For those wondering about how Papua New Guinea's bright young star, Stanis Susuve, went for the Queensland under 16s in the Australian national titles recently, read on.

Queensland Country showed New Zealand no mercy as they vented their disappointment at missing the Division 2 final of the Australian Country Championships. Played over a full time match length in good conditions, the reigning International Cup champions were sadly no match for their strong opponents.

Perhaps not unexpectedly the Australian Country Championships have provided a harsh reality check for supporters and officials of international footy. The 2005 International Cup winners, New Zealand, have gone down convincingly in their three qualifying matches against the top country footballers from around Australia.

The New Zealand Falcons have arrived in Australia for their debut at the Wesfarmers Australian Country Championships. First up they've played a practice match against strong Victorian country team Maffra, before heading up to the Gold Coast where they will compete in the second division against top opposition, including a host of players with AFL connections. Australian eyes will view the Falcons as a measure of the strength of international footy.

Australian Football has long received coverage in Papua New Guinea, but it's pleasing to see increasing amounts of media. A story on 6th July - "Aussie rules expands globally" - by Mike Hedge in the main PNG newspaper The National covered much of the ground that WFN has been bringing to its online audience. In an excellent rare mainstream media summary of the game, Hedge reported: "While the reaction to the success of the Socceroos is proof that Australians have embraced the world game, there is more and more evidence that the world is embracing the Australian game". The story mentions many of the Australian Football programs around the world.

Despite a tight budget preventing Papua New Guinea from sending a complete team to the Under 14 Queensland Country Championships and a gruelling travel schedule, the Binatangs still managed to produce four players to be selected for the Country Kookaburras squad to play in Queensland's state championships.

As recently reported on worldfootynews.com, the New Zealand AFL has lost its CEO with Rob Malone moving into a new position in Rugby in that country. With the AFL recently re-affirming its committment to international development, potentially exciting times are ahead for the Kiwi leagues. Also on offer is a part-time position as National Umpires Director.

There's been a lot going on in footy relating to New Zealand lately. Two young Kiwi born players have made their move on the AFL, one of their internationals has moved to Melbourne, and one of the key people in their recent success has moved into Rugby administration.

The 2006 Papua New Guinea National titles have been postponed to September, due to concerns that too many regions could not afford to attend. This is a reminder that for all footy's great gains in PNG in recent years, the country is by no means weathy and travel is a major commitment. On a brighter note, there is a suggestion that an Aussie side may travel to PNG to play, and the Arafura Games are on the agenda.