Japan is confident of making an impact at the Asia Cup after an unbeaten run to win Division 3 of the Asian Championships in August.
Team manager Alex Benbow says the national team is in ‘a great position’ for the Asia Cup after rock solid preparation at home and on the road.
‘We’ve conducted monthly inter-league trainings to help develop the skill level of AFL Japan and to select our team.
‘Once the team was finalised, we started training twice a month and organised practice matches against players from our local league teams.’
Japan has had a rock-solid preparation for the AFL Asia Cup.
Alex says players in the Japanese squad have gained a new level of confidence since being named to represent their country at the first Asia Cup.
‘Since the National Team was selected, many of our players seem to have taken their games to another level,’ he said.
‘There’s no better example than Rinto Kijima, who went out and kicked 10 goals a couple of days after earning a spot on the national team.’
Japan has a lot of new faces in the squad and will look to Captain Hayata Ono and Vice-Captain Yuji Yamamoto to lead with their voices, skill and experience.
The Japanese squad features a core of young, fast and hungry players.
‘I also expect our key back Yuta Toyoshima to be a leader in defence as well as our tough as nails midfielder Shotaro Nagasaki,’ Alex says.
‘His tenacity and grit will set the standard for everyone else to follow.’
Alex says the squad features a core of young, fast and hungry players including star forward Rinto Kijima and elite midfielder Kouki Ariga.
‘They only have a few years of experience between them but both move and play the game like they grew up playing in Australia.’
Other big improvers Japan will be looking to have an influence at the Asia Cup include Yuki Tabuchi, an Ironman/Triathlete who can run all day in the midfield, and Taiki Osawa, a tough, hardworking midfielder who never gives up on the contest.
‘He is a student of the game,’ Alex says. ‘He watches AFL youtube videos, asks lots of questions at training and spent time in Australia learning more about the game.’
Japan will be coached by the very experienced Brett Qualtrough who has put in a lot of time and effort over the years to help develop AFL in Japan.
‘He’s very passionate about helping our new and younger players,’ Alex says. ‘And will hopefully lead us to victory at the Asia Cup!’
