World Footy News

The South African Lions finished 11th in 2002, 8th in 2005 and roared up to 3rd in 2008. Their goal in 2011 was to make the Grand Final but they dropped to 5th.  2014 sees them return to Australia with only a few experienced campaigners and some very young talent.  Their goal - make the top four and from there have a crack at winning the tournament.

Traditionally the South Africans have played a fast, attacking, but at times chaotic style.  A lack of regular club matches has probably deprived them of the chance to consistently experience pressure football every week for a long season, and to practice structured play under real match pressure.  But their academy program and the first steps towards a national league are addressing these issues so it will be interesting to see whether the Lions can return to the top four and challenge the best the rest of the world has to offer.

When asked about the likely style the Lions will bring, AFL South Africa National Operations and Local Partnership Manager July Machethe explained "To play entertaining and competitive footy in all of our games".

The Country and Australian Football

The Republic of South Africa is known as the Rainbow Nation as it integrates so much of the cultural spectrum. Estimates vary, but the population is around 51 million and it is steadily, though too slowly for some, building up the standard of living after years of repression. Australian football got its start in South Africa in the 1990s, but then did it tough for some time. But building up to IC08 it became the number one focus for international development, with its relatively cheap costs, abundant population without access to organised sport, and various synergies with business investment. With extra AFL support and a genuine grassroots movement the sport began to flourish.

The game has been branded FootyWILD and grew rapidly in numbers, but over the last few years there has been an effort to consolidate and growth has slowed. But 2011 saw a drop of two spots in their International Cup finishing position and it's also been unclear whether AFL support has been steady or declined.  With the rise of international rookies from South Pacific nations and none currently from South Africa one can imagine that there's pressure building to produce some potential AFL talent soon.

A focus has been talent identification and this year's team has been selected from a group that have had dedicated training as an elite squad, starting with a list of 55 in 2011 that has been steadily trimmed.

July Machethe explains, "The Squad has 13 players from last International Cup, with 15 players making their debut for SA Lions. The squad contains 5 players Under 19 with our youngest player being 16 that have come through our development system".

"The players have all been involved (in) the local competitions as well as in the new footyWILD Premier League which is a national competition of 8 clubs. Refer to team list for the names of clubs".

Strengths and Weaknesses

Although very competitive at the last two International Cups, three key weaknesses preventing the Lions from advancing to the Grand Final have been lack of height in key positions and ruck, lack of a structured game and skill errors under pressure.  We can expect to see some or all of these areas addressed in 2014.

With the above mentioned elite academy development the South Africans should have a much more settled game plan than in past Cups, but the squad includes very few players with more than one previous campaign to their credit.  Such veterans as Steven Malinga, Benjamin Motuba and Mtutuzeli Hlomela are absent, with the exception of Motuba being an assistant coach and listed as an emergency.  So Cup experience is down but hopefully the academy has prepared them well, addressing the game plan and skill under pressure issues identified above.  The average age of just under 23 is much the same as last time.

The average height of 180cm is up from 177cm, thanks largely to the inclusion of three players over 190cm, compared with none in 2011.  If these big men can give their onballers an even share of taps to advantage and clunk an occasional mark it, then the Lions could well be on their way back into the top four.


The Road to IC14

July Machethe explained the long road, both to get to Australia and then once touching down.  "There’s been over 5 camps since 2011 which players participated in and we will be camping in South Australia, Jamestown from the 1st – 6th August 2014 including practice matches against Jamestown Peterborough FC & Aboriginal Youth Academy Team.  The Jamestown camp was facilitated by Joel Kelly whom is our former Operations Manager and funded by the Jamestown community under the Jamestown Peterborough Football & Netball Club. They also organised for us to play the match on the 6th at Adelaide against the Aboriginal Youth Team which is part of the South Australia Aboriginal Sports Training Academy".

Players to watch

We're told that players to look out for are Tshoboko Moagi No 20 (pictured below), Atang Moshoeshoe No 2 (17 years old ), Vuyislie Sokoyi No 2 (17 years old), Msizi Mkhize No 19 (18 years old), Asanda Funda no 10 (Captain), Thabiso Phakedi No 8, Marco Mongia No 11 (pictured above) and Tshukudu Moagi No 21.  Former GWS Giants rookie Bayanda Sobetwa also returns.

Form Guide and Bottom Line

After a meteoric rise the South Africans dropped back a peg at IC11.  It's time for the investment and the hard work of the locals to yield at least a top four finish again, maybe better. But then again the teams above them have not been standing still either, with PNG and New Zealand continuing to develop and Ireland with a core group hardened by living and playing in Australia for several years now.

The extra height may be a key to a rise up the ladder but we don't yet know the quality of their talls.  The Lions start with new-comers Pakistan then play the tough Tongans before clashing with one of the favourites in PNG.  It's hard to see them winning that final match, and the likely outcome of the other pools is that there will be 3 teams undefeated (Ireland, New Zealand and PNG), so to snare the fourth semi-final spot the Lions would need to defeat Tonga and have the highest percentage of all other teams that go 2 wins 1 loss.  To achive that they may have to beat Pakistan by as much as 150 plus points.  With all due respect to Pakistan, the history of new nations suggests this is possible unless the Shaheens have unearthed some players with Australian experience (we look forward to their preview!).

Overall, expect to see an improved South Africa but top 4 may be just beyond their grasp, in which case they should be favoured to take out Division 1 (the AFL's slightly odd description for teams that are ranked 5th to 12th after round 3).

 

Head Coach: Wayne Miller - Assistant Coach: Benjamin Motuba Team Manager: Phindile Khambule

AFLSA Board: Reginald Mokotedi, Tonie Prins, Cornelius Roodt

 Support Team

 July Machethe - Kabelo Seoka – Sikhona Vezi – Peter Augustin – Cleopatra Figlan - Benjamin Miller

 

No.	Given Name	Surname	DOB	Height CM	Weight KG	Local Club
1	VUYISILE	SOKOYI	1996-08-28	167	65	BLUE BIRDS
2	ATANG	MOSHOESHOE	1996-11-09	176	69	BLUE BIRDS
4	AKHOLIWE	FIGLAN	1995-06-12	178	65	BLUE BIRDS
5	KARABO ASHLEY	MAROKOANE	1991-12-23	175	68	PLATINUM BUFFALOES
6	KHWEZI AUBREY	VELELE	1997-09-22	179	73	BLUE BIRDS
7	AYABULELWA HAROLD	MPHOTYE	1992-02-25	174	75	REAL DIVINES
8	THABISO RICHARDS	PHAKEDI	1990-02-22	172	76	WARRIORS
9	ASANDA (C)	FUNDA	1989-04-10	174	66	REAL DIVINES
10	STEVEN RANCHANE	MATSHANE	1988-04-02	175	69	WILD CATS
11	MARCO	MONGIA	1991-04-12	171	78	PLATINUM BUFFALOES
12	ZOLANI	NYIKI	1991-03-24	176	70	REAL DIVINES
13	LUCKY	TYWAKU	1989-02-03	189	79	BLUE BIRDS
14	MONTHUSETSI TSHEPISO	MOGAPI	1991-02-28	172	61	WARRIORS
15	SIVUYILE	PANI	1993-09-16	185	71	REAL DIVINES
17	KHAYALETHU YANDISA	SIKITI	1985-04-06	174	82	BLUE BIRDS
18	OBAKENG PRENNEL	PONI	1989-06-04	174	60	WILD CATS
19	MSIZI THEMBA	MKHIZE	1996-01-07	186	78	HURRICANES
20	TSHOBOKO JOHNVISS (VC)	MOAGI	1990-08-12	174	79	SUPER OWLS
21	TSHUKUDU GLADMORE	MOAGI	1991-10-16	182	82	WARRIORS
22	THANDO	DLAMINI	1992-01-10	172	74	SUPER OWLS
23	BAYANDA	SOBETWA	1990-03-13	183	77	REAL DIVINES
24	CAMERON	DALY	1992-08-15	187	97	PLATINUM BUFFALOES
25	ANDRIES STEFANUS JOHANNES	DE WET	1992-02-17	179	91	PLATINUM BUFFALOES
26	THEMBINKOSI ELLIAS	ZWANE	1989-08-27	186	76	HURRICANES
27	JACQUES	TERBLANCHE	1993-05-05	185	97	PLATINUM BUFFALOES
28	MALIBONGWE	MLAMLI	1988-01-05	198	88	REAL DIVINES
29	JURIE HENDRIK WYNAND	WESSELS	1991-08-06	196	96	PLATINUM BUFFALOES
30	CORNE	DUVENAGE	1992-02-11	194	103	PLATINUM BUFFALOES
3 *	IAN MFANELO	MTHIMKHULU	1985-10-10	171	65	GIANT BEES
16 *	TEFO BENJAMIN	MOTUBA	1984-05-12	171	79	PLATINUM BUFFALOES

 *Emergencies