AFL juniors trial for Aussie tour

THE Southern region AFL PNG junior development programme staged its trials yesterday to select players for the Binatangs (boys) and Kurakums (girls) to this year’s regional tournaments.
The trial match at Colts Oval saw teams from schools in Central and the National Capital District.
Youth football southern region development manager Joe Maggio said the one-off-event was for Under-13 boys and girls, Under-15 boys and Under-17 boys and girls.
Maggio said teams from Gulf were unable to attend because of late notice and also the elections.
He said his development officers would still visit Gulf and hold trials to identify talent from that part of the region.
Maggio said yesterday’s event was all about selecting the national team (Academy team) for the Queensland State Championship later this year and for the 2018 South Pacific Championships.
“Each team from each area –  whether from Central or NCD – has their teams in their own divisions, U13 for boys and girls, U15 for boys only and U17 for both boys and girls,” Maggio said.
“We’re looking forward to select 120 kids including for those teams.
“We’ll be picking 30 players form each division.
“The Southern region AFL PNG junior development programme will be trimmed down during the course of training and fitness tests in the coming weeks.”
Maggio said they would have the final regional championship after the Mamose, New Guinea Islands and Highlands regions had completed their selection trials.
Morobe hosts its trials on Saturday at Eriku Oval in Lae.