NZAFL seem to be ticking a lot of boxes in international footy development whilst the sun is shining very fiercely on South Africa and to a lesser extent PNG and the USA as the future for finding international rookies.

With AFL Clubs each allowed to stockpile up to 24 international rookies over a 3 year period to monitor and support as prospective players, and with Ireland unable to have their players named on this list, the players must be sourced from other markets. With the League stretching to 18 Clubs within a four year period we are looking at the possibility of 432 players being on a list who have been developed offshore. As Paul Kelly, the musician, said “From Little Things Big Things Grow”

This has been recognised by one AFL Club who are currently in the process of developing a key strategic relationship with the NZAFL in identifying and nurturing young talent in New Zealand to possibly rookie list.

John James made his senior debut for the Zillmere Eagles in the AFL Queensland last weekend, after recently completing a great tournament in the AFL Queensland U18 State Championships. Not only did his team have a win, but he kicked 2 goals and was named in the best players. Not bad for a 17 year old from Papua New Guinea. For more information view this article and this article.

October 2008 will see the Canberra Marists College tour NZ and play 3 games against the NZ Under 18s. With the Barassi Youth Tournament postponed until next year it has enabled the Club to gather their resources and travel to NZ instead. The Canberra and NZ association has been fostered for some time now with previous tours in both directions and with NZ Juniors being hosted at Quenbeyan, one of the Canberra league’s top Clubs at different times.

Read on for more on the NZAFL website.

worldfootynews.com can now reveal further details of the AFL's new Regional Development Manager position for Oceania. For many years there has been a growing push from international Leagues to get more support from the AFL, not just based on wishful thinking or big plans, but backed by promising results on the ground. There has been steady progress in convincing key AFL stakeholders, and this has no doubt been as much an issue within the AFL hierarchy itself as it has between the Leagues and the AFL. Although there have been setbacks along the way, and will no doubt continue to be, the direction is clearly positive. As we've reported previously, progress has accelerated since 2005 and the appointment of a full time staffer as Oceania representative could be a step towards having more regional managers across the world - we certainly hope so. More details follow.

Many things are happening through AFL Queensland that will be good for both PNG and international footy, from the appointment of an Oceania regional development manager to scholarship schemes in Brisbane and Cairns. And the Papuans now look closer than ever to having their first home-grown AFL listed player in John James. Read on for the latest from Australia's northern neighbour.

In exciting news for Australian Football across Oceania, the AFL has head-hunted AFLPNG CEO Andrew “Cadz” Cadzow for the role of International Football Development Manager for the Oceania Region. Cadzow has been the Regional Development Officer for Northern Queensland after helping to establish the region 11 years ago. According to the AFL Queensland website “He will leave behind a legacy of quality programs and practices that have served the Brisbane North region incredibly well over the years, resulting in significant participation growth.”

Andrew has been intricately involved with PNG footy for a long time, coaching the team at the 2002 International Cup, was closely involved again in 2005, and is the current CEO of AFLPNG. It is hoped that within his new role he will still be able to support PNG footy as the very recent departure of Peter Cates, AFLPNG’s Operations Manager, as a result of ill-health would leave a devastating organisational void.

Read more about Cadzow in Cadzow made a difference.

The Maffra Football Club from Victoria's Gippsland region will return to New Zealand to play the Falcons on August 2nd. Maffra are an extremely strong country football team and will certainly give the Kiwis some idea of how their preparations are going for defending their title at the 2008 International Cup.

For more on this from the NZAFL website see: Maffra to play Falcons

The past few years has seen a significant increase in women's involvement in football, both on and off the field. In Australia there are female board-members at AFL clubs and studies have suggested that women account for 40 or 50% of football fans.

Adding to this, more women's football clubs are being established, with the largest league (Victorian WFL) gaining greater exposure in the media.

Having said this, the ladies version of Australian football is far less advanced than the mens in Australia. There are no professional leagues, nor is there a large spectator following - basketball, netball and to a lesser degree cricket are ahead in this regard. For this reason, many people have pointed out that a World cup involving a full-strength Australian side would be ready for the women much before the men. Women’s involvement in football has been documented in South Africa, PNG, the USA and Canada.

WFN now looks to the Pacific, and gives football fans a brief overview of how women are involved with the game there.

Rugby’s Super 14 side, the Wellington Hurricanes might be pros in rugby union, but in Aussie Rules it was the Wellington Rep team, the Tigers, who triumphed.

At Elsdon Park, Porirua, the Hurricanes squad went down 53-37 to a Wellington Tigers AFL selection. The Hurricanes, who are presently preparing for their season, took the field in an attempt to add interest to their pre-season and to look at skills that could be adapted to their game such as kicking and overhead marking as part of this cross training exercise.

Though the Hurricanes had had a crash course in the rules of Australian football and featured the Ellison brothers who have both played plenty of Aussie Rules in the local Wellington competition, including Tamati who was part of NZ Rugby 7’s Gold medal performance at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, they struggled initially. They were penalized heavily early on until the umpires adopted a more lenient translation of the rules which was more fitting for such a cross code exhibition.

The Wellington Hurricanes, one of rugby union’s Super 14 teams, is using a modified game of Aussie Rules against the Wellington AFL rep side the Wellington Tigers, as part of their cross training in preparation for their upcoming season. The game will be played on Tuesday 15th January at Elsdon Park in Porirua. The game is expected to be played in a friendly spirit to minimise the risk of players picking up an injury, however the competitive nature of the players is likely to come through once the battle of the codes commences.

Wellington Rep Coach John Jackson said that he would meet with the Hurricanes squad to give them a brief rundown on the rules beforehand. Hopefully he will make them clear as a team that has contained past All Blacks such as Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga and Alama Ieremia and currently contains powerhouse loose forward in Jerry Collins could be dangerous in any grey areas!