"I'm quietly confident that in time we will have a boy from South Africa playing AFL. I suppose what gives us the confidence is you look at Bayanda Sobetwa, he's 19, but he's only played for about two years. But we've looked at his kick and the biomechanics are very good, it's very natural. He's got an instinct". Jason McCartney, AIS / AFL Academy Head Coach

Meet Chesney Botha, Prince Neinatswerani, Bayanda Sobetwa and Thembi Opaster.

They might not sound like names that Bruce McAvaney usually calls out during the Friday night footy telecast. But after the history-making trip those four made have made to Australia this week, it might not be long before he does.

The quartet are the first players from South Africa to take part in an AFL tour to Australia as potential draftees. And AIS-AFL Academy coach Jason McCartney said it's only a matter of time before an African was drafted.

 What lie's missing is that intense environment"

"But this week, they've been with the best 30 players in the country and they haven't looked out of place."

McCartney's first trip to South Africa was in 2006. Once there, he couldn't believe the reaction the tourists received. Now there are over 15,000 registered participants and the focus has turned from a place where the AFL could grow the game, to a possible talent pool.

But how did Australia's indigenous game start to gain such attention in a country where rugby, soccer and cricket are the games of choice? The answer is just how different it is.

South African Talent Development Manager Mtutuzeli Hlomela said,

"The one consistent answer I get is that it's the freedom and the liberty to run and not be restricted, like in soccer or rugby where you play in a rectangle, that's what they love. Also kicking and marking, using the body to tackle, as in soccer you can't tackle, in rugby you can't mark and kick, so they like the combination and the liberty and the freedom to run around."

But in such a vast country, how does the AFL go about finding those talented players? The AFL already has 19 staff, of which only two are Australian, and 300 volunteers. Four AFL clubs are already on board, tied with four development provinces - West Coast with Durban, Collingwood with Cape Town, Carlton with Johannesburg and Fremantle with Potchefstroom.

Instead of searching tar and wide, they have narrowed it down to two possible recruiting areas. The process to identify the four who have come over to Australia has involved a move that would never happen in the fierce war of Australia's football codes - a partnership between elite rugby union schools and the AFL.

Botha has been a beneficiary of the partnership, being a junior with the Durban Sharks Super 14 program who had never played a game of AFL before this week.

"We're actually going into those schools and doing lots of kicking and skill clinics ... Now they come to us with players who they think probably won't make it at the top elite level of rugby, that have skills that could transfer over," McCartney said.

Scholarships offering South African youngsters a chance at a better life have also been offered. Sobetwa has been the most successftil of the players so far, having last year played three games in the Western Australian Football League at underage level.

The boys' footballing education went to another level this week, and included mixing in with the 2010 intake of AIS-AFL scholarship holders who are the best 16 and 17-year-olds in the country.

Article courtesy of Merryn Sherwood, Canberra Times