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 | 1950s | ||
| Registered players | 10,000 (total) 1,920 (adult) |
||
| Clubs | 64 | ||
| Competitions | |||
| Club | |||
| - Goroka Football Leauge | |||
| - 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[1] | ||
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Australian rules football in Papua New Guinea is a popular team sport which is second in popularity for winter sports after rugby league, has a long and somewhat shaky history, but in recent years has become one of the fastest growing sports in the country.
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[edit] History of Aussie Rules in Papua New Guinea
Australian Rules was introduced to Papua New Guinea in the 1950s by Australian school teachers and defence force personnel. At the time, Papua New Guinea was an Australian territory.
The sport experienced rapid growth and during the 1960s, the New Guinea National Football League ran in both Port Moresby and Lae.[2]
During the 1970s there was an annual competition against a team from the Gold Coast.
The first ever international match involving Australia was played in 1977 at under 17 level between Australia and Papua New Guinea in Adelaide, with Australia dominating the game and taking the honours. [3]
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.
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.
The late 1980s saw the popularity of rugby league rise in PNG, aided by extensive television coverage (backed by media interests and at the expense of AFL coverage) and interest in the Rugby League State of Origin series involving nearby Queensland. 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. Almost overnight he had a cult following in the country and rugby league. In contrast, no PNG player had managed to make any real impact in the AFL. Unlike Aussie Rules, which had neither development officers or funding, Rugby League, introduced by Australian servicemen had development officers in place and subsequent funding came from the ARL. Aussie Rules had slipped back to second most popular football code and league was established as the national sport.
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.
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.
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. [4] Additional funding has come from Queensland since, and the Mal Michael Foundation was established in the same year to further foster PNG talent.
In 2006, Papua New Guinea under 16s again won the U16s Queensland Country Championships, defeating Cairns in the Grand Final.[5] Several PNG players were selected to represent the Country Kookaburras U16s squad which lost the Grand Final to the Northern Raiders.[6] Port Moresby’s Stanis Susave, became the first player from Papua New Guinea to represent the Queensland Scorpions in the under 16s.[7]
[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. [8] 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
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 Team
PNG's national team is the Mosquitoes, captained by Navu Maha.
[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. 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] PNG players in the AFL
The elite competition for Australian rules football, the AFL, has had a few players from PNG.
- Winis Imbi 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.
- Mal Michael was 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 is a popular current St Kilda Football Club player whose mother is Papua New Guinean.
[edit] References
- ^ International Australian Football Council
- ^ http://www.pngaa.net/Photo_Gallery/NGFL/index.html>New Guinea National Football League
- ^ Full Points Footy 1977 to 1980
- ^ AFL Queensland adopts AFL-PNG Article from the National
- ^ Binatangs dominate Queensland Country Championships by Brett Northey for World Footy News May 04 2006
- ^ Three PNG Under 18s selected for Country Kookaburras by Brett Northey for World Footy News May 03 200
- ^ Australia Post U16 Young Scorpions squad named
- ^ World Footy Census - Oceania
[edit] See also
[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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