AFL selectors to scout new talents

The Australian Football League (AFL) Fiji Oceania Cup tournament will be a chance for our Under-14 players to obtain a scholarship to study and play footy in Australia. The competition which runs from December 5-9 will for the first time, have selectors who will be scouting local players. AFL Fiji development co-ordinator Siteri Tadrau said yesterday that this is an opportunity for local players to get a chance to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity.

“For the first time we will be having scouts coming to this competition which is becoming a tradition now,” Tadrau said. “This is an amazing opportunity for any of these kids. They not only get to learn the sport properly in Australia but they also get a chance to study with a scholarship.

“I think this will really grow the sport in the country because it is still regarded as a minor sport. “We have gotten word that this tour is getting bigger and it is almost like tradition for the Wanderers to come and play against Fiji and it will bring in a lot of people as well for this tournament.”

A total of 40 players have been registered for the U14 grade after the trials on Monday and Tadrau says, they are happy with the numbers. “We were able to get a lot of young players interested, a total of 40 and we split the team into two. “We are happy with the turnout but we know that wasn’t the full amount because of the weather and we understand that parents will not send their kids out in bad weather like that. “But we got a good number nonetheless, we will continue to hold trials every weekend at Albert Park to see if any other players are interested. “We want to make sure we field the best players come the Oceania Cup; we are really looking forward to it.

“While we are glad that a lot of players showed a lot of interest, we will be cutting the team down as we are only allowed to field a team of 25 so that alone will be hard.” The Oceania Cup will be from on December 5-9 where Fiji take on the Northern Territory Wanderers from Australia. Edited by Leone Cabenatabua