Last week in a Herald Sun article, Hawthorn President, Jeff Kennett questioned the rationale and the AFL's commitment to growing the game outside of Australia. "I don't know why they do it. AFL football will never be an international game. To be quite honest, I would rather my players, if they were asked, didn't go on the trip. It's an unnecessary risk. I think it's just a junket for the officials of the AFL and the media.''
Mtutuzeli Hlomela (Mtutu), the South African Captain at the 2008 International Cup, who has greatly contributed to the development of the game in South Africa responded to Kennett's comments with the following letter.