Papua New Guineas (PNG) got off to a great start in the 2024 ALF Pacific Cup with a victory over Fiji in the Male Under 17 (U17) division match played out at the Sunshine Coast, Australia. The match played yesterday was the opener of the prestigious AFL competition where the PNG Binatangs (junior national team) thrashed the Fiji boys with 5 goals and 5 behinds to reach 35, to nil. AFL PNG Senior Football Operations Manager, Mr. Rex Leka, earlier this week confirmed with PNG HAUSBUNG that the junior’s (under 17s); the Binatangs (boys) and Kurakums (girls) teams, are now in Australia participating in the Pacific Cup. The 2024 Pacific Cup on the Sunshine Coast is one of the three regional championships to be played this year – along with the Transatlantic Cup (Canada, August) and the Asia Cup (location TBC, November) – as part of a refreshed AFL-sanctioned international program. The Pacific Cup is both for the Open (seniors) division and the under 17s (juniors), and as for the senior PNG national teams, they are all set to head over to Australia to participate in the senior leg of the competition right after the under 17 matches wrap up. Mr. Leka said the senior national teams: the PNG Mozzies (men’s) and PNG Flames (women’s) teams, will travel out this weekend ahead of the Open division matches next week. “The Mozzies will fly out of PNG on Saturday 16th November and the Flames on Sunday 17th, with the first game on Monday 18th November,” said Mr. Leka. The 2024 Pacific Cup will eventually see over 500 athletes from Fiji, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and South Africa competing across Open and U17 divisions at Maroochydore Multi Sports Complex over the 10-day event.