The Kingdom of Tonga emerged as the unexpected winner of the inaugural youth Oceania Cup. The under-16 tournament, staged in Fiji’s capital Suva, was to bring together the best young talent from the region’s six Australian Football-playing nations, but warm favourites Papua New Guinea withdrew due to immigration and flight problems, leaving New Zealand in pole position. On day one, windy conditions were a challenge for all sides but the opening games held no major surprises. The Kiwis and Tongans each won both of their games, while Samoa was unlucky to narrowly lose both of theirs. Nauru split their two games but host Fiji, getting their first taste of the sport, had two competitive losses.

Tonga versus Nauru, and it appears the AFL's Jason McCartney is getting a close up look as a field umpire, courtesy of WorldFootyNews.com.

Day one

NZ 5.3 (33) def. Samoa 4.3 (27)

Tonga 2.9 (21) def. Fiji 1.4 (10)

Nauru 4.1 (25) def. Samoa 3.4 (22)

NZ 8.2 (50) def. Fiji 2.7 (19)

Tonga 7.6 (48) def. Nauru 1.3 (9)

The first game of the second day was crucial, with undefeated Tonga taking on the New Zealanders (recently dubbed the Hawks in a breakthrough deal with Hawthorn). In a fittingly close match, the Tongans were victorious by just one goal. More twists and turns were to come, however, with arch rivals Samoa knocking off neighbours Tonga, throwing the tournament wide open once again bringing the Kiwis, and even Nauru, back in the mix. New Zealand were then shock losers to Nauru by a solitary point, with the age old adage - ‘bad kicking is bad footy’ - ringing true. Samoa finished with a win over Fiji, but it wasn’t enough to catch Tonga, who celebrated their championship with the Tongan Prime Minister in attendance.

All nations have something to take away from the tournament. Second place Nauru went close to winning the tournament and, if not for narrow losses and bad kicking, third place New Zealand could also have taken home the trophy. The effort by fourth-place Samoa to reach the event after the devastation of the recent Tsunami was an inspiration to all, while fifth-place Fiji were impressive, given they were playing in their first games. Tonga was the worthy winner, however, and the unfortunate absence of PNG ensured a very close competition.

AFL clubs Hawthorn, Geelong, Carlton and the Brisbane Lions along with AFL High Performance Manager Jason McCartney were suitably impressed with both the standard and willingness of the competition, especially the great athleticism the boys all showed. An Oceania training squad was announced which is expected to form a large part of the Pacific Islands team which will take on a World Team and other Australian sides in the NAB AFL Under 16 championships in Australia in 2010.

Article courtesy of WorldFootyNews.com and AFL.com.au.

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