World Footy News

With the announcement that there will be separate World XVIII and Pacific teams for the AFL NAB Under 16s this year, and given the initial Pacific squad following the Youth Oceania Cup featured no Papuans (who were unable to make it to the tournament in Fiji), there have been some queries as to whether Papua New Guinea players will represent the World XVIII, the Pacific team, continue to be eligible for Queensland as in the past, or none of the above.

Andrew Cadzow, whose official title these days is AFL Asia Pacific Development Manager, clarified that "The PNG boys targeted will be 17/18 years of age for the Under 18 Pacific Team".

So as we'd previously assumed, PNG players will be added to the initial Pacific Team that was listed. As the international sides are able to field older players than the Australian state squads, it would be reasonable to assume that younger Papuans who may be coming through the Queensland representative teams would still be eligible for that state, so hopefully we'll see one or two there as well. Pictured are some PNG's elite young Under 13 and Under 15 players.