Papua New Guinea recently won the Intenational Cup 2008, defeating the gallant New Zealand Falcons. However there is a whole lot more to PNG footy than the Mosquitoes' performance. We have touched on the many aspects of AFLPNG’s operations in a variety of articles but I thought it would be great to get an overview from National Operations Manager Peter Cates about the story so far, and where to in the future.

Last month WFN encouraged football fans around the world to have a kick of their footy on "Kick Around Australia" Day. Joining Australian Defence Force personnel in celebrating the first game of Australian Football were 200 children in Samoa.

The NZ Falcons played their yearly game against the touring Maffra Eagles last Saturday, going down to the champion Victorian country club by 71 points. As a spectacle it did not attain great heights due to 50% greater than average July rainfall for Auckland, most of it in the 2 weeks prior to the match. The organisers also dodged a bullet when they managed to convince local authorities not to cancel the game due to the ground condition - an issue familiar to many sports these days.

With coach Rob Vanstam trying a variety of combinations from his entire 29 man squad it would be also fair to say that the result would not be a true reflection of the Kiwis' talents. Much will have been learnt by the coach as he now fine tunes the squad for the IC 2008.

Maffra 13.13 (91) defeated New Zealand 3.1 (19).

A full report is available here from the NZAFL website.

The AFL’s recently appointed Oceania Development manager Andrew Cadzow last month undertook a “whirlwind” tour or Samoa, American Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand (meeting only), to help him better understand the region’s football needs.

WFN spoke to Cadzow about his time in Samoa. The island nation has shown football potential in the past, which even attracted a Richmond delegate, Craig Cameron to investigate the possibility of awarding a scholarship to a local player, through the AFL's International Rookie program. On the downside, the country has only managed irregular senior football matches and has at times struggled to break down negative perceptions that the game lacks “physicality” (compared with the more established Rugby).

Hardcore international footy fans can check out 19 year old PNG star John James in action, playing for Zillmere Eagles against the Brisbane Lions Reserves (the Suncoast Lions). The match was played earlier this year, and appears on AFLQtube (look for the match AFLQ Rnd 11 Lions V Eagles, first time users will need to download a small software patch). James has quite a few possessions and kicks a goal late in the first quarter, sets one up early in the second, and kicks another in the third. Viewers can see that he has electrifying pace and plays the role of a quick tackling, crumbing small forward, much in the style of indigenous AFL players such as the Davey brothers. Like several other PNG players at the 2005 IC, he almost seems to run too fast at times, missing tackles and slipping over. But overall he's an exciting prospect and played a big role in the featured match. It's also interesting to see the quality of Queensland's top league.

Unbelievably, when the International Cup rolls into Warrnambool in August there is one player who can claim home ground advantage. Kiwi Moss Doran, of the fledgling Waikato competition in NZ, has taken the game so seriously over the past 2 years that he has played for South Warrnambool in the very strong Hampden League. He has also continued to play in the Waikato’s capital of Hamilton for the past 2 seasons to fast track his development.

For more on Moss Doran from Kate Butler of Warrnambool’s “The Standard”, click here.

A Richmond Football Club delegate, Craig Cameron was in Samoa last week searching for potential Samoan 'international rookies' and it made news headlines in the small Pacific nation. Cameron also made an appearance on a high-rating sports television program, Sports Centre and was interviewed for an article which received colour, back page coverage in Sunday's Newsline newspaper.

Cameron revealed he was on the lookout for "people who are enthusiastic about AFL" and to "find some guys that have the athleticism who could go and play Australian Rules" and see "if there is a possibility of developing the game (in Samoa)." The Tigers' Strategy and List Manager also watched an AFL Samoa practice session at Leulumoega.

According to Michael Roberts, AFL Samoa's National Game Development Manager, "Samoan media is finally warming to Australian football which is great. The support of local radio presenter Ben Talogota from Polynesian Radio is great, along with his weekly review with Rohan Connelly."

One reader of the Samoan newspaper confirmed the positive effect that a non-Australian playing in the AFL can have for that particular country, admitting that they were "raised in Australia" but "still do not understand the concept of AFL" yet would "try to understand it and back our boys if they ever get into the game of AFL. I think Samoans should get into playing this game, it could only take us further."

Roberts was very pleased to have a "visit from such a professional club who was interested not only in the talent and programs but in the future welfare and adaptation to western life for these young players." Cameron had expressed interest in understanding the 'Faa Samoa', a set of Samoan cultural rules to live and treat others by, in order to benefit potential recruits.

WFN can reveal that other AFL clubs have since expressed interest in talent identification in Samoa.

Papua New Guinea's junior pathway program continues to rush ahead, with the Under 14 Binatangs having wins in warm-up matches against a New South Wales region and Queensland development side, followed by a comfortable win in the Queensland Under 14 State Championships, and pushing one of the top regions in their other game so far.

Further down the pathway are another group now playing for Coolangatta, and some Papuans have even lined up for the Brisbane Lions Reserves side in the southeast Queensland league. These young men are the real deal and we review their progress below.

According to a recent article on the AFL website, Vanuatu has joined a growing list of Australian football-playing nations.

Football arrived in the country "when a Gold Coast couple living there introduced Rec Footy." Whilst a senior league is yet to develop, eight teams participated in Rec Footy over the summer. These matches were initially played by expatriates at an international school but before long had attracted "broader interest". AFL Queensland Auskick Manager, Fiona McLarty has since visited the island to help establish a NAB Auskick program, with eighty children signing up after participating in introductory clinics.

Participation in the sport by Vanuatuans adds weight to calls for football's inclusion in future South Pacific Games.

WFN spoke with NZAFL CEO and the Falcon’s Coach Rob Vanstam to see how things were progressing towards International Cup 2008

The New Zealanders have had three training camps so far, with 2 of them based in regional centres before everyone gathered in Auckland earlier this month. The squad has been whittled down from the near 60 who were initially named at the National Provincial Championships late in 2007. There are now 34 players aiming for the 29 available spots in the traveling squad to Melbourne.

Coach Vanstam was playing his cards very close to his chest knowing how close this years International Cup is likely to be with significant development in around the world in the intervening period. He confirmed that there are players from across the four provinces Auckland, Canterbury, Waikato and Wellington as well as five who are continuing to develop off-shore in Australia and have made the effort to meet the requirements of being selected.