would know Australian rules footy has been played in New Zealand for over a century. The Great Depression eventually caused the first incarnation of the game to flounder and die out in the early 20th century. In the early-to-mid-70s the Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington competitions were re-established. This decade has seen the emergence of the Waikato League and a football presence again in Dunedin, Otago.

Over 2 articles we'll look at the 5 AFL New Zealand centres - WFN thanks the Auckland, Otago and Waikato centres for their information.

The Pacific Islands won a tightly contested match over the North Queensland All Stars in Cairns on Wednesday night to take out the inaugural Pacific Islands Forum AFL Challenge Cup.

The match was enjoyed by many delegates from the Forum including the Prime Ministers of New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tossed the coin to get the match underway (pictured left).

The final score was Islanders 8.12 (60) to the All Stars 7.6 (48).

An under-23 AFL Oceania side has been put together, with players gathered from New Zealand, Nauru, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga supplementing the bulk of the squad from Papua New Guinea. The team will tackle a North Queensland U23 side, an area noted for its strong growth in indigenous talent. The game will be played at Cazaly Stadium, Cairns.

The match is a joint initiative with the Federal Government, to complement the 2009 Pacific Islands Forum being held in Cairns, with Prime Ministers from across the South Pacific hopefully in attendance.

The teams will be coached by longtime Brisbane Lions Premiership teammates, Mal Michael (The Islanders) and Daryl White (North Queensland). AFL Oceania manager Andrew Cadzow will be Michael's assistant. Michael is part Papuan and White has indigenous Australian heritage.

The Islanders team has 8 Australian-based PNG scholarship holders, including PNG's best on ground in the IC08 grand final Donald Barry, and his teammates at that tournament Peter Labi and the Gold Coast-signed Amua Pirika. Players of note from elsewhere include other 2008 International Cup players Andriu Sucu (NZ), Jonas Amwana and Johnny Dagiaro (Nauru) and Sauluitoga (Samoa). The team has been selected with an eye to the future, with many of the players considered promising athletes, not necessarily the "best of the best" footballers at this point in time, although plenty of them are also good players.

The match will be played this evening in Cairns, Wednesday 5th August, entry free and the public welcome.

A report on New Zealand's selections can be found here and talented young Fijian Dylan Wolfgramm here.

The Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) are sending their Under 18 age group representative team to Auckland in October to play the New Zealand Under 20 team in two matches over the NZ Labour Day weekend in Auckland.

The New Zealand Under 20’s team had initially been included in the Senior National Provincial Championships to be held at Parrs Park Auckland whilst confirmation of the Victorian side's touring availability was determined. With the amateur side's attendance confirmed, the Senior NPC will now revert to its normal format with the four regions Wellington, Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury contesting for senior honours.

The two matches between the New Zealand Under 20’s and the Victorian Amateur Under 18’s will take place in conjunction with the Senior NPC with the first game on Saturday October 24th at 2.00pm and the second match on Monday October 26th at noon.

The pool rounds of the NAB Australian Under 16's Championships have recently concluded. Queensland, substitute home to many promising Papua New Guinea footballers, had a fantastic tournament. The Scorpions (Queensland team) went undefeated through their three matches. Most of the pool games were played at the Blacktown Oval, the future home of the West Sydney team in the AFL. And looming as PNG's next big thing was talented youngster David Meli.

Winis Imbi was born in PNG and spent his first eleven years there. At that stage his mother moved the family to Portland in the western district of Victoria to be near relatives. Winis began playing footy in the local junior competition and shone thanks to his pace and ability to read the game. For those that have had the privilege of watching the Mosquitoes you have to almost wonder whether these assets are genetic!

By his mid-teens he had caught the eye of scouts from the North Ballarat Rebels. Awarded a scholarship to attend St Patrick's College, he moved to Ballarat hoping to make it all the way to the AFL. Imbi was a member of the Rebels' 1997 premiership team,. This was a line-up that also included Adam Goodes, Shannon Watt and James Walker. He and Walker, who was recruited by Fremantle, were subsequently named in the TAC Cup team of the year. But on draft day Imbi missed out.

During the next four seasons he worked hard to crack the big time. Rookie-listed by Essendon he made a number of appearances in the Ansett Cup and even won the club's reserves best and fairest in 1999. A short stint at North Melbourne followed, but injuries ended his AFL hopes.

Imbi took over as coach of Portland in early 2008 after his team had gone back- to-back and there had been a raft of retirements. He stepped in and rather unexpectedly , despite fielding a side with an average age in the low 20s, they lost only one more game in 2008. On grand final day the Tigers held out the Imperials to complete a hat-trick of premierships for the first time in the club's 123-year history.

For those wondering, Imbi has not been a part of the PNG squads at the International Cups. Given eligibility criteria it would be this writer's belief that he would be ineligible unless special consideration was given.

For more on this story, read Portland's Plan - Play Hard.

New Zealand Falcons representative Liam Ackland has secured a trial with the Glenelg Under 18 team next month. Glenelg is part of the South Australian National Football League and home of many champion AFL and VFL footballers, with Stephen Kernahan and Bryce Gibbs immediately springing to mind for this Carlton supporting correspondent!

Liam attended the 2008 International Cup as a sixteen year old. This forum was a great opportunity for potential youngsters to perform in front of a myriad of talent scouts from the AFL clubs. Amua Pirika from Papua New Guinea was soon signed by the Gold Coast consortium and is now playing for Southport in the Queensland AFL competition and the Gold Coast in the TAC Cup.

After securing a position in the 2008 International Cup squad, Liam was afforded the opportunity of attending an Australian Institute of Sport Scholarship camp in Canberra last December through funding contributed by AFL New Zealand (newly renamed from the similar "New Zealand AFL") and the AFL itself. The AIS camp provides the best young talent from throughout Australia to be monitored by all of the 16 AFL clubs. NZ has had a sprinkling of attendees at events similar to this and they have always presented and performed well.