MEET Victor Rame and Max Lavai, two 15-year-old boys born on the
same day in different parts of Papua New Guinea, and signed this week
by Essendon on international scholarships.
The pair
have been in Melbourne this week, all wide-eyed wonder on their first
trip to this city. They've been shown around town, given a tour of the
facilities at Windy Hill, and met the Essendon senior list. Now it's
time to talk footy.
Who is their favourite AFL
player? "Jonathan Brown. He's a great mark and he's tough," says Max.
Victor sees it differently. "I don't know the names, but I admire No. 5
for Brisbane." Brendan Fevola? "Yeah. I love him, because every time he
takes a mark, bang, it's a goal. He's a beautiful kick."
But then so is their fellow countryman and a
third PNG representative at Windy Hill, David Meli. The 17-year-old,
who has played for Queensland's under-16s and is playing TAC Cup with
the Calder Cannons, is regarded by long-time recruiter Mark Browning as
the most natural kick on either foot he's seen since Jason Akermanis.
AFL
national talent manager Kevin Sheehan backs that up. "This kid doesn't
know if he's a left or right footer," he marvels. "I've seen him play
two or three times this year, and we were actually having bets about
whether he'd kick on his left or right. He's just so natural on either
side, quite unbelievable."
Victor and Max have been
staying with Meli and other Essendon players Jake Carlisle and Anthony
Long this week in a club-owned house in Pascoe Vale. They'll go to
tomorrow's game against St Kilda then head home, arriving back at Windy
Hill for next pre-season.
"David's enjoying it a
lot. He said to me last night that in a few more years, he'll be a
champion," Victor chuckles. "He's a very confident boy, David,"
Essendon recruiting manager Adrian Dodoro chips in.
But
perhaps not so fanciful. For AFL football's borders haven't merely been
stretched these past few years, they've been effectively smashed down.
And the influx of overseas talent is no longer the stuff of fantasy.
It's actually starting to happen.
Victor and Max
are but the two latest international scholars signed by AFL clubs.
There's another PNG pair at Richmond, Nathan Malbak and Gideon Simon,
and a couple of Fijian kids, Solomoni Loki and Inoke Ratu. South
African boy Byanda Sobtwa has been playing TAC Cup with Greater Western
Sydney.
Then there's the internationals on senior
and rookie lists. There's the celebrated, like Brazilian-born Harry
O'Brien or young North Melbourne player Majak Daw, who appears to be
dragging much of the local Sudanese community along with him in his
quest for AFL stardom. West Coast star Nic Naitanui was born in Sydney,
but to parents recently migrated from Fiji. There's almost a dozen from
Ireland, including Sydney's Tadhg Kennelly and Carlton's Setanta
O'hAilpin. There's Sydney's former Canadian World Cup rugby
representative Mike Pyke, and at Collingwood an American in Shae
McNamara. There's a pair of Fijians at Port Adelaide in David Rodan and
Alipate Carlile, a North Melbourne Samoan in Aaron Edwards,
English-born Brad Moran (Adelaide) and Will Thursfield (Richmond) and
New Zealand-born Brent Renouf at Hawthorn.
But if
that's not enough of a signal that the international push is gathering
steam, several significant moves behind the scenes should be. The AFL
has just appointed former player Tony Woods as its first international
development manager. He was present in Los Angeles last weekend at the
launch of American Footy Star, a reality TV program attempting to pluck
more fruit from the athletic tree. Trials will be held in Dallas, New
York and Los Angeles, with organisers hopeful of 5000 applicants.
Melbourne
has established ties with the Chinese community and will play the
Brisbane Lions in an exhibition game in Shanghai in October, the league
hosting a talent identification camp there.
But
perhaps more significant still is the inclusion of two new teams,
Pacific and World, in this year's national under-16 championships in
Sydney in July, the world team including players from South Africa,
Canada, England and the US, as well as Sudan, Denmark, China, Iraq,
Indonesia and Lebanon.
"We don't expect those sides
to be winning division two or anything, but what we wanted to do was
provide a pathway, then we'll set about implementing programs that
stock those sides so AFL clubs get a good feel for their potential,"
said AFL general manager of market development David Matthews.
And
those clubs are very interested. The well-documented strain on
recruiters to find alternative sources of talent with the impending
introductions to the AFL of Gold Coast and GWS already has them looking
longer and harder at the local football leagues. Now they're beginning
to look overseas. Seriously. "We think it's a great opportunity," says
Dodoro.
Says Matthews: "Over the next couple of
years during the expansion phase, that lateral thinking becomes more
part of the core business by necessity. We're seeing clubs getting a
lot more active, and we think that's great."
While
it's more than a quarter-of-a-century since Melbourne turned up Gaelic
footballer Jimmy Stynes, eventually turning him into a Brownlow
medallist, the concept of overseas recruiting has generally been
treated with either cynicism or as something of a novelty. But the
latest figures suggest even the most sceptical observers might have to
reassess their view given the reach of the game. There are upwards of
50,000 people playing Australian football overseas in 45 different
countries, with no fewer than 85 registered clubs across Europe alone.
The AFL is most excited about developments in South Africa, where it
has been steadily growing in support, hosting regular tours by
Australian AIS squads, and has more than 15,000 players.
To
that end, Sobtwa's time with GWS in the TAC Cup offers plenty of cause
for optimism, much like Daw's progress at North Melbourne.
"Whether
they can be fast-tracked or come to the game young enough to be a
genuine chance to get on an AFL list remains to be seen, but what we do
know is you need to get the kids into that elite environment," says
Matthews. "Byanda's already created a bit of interest in South Africa,
and has become a bit of a beacon for the kids. You watch. The tap's
about to be turned on in South Africa, without any doubt."
Sheehan
remains confident AFL clubs now have the necessary coaching and welfare
resources to make such experiments less than the gamble they were once
seen. "Marty Clarke [from Ireland] came through in about four months.
Usually, that would be a two-year process, but with all the individual
coaching available to them now, the vision and editing, and one-on-one
mentoring, they're able to do it a lot quicker than poor old Jimmy
Stynes, who had to go to Prahran in the VFA to learn it."
Essendon
already has a good example of that with Irishman Michael Quinn. Having
walked through the Windy Hill doors last year having barely seen a
football, the increased resources and a strong work ethic have
expedited his learning process.
"His efficiency by
foot right now is very, very good," says Dodoro. And the little bits of
unorthodoxy foreigners can still bring to the code hasn't hurt, either.
"Quinn kicked a goal in the seconds down at Geelong a couple of weeks
ago where he just sweetly kicked it off the ground about 35 metres out,
and it just sailed over the goal umpire's head. That was just because
of his soccer background."
Dodoro says Victor and
Max are a good chance to make the Queensland under-16 side as Meli did
before them, a pretty good start. "The advantage we've got with these
two boys is we've got three years to develop them and get them to a
comparable standard to boys of draftable age," he says. "We've got a
great development program here, our sports science area will be working
closely with them, there's huge scope. They're learning about our game,
and we're learning about them. It's a two-way thing because if we're
going down this non-traditional path we have to learn about their
culture and see what works."
But with a thriving
local competition, a junior academy established and AFL regularly on
the television in PNG, there's little doubt about the enthusiasm for
the game being generated. Max says he loves the speed of the game.
Victor, having played rugby union, is convinced he's now found his
sporting calling.
This week has been a life
highlight for the two PNG boys, but they're also aware of their
importance in terms of spreading the gospel. "Most of the boys back at
home love playing footy and they want to travel," says Victor, "so I
think if we can make it, they will come too."
And
perhaps a lot more besides. The Australian game is expanding at an
ever-increasing rate, with footballers on their way to the AFL from all
parts of the globe. And while immigration in a broader sense remains a
hot political issue, this is one wave everyone seems happy about.
Last Modified on 16/05/2010 16:55