AFL kicks into rugby's backyard, invading elite private schools Year 7 and 8 students from Cranbrook private school, one of eight well-known private rugby playing schools who competed in inaugural junior AFL comp this winter. AUSTRALIAN Football has been the traditional enemy of rugby league for the hearts and minds of Sydney's sporting youth but the seemingly bottomless war chest of the AFL isn't just being used to expand the sport's foothold in western Sydney, it is also invading the sacred territory of rugby union - elite private schools. Lured by financial incentives, such as paying for half of the uniforms, providing coaching mentors to each team and running the gala day competitions each Saturday for the 10-team, 10 round competition which wrapped up last week, six schools, St Patrick's, Riverview, Waverley, Trinity, Knox and Cranbrook, signed up for the AFL's inaugural Independent Schools competition this winter. The schools' high praise for how the competition was run and the boys' enthusiasm for AFL should have rugby union administrators looking over their shoulders. Almost all of the six schools said they would play in an expanded competition in 2014, which will also include a Year 9/10 league to compliment the Year 5/6 and Year 7/8 divisions played this year. Only Trinity College said it would review its "trial" of the competition, reaffirming rugby was still its premier sport. Former Riverview and Wallaby player Australian Rugby Union Senior Vice President John Coolican said the ARU was powerless to stop the AFL's incursion into its backyard but there was room for Australian Rules at the sports-mad private schools. Year 7 and 8 students from Cranbrook private school. "I'd prefer they play rugby, but we've got to be pragmatic," he said. Australian Football has been played at Riverview for two decades and Knox has fielded teams ad hoc for the past four years but the success of the inaugural competition, according to AFL Sydney boss David Lawson, should be a wakeup call to the ARU it needs to do more at the grassroots to fend off its newest adversary. Mr Lawson said the AFL was taking a "soft" approach and wasn't putting the hard sell on the boys to join their local AFL club, but several had been identified for elite development through the Sydney Swans Academy. He said the AFL was trying to get more schools involved but was yet to snag the rugby cauldrons of St Josephs' and Kings. "We wanted to start small with quality," he said. It is controlled growth which has generated strong interest; we expect numbers to increase by 50 per cent next year. Cranbrook had 24 boys play in its combined Year 7/8 team and Head of Sport Luke Madigan said the boys who played were a mix of first-timers and experienced players. "The ability levels of boys were mismatched between schools in this initial year but the AFL did well in providing extra support with coaching and mentoring for beginner players," he said. Rosebay's Koby Shaprio, 13, who plays AFL for the East Sydney Bulldogs, told the Sunday Telegraph exactly what the ARU wouldn't want to hear. It's better than rugby. Everyone's learning in this and not as much is expected," he said. Fellow Bulldog Bondi's Gabriel Beech-Jones, 13, was also excited to play Australian Football for his compulsory school sport You get to play a sport I actually practice for instead of another sport. It combines all skills," he said. Waverly fielded the most teams with three sides and the Year 7/8 team were the unofficial champions having only lost one game. The school staged a presentation night for its AFL students that were attended by Sydney Swans greats Adam Goodes and Michael O'Loughlin. For some prospective Waverley parents last year having AFL as an option for the compulsory Saturday sport in 2013 helped boost enrolments. Headmaster Ray Paxton said he couldn't have been happier. My direct dealings with AFL management have been excellent. Waverley has a strong sporting tradition, so it was a natural choice for us to welcome the introduction of Aussie Rules to our sporting program," he said. But Trinity Grammar Sportsmaster John Allen said while the competition was well run their two teams sometimes struggled to field full teams and they wouldn't automatically be signing up again for 2014. Knox's head Sportsmaster Chuck Ardron said AFL was now one of 27 sports the school offered and its soccer program, like several other private schools, had just as many boys as played rugby union. Mr Lawson said north and eastern Sydney were the strongholds of Australian Football and its push into the western suburbs was going well despite the poor form, resulting in dismal attendance, for the flagship Greater Western Sydney Giants outfit. He said there were more than 360 junior teams across Sydney, a yearly increase of 15 per cent. The AFL's enthusiasm to put goalposts at every ground it can, despite not having the usage levels to justify this, is irritating the dominant junior code out west - soccer. Eastern Playing Fields is a dual use soccer/AFL ground in The Ponds. Soccer has more than 36,000 juniors in its Bankstown, Blacktown, Granville, Macarthur, Nepean and southern Districts associations alone, more than double the AFL's participation across all of NSW and the ACT. Blacktown District Soccer and Football Association CEO Jack Taylor said while he "couldn't help but admire" the AFL's eagerness to establish itself in his backyard, soccer was still the sport scores of children were signing up to play. "They are very good at what they do, they think it's a big sport in NSW, but it's not yet," he said. One of Blacktown's newest clubs, The Ponds FC, has exploded since its inception last year and now has 36 teams when it was forecast to have just 10 in 2012. The club has been forced to share its home ground, Eastern Playing Fields, with the Blacktown Magic senior AFL team who have only used the ground a handful of times in two years because the soccer club is the majority user. The Ponds FC president Ryan Talbot said there was no animosity between the two clubs but he complained it was inconvenient to be constantly packing away their equipment and food and drinks for the Magic who have only played there once this winter. We're there and they're not. We are just getting bigger," he said. The AFL refused to say how much it was spending erecting goalposts on new and existing grounds or why it was doing so in areas where it barely had a presence. Only six of Blacktown's 160 sporting fields have AFL posts, paid for by the AFL and Blacktown Council. The NRL has 119 grassroots clubs in western Syndey. Waverley College Junior School Year 5 student Bodhi Reiners, 11, gets away a kick during the inaugural Independent Schools AFL competition earlier this year. Junior sport participation numbers AFL: 18,000 junior and youth aged club participants in NSW/ACT. Plus 8782 children who participate in the team-based Auskick season Rugby Union: NSW 39,281 made up of club rugby, 21,135, and school rugby, 18,146, plus 54,995 participated in school gala days and events but players may also play in the first two categories Soccer: In NSW131,152, includes Sydney, 114,481, and western Sydney 36,346 NRL: NSW 78,000, western Sydney 22,800 and 123,501 who participated in school program but children may also play in the first category