Hurricanes to boost Super 14 preparations by playing Aussie Rules

The Wellington Hurricanes, one of rugby union’s Super 14 teams, is using a modified game of Aussie Rules against the Wellington AFL rep side the Wellington Tigers, as part of their cross training in preparation for their upcoming season. The game will be played on Tuesday 15th January at Elsdon Park in Porirua. The game is expected to be played in a friendly spirit to minimise the risk of players picking up an injury, however the competitive nature of the players is likely to come through once the battle of the codes commences.

Wellington Rep Coach John Jackson said that he would meet with the Hurricanes squad to give them a brief rundown on the rules beforehand. Hopefully he will make them clear as a team that has contained past All Blacks such as Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga and Alama Ieremia and currently contains powerhouse loose forward in Jerry Collins could be dangerous in any grey areas!

Football codes are now delving deeper into discovering new ways of improving the skill sets of their players and the relationships the codes are developing seem beneficial to all.

The fact that the Australian Football season and the Rugby season do not overlap in New Zealand has seen a flood of traditional rugby participants upgrading their skills during the off season to hopefully gain a competitive edge. The crossover of the two codes is gaining momentum. Hurricanes and All Blacks kicking coach Michael Byrne is a former Swan, Melbourne and Hawthorn AFL Ruckman with 150 games of Australian Football at the highest level, whilst All Blacks fitness trainer Graham Lowe has also played a season of Australian Football for Auckland Club North Shore Tigers.

Few people know that the prodigious kicking ability of All Black Nic Evans was nurtured during his stint with the Aussie code. Evans represented New Zealand Australian Football Under 21’s in two tours of Australia some years ago. Recent young Hurricanes lock Ross Kennedy started playing footy for Wellington City Saints as a 15 year old and was a premiership player before moving to their rivals, the Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs. Unfortunately he has not played Aussie Rules for some seasons due to his professional rugby commitments.

The fierce competitive nature of the New Zealand national sport has also benefited Australian Football in New Zealand and Australia. The Wellington Australian Football Team to play against the Hurricanes will include talented local rugby stars Isaac O’Connor and James Kusel who will endeavor to follow similar career paths to Nic Evans and become dual internationals.

In late August the New Zealand Falcons go to Melbourne to defend their title of International Cup holders - The best team outside Australia - against 16 other nations. The current squad contains more than a dozen Rugby Union players as well as those with Soccer and Rugby League backgrounds. Seven players in the current Falcons squad are lining up for Australian teams in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia this winter. Adam Campbell played rugby in New Zealand until 14 years of age and is now a regular member of the Fremantle Dockers in the famous AFL competition.

For more from the NZAFL CEO Rob Vanstam view Battle of the Codes on the NZAFL website.