Not only was 2008 a big struggle for football in Tonga as the Tongan Australian Football Association (TAFA) attempted to get a team to the 2008 International Cup, but the fledgling league also suffered the cruellest of blows when two of its players suffered horrific injuries in a car accident just weeks before the trip to Australia. Both young men sustained life-changing injuries and have been the subject of fundraising efforts. Meanwhile TAFA ended up sending a side to the Cup but the decision was too late for the main event.

In some respects the breakthrough that many of us involved in international footy have been awaiting has occurred. Papua New Guinea's International Cup hero, 17 year old Amua Pirika, has been signed by the Gold Coast Football Club, the proposed 17th club in the Australian Football League.

Pirika first came to prominence when he kicked three goals for PNG against a Queensland Colts side in the Queensland Under 16 championships in 2007. In 2008 he played for Nambour in the AFLQ Northern Area U18 competition, booting a league leading 65 goals. At just 17 he finished equal 11th in the 2008 Australian Football International Cup best player voting, and was 3rd in the goalkicking with 15. That included 4 in the semi-final against South Africa, previewing his grand final form.

Originally listed for IC08 as 184cm, he was obviously in a growth spurt as he was soon quoted at 190cm - certainly he played tall in the Cup grand final at the MCG (Mozzies at last in MCG thriller), taking several strong marks in an unstoppable burst, booting four goals in total to drag the Mosquitoes to a come-from-behind victory. And for tens of thousands of fans gathering for the following match, an AFL final between the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn, he provided a great highlight, curling a check-side goal through the big sticks after the siren to put the icing on the cake of PNG's 8 point win.

A small piece of Australian football news appeared in the Solomon Star News recently. The article, to coincide with Australia Day, discusses the 5-year Australian role in that country as part of a Regional Assistance Mission, and various efforts to interact with locals. Of particular interest is that the footy program has continued. It is being suggested as a role model for the introduction of cricket. From Aussies and Solomon Islanders – enjoying the partnership:

This could follow the model used by RAMSI personnel who, since arriving in 2003, have managed to introduce Aussie Rules football to many Solomon Islanders with a regular Saturday afternoon Auskick clinic run by RAMSI personnel for the past five years.

Captain Robert Coales, an Australian public servant currently serving in RAMSI’s military contingent as a personnel officer, says he looks forward to umpiring these games, now held at the Honiara Secondary School ground, each Saturday.

“For me it’s a chance to get out of headquarters, to interact with the community and to be involved in the game I love.”

Captain Coales says it is great to see how far the local players have developed in the past five years; some of them are excellent.”

It was recently reported that Western Bulldogs international scholarship player Inoke Ratu was unable to receive a visa to visit Australia due to his father's links to the military rulers of Fiji. An article in the Fiji Daily Post has raised hopes that the ruling was in fact due to an error by Ratu, thus potentially clearing the way for him to travel to Australia for training with the Bulldogs. The article says:

"My chances are really good. That’s what the Australian High Commission told me,” Ratu said.

“They were not happy with a section of the application I filled out”.

“It had nothing to do with my dad being in the military,” he added.

The Bulldog officials are also confident Ratu will have his visa application approved and will be training with his teammates within a matter of weeks.

Let's hope the reports are correct this time.

Inoke Ratu on paper, joined the Western Bulldogs last year when Western Bulldogs became the first AFL club to make use of the International Scholarship List, which allows clubs to effectively quarantine young international talent by signing them to $1000 per year contracts. This gives the club the opportunity to develop the player overseas (or for $20k they can look to move them to Australia). But Ratu's visa has been rejected and the Western Bulldogs are understood to be today set to appeal the decision to deny Inoke Ratu a visa to enter Australia.

Diplomatic tensions between the Australian governement and the interim Fijian goverment have seen a ban on Fijian military entering the country. While Inoke Ratu is not a member of the military, his father is and it seems that is enough for the Department of Immigration to deny the visa. Commenting on his visa rejection Ratu said "I'm a bit disappointed at the moment - everything that has been my target, my aim this year has been turned down just because of my visa application."

This snag comes as a blow with wider implications for the scholarship scheme with the Bulldogs the only club so far to have used it to take a chance on a foreign prospect. It seems that clubs other than the Bulldogs have seen little attraction in it so far and this situation is not likely to enhance how it is viewed.

In October 08 the Western Bulldogs became the first AFL club to make use of the International Scholarship List, which allows clubs to effectively quarantine young international talent by signing them to $1000 per year contracts. This gives the club the opportunity to develop the player overseas (or for $20k they can look to move them to Australia).

The two young men are Inoke Ratu and Solomoni Loki, both from Fiji and recruited during a scouting mission by the Western Bulldogs that included well publicised local trials in Labassa (on Vanua Levu) and Suva (on Viti Levu, the Main Island). Several articles have appeared about the potential players, and worldfootynews.com also spoke with the Bulldogs about their plans as well as getting some thoughts on Fiji's footy future from the AFL Oceania Development Manager.

Auckland’s season has just concluded and the North Shore Tigers have triumphed over University Blues after an unbelievable turnaround from their Second- Semi Final clash. Under the coaching of NZAFL CEO and current NZ Falcons’ coach Rob Vanstam even this result is surprising.

Also news of two Life Memberships at another Auckland club, and more success for talented young player Liam Ackland.

Footy has finished for the year in Port Moresby, the capital of PNG. The Senior Men’s final was marred by violence but in great news for the sport the girls and boys junior finals were completed very satisfactorily in a range of age grades from under 12 to under 19.

The senior final saw the Pro-Mak University Bulldogs captained by Mosquitoes captain, Rex Leka, live up to their top billing claiming the Port Moresby Kelloggs Mars AFL premiership. The Dogs beat Moresby Swans 11.7 (73) to 8.9 (57) in a nail biting showdown during which violence marred the final. The Dogs were dominant throughout, leading at the end of all quarters but nearly failed to shut out the Swans in the final quarter.

Fights broke out twice in the second and fourth quarter and nearly got out of control but fortunately police managed to quell the situation. Indeed according to the Post-Courier “If it weren’t for Swans spectator violence, the boys in red should have taken out the title when they had the chance in the last quarter.”

The Wellington AFL (WAFL) competition has just concluded with the Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs easily accounting for the North City Demons in the Grand Final. The Bulldogs have now lost just one game in the past two seasons, and that was midway through 2008 when the Demons trounced them during the home and away season. The Bulldogs used that to focus for the remainder of the season to go through and take their third Premiership in the past four years.

Much has happened in the South Island of NZ with Aussie Rules over the past few months. Funnily enough, Aussie Rules had just about dwindled away to nothing in Canterbury in the mid 90’s. Previous to that they had a competitive competition centered in Christchurch, but by the mid 90’s they were often down to playing 6-a-side games, with young kids involved, just to get a kick for the die-hards.

In late 1997, with an invitation to the WAFL from a keen Canterbury committee, I took a team down from Wellington to Picton, the beautiful ferry port at the top end of the South Island, and reignited the Wellington/Canterbury Provincial rivalry which had been dormant for about 8 seasons.

Things have changed greatly in just over a decade since.