AFLNZ games are back
The second season of the AFL New Zealand Premiership is under way and the defending champion Western Crows are seeking their first win.
The nine-round weekly Australian Rules competition started on February 12, with the entire top-tier competition to be played on an outer field at QBE Stadium in Albany.
The competition is not run along regional lines, instead, 124 of the country’s top Australian Rules athletes are divided among the four teams - Western Crows, Southern Saints, Central Giants and Northern Suns.
Each team keeps 13 athletes from the 2016 playing lists, with the remaining players allocated through a national draft.
Josh Copeland is the Western Crows number 1 national draft pick. Copeland plays for the Waitakere Magpies in the Auckland league and has represented New Zealand at both under-16 and under-18 level.
The Central Giants selected Wayne Sullivan as their number 1 draft selection. Sullivan moved from Sydney to Christchurch in 2011 and has been an impact player within the Canterbury Australian Football League over the past five seasons.
Josh Morgan-Ranui is the Southern Saints number 1 pick. The Wellington teenager became involved in the sport through the Hawks Cup Secondary School competition in 2015 where he represented Wellington College.
Multi-talented athlete Peter Halstead is the Northern Suns number 1 selection. The ruckman is from the Eastern Bulldogs Wellington AFL side and has a sporting background in the game of football, where he is the striker for the Miramar Rangers side.
Due to the spread of talent around New Zealand, the players fly into Auckland each week throughout the competition.
The premiership is designed to be an extension to the traditional regional league seasons which span between August to December, and the timing of the premiership, which ends in April, allows coaches to utilise Australia-based players with their ‘‘wild card’’ draft selections.
In the first round Southern Saints and Northern Suns were the winners.
* The second round of the 2017 New Zealand AFL Premiership on Sunday Western Crows versus Central Giants at 11.30am and Southern Saints versus Northern Suns at 1.45pm, all games at QBE Stadium, Albany.