Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea

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Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea
Governing body	PNG Rules Football Council
National team	Papua New Guinea
First played	1944, Lae
Registered players	30,000 (total)[1] 1,920 (adult)
Clubs	64
Competitions
Club
- Goroka Football League
- Kimbe Football League
- Lae Football League
- Mt Hagen Football League
- Port Moresby Football League
- Rabaul Football League
- Eastern Highlands Rules Football League
Audience records
Single match	5,000 - 1999 AFL PNG Grand Final. Wests vs Koboni. Port Moresby[2]

Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea is a team sport which was initially introduced by Australian servicemen. The sport has a long and somewhat shaky history, but with an undercurrent of popularity.

In recent years the sport has emerged as one of the fastest growing sports in the country.^{[citation needed]} Between 2003 and 2007, the number of participants has grown by approximately 100-400% each year,^{[citation needed]} with the strongest growth in junior player numbers outside of Australia.^{[citation needed]}

The game is covered by both the The National and Papua New Guinea Post-Courier newspapers.

In PNG, the sport is typically referred to as "AFL", but also as "rules", "rules football", "AFL rules" or in areas where it is popular, simply "football".^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 History 1.1 1944-1980 1.2 1980s 1.3 1990s 1.4 2000 to present 2 Participation 3 Leagues and Competitions 4 National Championships 5 National Teams 6 Governing Body 7 Audience 7.1 Television 7.2 Attendance Records 8 Notable Players 9 References 10 See also 11 External links

[edit] History

[edit] 1944-1980

Australian Rules was introduced to Papua New Guinea in the 1944 by Australian school teachers and defence force personnel in Lae and Nagada^[3]. At the time, Papua New Guinea was an Australian territory.

In November 1945, a match was played between Victoria and "The Rest" at Torokina, Bouganville.^[4]

A competition was played in Rabaul, New Britain in 1946 between servicemen, including the 29/46th infantry battalion, who played several matches against sides from New Guinea and New Britain.^[5]

The sport experienced rapid growth and during the 1960s, the New Guinea National Football League ran in both Port Moresby and Lae.^[6]

During the 1970s there was an annual competition against a team from the Gold Coast, Queensland.

In 1973, an Indigenous Australian side toured Papua New Guinea, led by Roger Rigney, an indigenous player from the Sturt Football Club in the SANFL.

In 1974, PNG players Vili Maha and Gimana Guma trialled with the South Melbourne Football Club.

1977 was a historic year for Papua New Guinean footy. The year saw the first ever international matches involving Australia at under 17 level between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The Australian Under 17 squad toured Papua New Guinea, and the PNG team reciprocated in Adelaide, with Australia dominating the game and taking the honours. ^[7]

The VFL appointed Peter Evans as full-time manager in 1978/79 he VFL appointed a full time manager for the PNG Rules Council.

PNG fielded a team in the 1979 Teal Cup (Australian Under 17 Championship) in Hobart. Since 1990 there has been a regular competition against teams from Cairns, Queensland.

[edit] 1980s

In the 1980s, it was reported that Aussie Rules was the most popular code of football in the country, with competitions in all major population centres.^{[citation needed]}

The late 1980s saw the popularity of rugby league rise in PNG^{[citation needed]}, aided by extensive television coverage (backed by media interests and at the expense of coverage of the then VFL or any other high profile Australian Rules competition) and interest in the Rugby League State of Origin series involving nearby Queensland^{[citation needed]}. In the mid 1990s, Marcus Bai had become the first Papua New Guinean to become a major sports star when he debuted in the National Rugby League^{[citation needed]} (he had played Aussie Rules as a junior^{[citation needed]}). Almost overnight he had a cult following in the country and rugby league^{[citation needed]}. The sport offered the country with representative opportunities and the Kumlus were able to participate in tests against Australia, despite growing uneveness in the contests^{[citation needed]}. Rugby League had placed development officers in place and subsequent funding came from the ARL^{[citation needed]}.

In contrast, no PNG player had managed to make any real impact in the VFL/AFL^{[citation needed]}. Television coverage of the sport was poor^{[citation needed]}. Tests against Australia, despite PNG's initial competitiveness at junior level were never pursued to a senior level^{[citation needed]}. In the late 1980s, the AFL had turned Interstate matches in Australian rules football and the State of Origin series into an exhibition match, favouring a composite "Allies" side instead of a combined QLD/NT side, effectively removing any pathway to professional football for talented players from Papua New Guinea^{[citation needed]}. The governing body had not contributed either development officers or funding and as a result, Aussie Rules had slipped back to second most popular football code and rugby league was established as the national sport^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] 1990s

Australian football had not been played officially in Rabaul since 1992, and efforts to revive the code were overshadowed by the 1994 volcanic eruption.

PNG's national team, the Mosquitoes, competed at the 1995 Arafura Games in Darwin, Northern Territory. PNG won the gold medal by defeating New Zealand in the Grand Final. PNG players named in the World Team were George Kava, Willie Lipou, Thomas Gori and Tony Megea.

In 1995, after PNG's success at the Arafura Games, Ed Biggs from the then Australian Football Foundation (AFF) and Ian Collins from the AFL visited all the major Australian football centres in PNG and had discussions with officials.

PNG Rules Football Council officials were advised to draw up a three year development plan to qualify for football development assistance. The plan was to include a summary of the current state of Rules Football in PNG, a management structure, facilities improvement, development proposals and financial estimates.

In August 1996 the Mosquitoes travelled to Perth as part of the AFL Centenary Celebrations. They played a match against the Central Desert Eagles as a curtain raiser to a West Coast Eagles v. Carlton Blues match. PNG 21.22 (148) defeated the Central Desert Eagles 5.8 (38).

PNG successfully defended their Gold Medal at the 1997 Arafura Games, defeating New Zealand 14.9 (93) to 9.6 (60) in the final. PNG also had the opportunity to play against the NTFL, Australian Defence Force and Central Desert Eagles as well as their international counterparts. PNG players named in the 1997 World Team were Gibson Isaiah, George Kaore, David Lucas and Willie Lipou.

In 1999 PNG made it a hat-trick of gold medals at the Arafura Games, once again defeating New Zealand in the final. In the same year, a record 5,000 spectators attended the Wests vs Koboni Grand Final in Port Moresby.

[edit] 2000 to present

In 2000 the AFL finally sent a Development Officer, Andrew Cadzow, to PNG. Based in Port Moresby, Cadzow also visited other regional centres.

AFL PNG was established in August 2001. AFL PNG is the representative of the AFL in PNG and has been incorporated to coordinate, support and operate Junior Development and Community based programs relating to AFL footy in PNG. Scott Reid, Salvatore Algeri and Mel Togolo are the current Directors of AFL PNG and are responsible for establishing and promoting AFL Junior Development Programs in PNG.

PNG born Mal Michael participated in the first of three premierships with the Brisbane Lions, boosting the popularity of football enormously in the country.

In 2002, the Mosquitos finished second behind Ireland in the inaugural Australian Football International Cup.

In 2003, Alister Sioni won the AFL PNG Elite Scholarship and trained with the Brisbane Lions between 11 November and 23 December.

2005 was a big year for football in PNG. In the International Cup, the Mosquitos finished in second place behind New Zealand.

AFL Queensland took AFL PNG under its wing to provide a pathway for PNG players to the AFL. Queensland is one of the nearest and most populous Australian states, and a result, there are now many junior and senior PNG players participating in Queensland state championships and clubs. ^[8] Additional funding has come from Queensland since, and the Mal Michael Foundation was established in the same year to further foster PNG talent.

In October 2006, the national junior Women's Footy (U16) team, the "Karakums" made history as the first ever female contact sport side to represent PNG.^[9]

In 2006, Papua New Guinea under 16s again won the U16s Queensland Country Championships, defeating Cairns in the Grand Final.^[10] Several PNG players were selected to represent the Country Kookaburras U16s squad which lost the Grand Final to the Northern Raiders.^[11] Port Moresby’s Stanis Susave, became the first player from Papua New Guinea to represent the Queensland Scorpions in the under 16s.^[12]

In 2007, U16 Bintangs were invited to the all-Queensland state championships, managing one win out of three by defeating the AFLQ Colts. The U14s followed.

In November, the PNG girls Under 17 squad went through the QLD state championships undefeated to take the title outright. Only Cape York were able to register a score against the junior Karakums.^[13]

Outstanding PNG juniors Stanis Susuve and John James were invited to the AFL/AIS Draft Camp in November 2007.^[14]

In March 2008, John James became the first player from Papua New Guinea to represent Queensland in the Under 18 National Championships.^[15]

[edit] Participation

In 2004, there are almost 10,000 Aussie Rules players in PNG (including 1,920 senior players across 64 clubs) and a fast growing junior development program and has the most senior players of any country outside of Australia. ^[16] There is also a Women's league.

[edit] Leagues and Competitions

• Goroka Football League
  • Apo Stars
  • Asaroka
  • Mt Kiss
  • UPNG Goroka
• Kimbe Football League
  • Bali Hawks
  • Central Magpies
  • SBLC Buluma
  • Talkom
  • Tamara
  • True West
• Lae Football League
• Mt Hagen Football League
• Port Moresby Football League
  • Andersons Koki Dockers
  • Defence
  • Koboni
  • Tisa Jets
  • University Bulldogs
  • West
• Rabaul Football League
  • Rabaul Bulldogs
  • Rabvol
  • Royals
  • Vunakanau
  • Vunapope Tigers
• Eastern Highland Rules Football League

[edit] National Championships

Year, National Champion

• 1995 Lae
• 1996 NCD
• 1997 NCD
• 1998 NCD
• 1999 NCD
• 2000 Hoskins¹
• 2001 ²
• 2002 ²
• 2003  ?
• 2004 NCD
• 2005 ²
• 2006  ?

¹The national titles in 2000 attracted teams from Buka, Pomio, Rabaul, Kove, Hoskins, Kimbe, Lae, Mt Hagen and National Capital District (Port Moresby). ²There were no championships staged in 2001, 2002 (due to the International Cup) or 2005 (due to the International Cup).

[edit] National Teams

PNG's national team is the Mosquitoes, captained by Navu Maha. The team has tasted success at the Arafura Games and has been runner up in the 2002 and 2005 Australian Football International Cups.

The national women's team is known as the Karakums. They have competed in Australian provincial championships but are yet to debut at an international level.

[edit] Governing Body

The governing body is the PNG Rules Football Council. The development body is AFL PNG.

[edit] Audience

[edit] Television

AFL Highlights programs are shown on PNG television, including EM TV. Live matches are broadcast on ABC Asia Pacific.

[edit] Attendance Records

• Wests vs Koboni - 5,000 (1999). (AFL PNG Grand Final). Port Moresby (source IAFC)

Despite the sport's popularity, no AFL exhibition matches have ever been played in the country.

[edit] Notable Players

Papua New Guineans have played professional and semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, and have dominated the All-International amateur team for many years. More recently, AFL clubs have taken an interest in recruiting PNG talent.^[17]

• Mal Michael - born in Port Moresby. In his early years he was the team mascot for the once powerful Boroko Australian rules football Club in Port Moresby, which was co-founded by his father Peter and Gesmond Nongkas. Michael became a cult figure in PNG when the Brisbane Lions won 3 successive premierships, coinciding with a boom in junior participation in the country.

• James Gwilt - a popular current St Kilda Football Club player whose mother is Papua New Guinean.^[18]

• Winis Imbi - born in PNG played a few reserves games for the Essendon Football Club in 1997 while playing for the Ballarat Rebels. He was promoted to the rookie list in 1998 and won the Bomber's reserves best and fairest. He was released by the club the following year.

• Navu Maha - captain of the Mosquitos and two time All-International who has also represented Papua New Guinea in cricket.

• Alister Sioni - (185cm 80kg) a West New Britain player who won a scholarship and was invited to train with the Brisbane Lions in the pre-season of 2003, has also played in AFL Cairns seniors and is was named in the 2005 All-International team.^[19]

• James Imbi - (180cm) the younger brother of Winis Imbi was also born in PNG and played with Winis at Portland since 2005. After trying out with the Sturt Football Club in the South Australian National Football League in 2004, Imbi went to the Palmerston Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League where he plays in the off-season. By round 8, 2005, Imbi had led in the ABC NTFL player of the year count with 11 votes.^[20] In 2007, like his brother, he won the Western Border Football League best and fairest.^[21]

• Jerry Frank - played 13 years for the Palmerston Football Club in the Northern Territory Football League as a defender before retiring in 2007. Born in Port Moresby to a Papuan father and Torres Strait Islands mother he was a member of eight NT representative sides and played against a number of AFL clubs including Collingwood, Fremantle, Brisbane and also WAFL clubs.^[22]

• Stanis Susuve - a talented junior who represented Queensland at both Under 16 and Under 18 level. He has played for the Suncoast Lions, the reserve side for the Brisbane Lions in the first division of the semi-professional Queensland State League, Queensland's premier Australian Football league.^[23] He originally won a scholarship to play with the Zillmere Eagles in the same competition where he once kicked a haul of 15 goals in the reserve grade premiership and won the club's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.^[24][25] He was invited to the AFL/AIS Draft camp in 2007.

• John James - a talented junior who graduated from Coolangatta in Queensland State League division 2 up to the Suncoast Lions (Brisbane Lions reserves), earning selection in the team of the year. In 2007, he represented Queensland Country at the Under 18 state titles and was invited to the AFL/AIS Draft camp.^[26] James made an outstanding debut for Zillmere Eagles in 2008 and was nominated for the AFL Queensland Rising Star award. He was rewarded for a consistent season, becoming the first player from Papua New Guinea to represent Queensland in the Under 18 National Championships.^[27]

Several players to learn the game in PNG are now playing at senior level in Australia in various regional and state leagues.

Additionally, 13 Papua New Guinean players represent the Coolangatta-Tweed Heads AFC at senior level in Division 2 of the Queensland State League since 2000, with five playing in the senior team in 2007 - David Evertius, Donald Barry, Johnny James, Emmaus Wartovo and Ali Pinda.

Donald Barry, Elijah Baruai^[28] and Bergmann Talingapua^[29] were all recruited from PNG in 2007 to play for the Manunda Hawks in the AFL Cairns competition.

The expanding program has also seen several PNG players introduced the Sunshine Coast league.^[30]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• AFL PNG
• Sport in Papua New Guinea

[edit] External links

• Google Video of PNG National Team performing 'Ole Ole' war dance at 2005 International Cup
• Aussie Rules Expands Globally - from the PNG National

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