Two Otago AFL players may have the opportunity to play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Josh Mackie and Christian Blackie were yesterday named in the New Zealand team to compete at the International AFL Cup in August.
Former Otago player Will Dickinson, now of Auckland, was also named.
The cup, which is the pinnacle of the sport internationally, will be hosted in Melbourne from August 6-19.
Its final was scheduled as a curtain-raiser to the Collingwood v Geelong AFL game at the MCG.
Making the team was
no mean feat, although whether the players would ultimately decide to go was not yet known.
Otago coach Warwick Kain said it was a big commitment both financially and in getting time off work.
That had worked in the favour of Mackie at this stage, however, allowing him to make the team while still at Otago Boys' High School.
''Being non-professionals, some players just can't do it,'' Kain said.
''Josh is probably quite lucky.
''He was sort of told he wasn't in and then someone had to pull out because he couldn't get time off work, so then he was told he was in.
''So they'll still be deciding on what they do, whether they go to the tournament.
''Whether they can front up with $2800 is another thing. We're sort of doing some quiz nights and stuff for them.''
Kain said Blackie (20) played in the midfield and excelled at working hard to get the ball to the forward line.
He was a nuggety player and played a position that often meant players ran around 15km per game.
Dickinson (27) was similar and brought a physical approach to the game.
Meanwhile, Mackie was a small forward.
He was an athletic player with a good jump.
He played up the sides of the field and would look to swoop on the ball when it was not taken cleanly by the bigger players.
The tournament was not open to AFL players or Australians.
However, New Zealand had two players developing with the St Kilda Saints, in Barclay Miller and Joe Baker-Thomas.
It also had several others based in Australia, as well as a group from the strong Auckland set-up.
Kain said there were good players right throughout the team and getting game time could be tough.
On top of that, the Otago players were going into the tournament out of season, which made things more difficult.
''At the moment they're training two times a week with me, but it's really hard to replicate what they're doing in Auckland with 20 guys.
''The Aussie [based] players will all be in mid-season.
''These guys are out of season, so they've got a pretty tough running programme they're involved with.
''But without the game and match fitness it is tough.''
Kain said the goal was still to get a fully-fledged league started in Dunedin.
However, it was good for the region to have players make this team and showed it was making progress with its development.
