WHEN we think of sporting clashes with our neighbours across the Tasman Sea, we generally picture netball, cricket and rugby, however this Saturday history will be made when an Australian AIS team clashes with the New Zealand Hawks in Australian Football.

Incredibly, it will be the first time an Australian side has played New Zealand in Australian Rules and the game comes on the back of recent calls to play an AFL game - for premiership points - in the land of the long white cloud.
 
The game will played in Wellington and the AIS-AFL Academy 'level one squad' can expect a challenge, up against a New Zealand team that consists of Hawthorn's four international scholarship rookies.

Hawk defender Stephen Gilham met with the scholarship holders - Shem Tatupu (16), Kurt Heatherley (17), Rhys Panui-Leth (17) and  Ben Miller (17) - in the Australian High Commission in Wellington on Australia Day.

And on Saturday, he will join former North and Swans star Wayne Schwass and former Frankston player Justin Davis to help plot the downfall of the Australian team.

Davis, who now lives in Christchurch, will be the New Zealand Hawks senior coach and Schwass and Gilham will be his assistants.

The game will be played at Westpac Stadium in Wellington and Gilham will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on the young players closely associated with his club.

Panui-Leth and Tatupu both hail from the Auckland region and have represented AFLNZ at junior international level.

In fact, Tatupu has already made his mark in the game when he starred for South Pacific to help his team win its first game in the 2011 NAB AFL Under-16 Championships.

Tatupu was brilliant in the ruck and in the final quarter he booted two goals to help steer his side to victory against Tasmania. He is 193cm and growing, and is the son of former Kiwi rugby league international Tony Tatupu.

There are high hopes for both Panui-Leth and Tatupu and when they were awarded their club scholarhships it was said they had the capacity to "develop the necessary football skills to play AFL at the highest level."

Heatherley also represented South Pacific and is just as impressive.

In fact, AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan said last year that Heatherley could be playing on the MCG in brown and gold as early as 2013.

"His athletic potential is pretty clear," Sheehan said. "He's a lovely size and he moves across the ground really well."