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Timor-Leste to field AFL team

The “Timor-Leste Crocs‟ will be represented in an exhibition team during a Football Carnival, from Friday October 10th to Sunday October 12th, at TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Initially the Crocs were invited to compete as a team in their own right however this was not possible and the team concentrated on preparing a delegation of players from Timor-Leste to combine with Timorese players that live in Darwin. As a sponsor of the Carnival, Defence Force Recruiting is assisting the initiative by providing players to fill the rest of the positions in the team.

Luke Gosling, a representative of the Timor Crocs says, “The Timorese players are very happy to be coming to Darwin and playing their newly adopted sport of Australian Rules Football. One of the Timor-Leste players to watch is Amaro da Silva who is also a very good soccer player. With strength, natural agility and hand-eye coordination, Amaro and the other Timorese players have taken to the sport quickly.”

In Timor-Leste and in representative games played in Indonesia the team has played the smaller „9 a side‟ game played on a soccer field. This is the first time the players will play on the much larger AFL field.

Gosling says, “In many ways the Timorese players are quick and agile like the Territory‟s indigenous players however they lack the many years of practice that comes from growing up with a footy in their hands. The Timor-Leste players have a great opportunity to learn from playing the community teams and from their own Timor-Leste and Australian teammates.”