AFL eyes an expansion into China

I don't envisage this ever working and I don't care either. Japan is a better bet they embrace the warrior spirit China view us violent.

I did again put forward my view as to why we shouldn't be helping NZ of all places Cat however, that piece of diatribe was beamed up to the black hole for distasteful comment by the moderators me thinks. Ho hum, the sacred cow i.e.then Trans Tasman love fest has again closed rank and you know what, I didn't vilify anyone or thing in the process but only explained why I believe this NZ focus could well prove harmful to the national cause.

Republican I think we can be sure of two things: the average age of the NZ players were definitely higher than the vic ammos, and yes, that they were not necessarily the best 25 or so players the ammos could put together - but why should that surprise us? At the moment the Deniliquin U18s would beat pretty much all teams outside of Australia - and I'm talking about their senior teams. But we can at least try and help some of these teams improve.

Stu, I sincerely hope your'e right for our codes sake.

Cat your'e right - should be happening to ensure equity however it seems only NZ glean this type of support. Of course I hold very strong opinions on why this is so. It most certainly is not based on their footy pedigree or any sort of merit system The NZ side were, according to WFN sources, average age of 17 yrs which is odd given their billing as an U20 side. I believe again they are talking the NZ effort up and this is one way of giving an impression of age and size parity. I reckon there would have been some big boys in the Kiwi side as always with a significant number of 19 year olds - as in previous years. For all the attention on NZ i am far from convinced they are worth the investment and don't see any improvement despite their distinct advantage in respect of the Trans Tasman bind. While numbers may be growing through their token HANZUP schools programme, which is little more than a novelty PE exercise akin to kids here suddenly having a novelty discipline introduced to the school curriculum, PNG are playing second fiddle. PNG actually offer compelling grass roots potential in spades. To keep some perspective on these sorts of contests, the VAFA lads were again chosen fairly randomly and not for their pedigree and had players between 15 and 18 in the cultural exchange side according to my sources. Cheers

The Victorian Amateur U18s have just completed a tour of NZ where they played the NZAFL U20s. The Vic Ammos won the first game by 77pts, but NZ fared better in the second game, going down by 42 points, or exactly 7 goals. I'd like to see the Vic Ammo U18s do more of this sort of thing, playing other U20 teams to help the development of footy in places like PNG, NZ, Sth Africa, Nth America and Europe.

[i]The constitution states that in order for NZ to join our federation a referendum must first be held, not only in NZ but also here in Australia.[/i] Chapter VI of the Constitution of Australia allows for the establishment or admission of new states to the Federation. It may also increase, diminish, or otherwise alter the limits of a state, form new states by separating territory from an existing state, or join two states or parts of states, but in each case it must have the approval of the parliaments of the states in question

The Ontario Australian Football League is a growing footy comp, now with two mens divisions and a women's division. The Etobicoke Kangaroos made all three grand finals on the weekend, winning two of three, and as Meatloaf so famously sang.... http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/20111016160300684

What does it mean to be recognised by the Government? Which sports in Australia are recognised by our government??

AFL expending into China what a load of bollocks.

Thats OK, plenty of people like it, 650,000 people put their hard earned up, to become members of AFL clubs Hundreds of thousands of kids play it, they like it, thanks for your interest.

Just like weepu the other day, nothing is as easy as it seems, especially when pressure, or percieved pressure is on.

Stabpass remember you get rewarded in a peculiar fashion for missing ,what terrible sport for kids ,its ok son your half assed ill give you a point

Stabpass top codes like union allways look at other ideas its dosent mean the athletes in afl are flash ,you are talking about a code thats meant to be all kicking and every week i see guys miss 20 m out right in front too

Emric The constitution states that in order for NZ to join our federation a referendum must first be held, not only in NZ but also here in Australia. I think you will find no such loop hole exists. By assume I refer to the many comments left by NZers especially in the NZ Herald, that assume that all they need do is agree to join without any consultation with the actual states of Australia. It is also interesting to note that last count, 43% of Kiwis were keen to look at this seriously however this was identified as for purely economic incentives rather than holding any affinity with this country. For me, that's a very important distinction to be made and one many gullible Australians need to heed if ever this were to ever go to a referendum

@the Expert, i saw the kicking between the AB/AUS, and it did leave quite a bit to be desired, they could learn quite a bit from Australian football, there was a reason why Ex Hawthorn/Sydney Swans player Micheal Byrne was the AB kicking coach for quite a number of years, and from memory still a consultant, it is quite amusing/mystifying why the Australian rugby team does not use kicking coaches from AFL teams.

Having said that looking at the kicking skills of our rugby players we would dominate afl if we could be bothered ,you see they lure of a kid to be an all black international sports star will allways rule out most other sports in nz ,take into account australia has no team of the same status /aura as the all blacks on a world scale in a footy code

The other problem afl would struggle with in nz is that it lacks class as rugby union does ,all schools or good schools are rugby schools in nz ,so for example the average kiwi thinks sydney has some good schools qld a few and the rest of australia cant read or write ,victoria to us is just irish

How many of these AFL organisations are recognised government sports in their respective countries, out of interest?

What next perhaps you clowns could play at giant stadium new york or wembley ,oh no dam they are rectangular