Australian Rules Football appears to be going from strength to strength in Papua New Guinea. Numbers are growing fast, especially at junior level, and the game is developing a great reputation in the community, both on and off the field.

The Wellington Saints have defeated the Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs for the Wellington AFL 2004-05 premiership in a hard-fought match at Sladden Park, Pentone.

In 2003, the New Zealand Junior Falcons played and won a tournament in Canberra against Nauruan and ACT junior sides. At this tournament, a young New Zealander by the name of Jeremy Blythe was picked up by ACTAFL club the Queanbeyan Tigers. Now another New Zealander, Nathan Rose, has followed him across.

WFN talks with Rose about his background in footy, playing in Canberra and the scene in Wellington as it currently stands.

Four AFL-PNG players have been offered places with clubs in Queensland as part of the Papua New Guinean league's elite scholarship program.

Melbourne's Age newspaper reports that the AFL is considering pre-season development initiatives for New Zealand in 2006.

With a a squad containing fifteen players between the ages of 17 and 22, the New Zealand Falcons will be one of the younger squads on display in Melbourne this August. In addition, most of them either play in the Australian Capital Territory AFL or the AFL Queensland or have toured Australia multiple times, playing against Queensland under18s representative sides.

Polynesia Airlines and TAFA have today announced that young Tongan Semisi Takelo is the first recipient of a scholarship to study and play Australian Football in Australia.

The announcement was made today (January 25) at the Polynesian Airlines office with the Tongan Australian Football Association (TAFA) president Mr Malakai Vakasiuola present. Takelo’s mother, Ms Lesieli Takelo of Fotua Ha'apai was also in attendance for the announcement.

One of the success stories of Australian Football has been Papua New Guinea. The game has had a solid base in Australia's northern neighbour for several decades, but it has recently been boosted with the AFL assisting in junior development. World Footy News has had several stories on the sport there, and some of the talented juniors coming from the country, but the following is from the AFL PNG itself, a body responsible for growing the game at junior level.

The Samoan Australian Rules Football League's new Development Officer, Kable Kelleway, has arrived and is settling into his new job.

Dominant Auckland AFL side the University Blues have again won the premiership in New Zealand's biggest city and biggest league. This is believed to be their 12th senior premiership since formation in 1981, and their third in a row. In what has been described as the best Grand Final in many years, the Blues won by 18 points over Mt Roskill. After a great effort to make both the League and Reserves grand finals, it was a bad day for Mt Roskill, as they also went down in the early game to North Shore. The following is a report from the NZAFL website.