New Zealand's Australian Rules Football sides head off for the 2024 AFL Pacific Cup this weekend, with players excited to be part of international action. For the men's Falcons side, it will be their first international games in five years, and for the women's Kahu team it will be their first ever.
"Really exciting. It's the first time since 2017 a New Zealand international side went and played in a tournament in Australia," said Falcons coach Chris Mundell.
"We've been building up and waiting, it's taken a long time for this day to get here."
More than 500 participants representing teams from across the Pacific region will compete at the Pacific Cup from November 14-23. New Zealand will be joined by sides from Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Nauru and South Africa, with open and age grade competitions.
"It shows the growth of the game that we're able to take a women's team over," Mundell said.
"It's an evolving game here (in NZ). We have periods where we have a high participation rate…the level of football is growing, we have a baseline that helps us at the top."
AFL NZ Falcons captain Andy Howison and NZ Kahu captain Liv Waldron. Photo: AFL NZ/supplied
Mundell said that the Falcons have a bit of unfinished business, at their last international tournament in 2017 they were beaten by a solitary point in the final by PNG.
"It stings for a lot of us, to go down like that was pretty tough."
Veteran Falcons player said that Australian Rules Football in New Zealand "could be huge".
"We've had a lot of new girls play, coming from netball, football and rugby backgrounds. For myself coming from a rugby background, it's the 360 dimension, having to be aware of your surroundings…it's been a huge improvement for me," said Leat.
NZ Falcons player Shane Leat. Photo: AFL NZ/supplied
For the women's team, excitement is high for players like Latisha Trigwell-Achmad, who has made a successful switch from rugby.
"I will say my pace is one of my more valuable assets, as well as willingness to get into contact," she said.
"This is what we've been working for, I've been training week in, week out getting ready for this tournament. All we can do is come in and play our hearts out…I don't have the words to describe how cool it is."
Captain Liv Waldron is another rugby convert. She said that "learning is happening continuously" for her players, all of whom have around three seasons' worth of experience.
"The nature of AFL, it's really free flowing so there's a lot of movement. There's a lot more space than rugby…it's good for your skills, it's good for your fitness and the people are awesome. We've got a range of sportswomen coming in and being really successful."
The Falcons and Kahu trained together, something that Waldron said was beneficial for the female players.
"It's pretty fast, we're doing a lot of fitness and moving around a bit."
All of the Pacific Cup matches will be streamed for free on the AFL Play YouTube channel.
NZ Kahu Pacific Cup schedule (all times NZT)
Maroochydore Multi Sports Complex, Queensland
Monday 18 November, 5:15pm: Falcons v Nauru 7pm: Kahu v Nauru,
Wednesday 20 November, 5:30pm: Falcons v Fiji 7pm: Kahu v PNG,
Thursday 21 November, 5:30pm: Falcons v Tonga 7pm: Kahu v Tonga
Finals TBC
