ST KILDA rookie Maverick Weller believes the AFL will see an influx of New Zealand-born AFL players in future years as the Saints pioneer the venture which began with last year’s Anzac Day match in Wellington.

Weller was just one of 10 Saints to make the trip across the Tasman this week to promote the game in schools and local communities, an experience which he says has been very rewarding.

“We’ve seen about 800 kids today and yesterday was the same,” Weller told SAINTS.com.au.

“We’ve just been taking them through some fundamentals of Aussie Rules and it’s been received really well. The kids are excited to do something new.”

With AFL largely unknown throughout most of New Zealand, Weller has thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids’ skills progress rapidly in the space of just a few minutes. 

“There are no kids that stand out as knowing a heap about football so they are all starting from the same point,” he said.
“I’ve been really surprised just how quickly the kids have picked up the game. Just the way that their techniques grow over five or ten minutes is unbelievable.”

One Kiwi who is intent on learning the subtleties of Aussie Rules as quickly as possible is St Kilda’s New Zealand scholarship holder Joe Baker-Thomas. According to Weller, Baker-Thomas will be the first of many talented Kiwi athletes to embark on careers in the AFL.

“You’ll see now that there will be a lot more New Zealand players coming into our game,” he said. “New Zealand is an untapped resource for the AFL.”

“It’s the start of something new and the Saints have got a relationship with New Zealand now over the next three or four years.”

The former Gold Coast midfielder, who played 32 games across three seasons with the Suns, also enjoyed his 22nd birthday in New Zealand.

“It’s been good. I Got to share it (my birthday) with the boys and they got me a little birthday muffin this morning at breakfast and that was nice.”

You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32