AFL PNG is going rural in Central Province to seek talent and spread the footy code through the Australian Football League (AFL) rural competition planned for various villages, starting off with the Keapara village competition. AFL PNG Senior Football Operations Manager, Mr. Rex Leka said the launching of the rural competition is also part of the initiative to teach the youngsters through the AFL Junior Development program. The program will run alongside the competitions so to get the kids and youths interested in the sport. “We aim to spread AFL to the rural areas so we can identify the raw talents and give them the opportunity to play footy in a major league,” he said. Mr. Leka said the launching for the Keapara village competition will take place tomorrow, Saturday 07th August. The village has eight teams that will be participating in their own competition. The PNG AFL Commission and the Port Moresby AFL Association are supporting this rural competition initiative and will be co- launching the rural competition tomorrow. Mr. Leka confirmed that AFL PNG will also be looking at spreading the code to the Kairuku- Hiri district next. The current focus now is on villages in the Rigo district.