The AFL is going head-to-head with rugby codes to recruit the best young footballers in the Pacific.
It hopes players from nations such as rugby league-crazy Papua New Guinea and rugby union stronghold Fiji will be good enough to make their debuts at senior AFL level within the next decade.
"For us, the Pacific is really an untapped resource," AFL international development manager Tony Woods said on Monday.
"As keepers of the code, it's our charter to grow the game. We need to increase and widen the talent pool."
Football has been played in Pacific island nations for years, but takes a back seat to league and union.
That could change under the latest bid to sell Australian football to the world, announced on Monday with the backing of the Federal Government.
Will the AFL ever play games for premiership points in the Pacific? Have your say by leaving a comment below.
Woods joined Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Richard Marles in Canberra to sign a "memorandum of understanding" between the AFL and the Government.
The memorandum aims to foster football's development overseas while using exhibition matches to promote trade and investment.
The signing was witnessed by 17-year-old PNG players Brendan Beno and Gideon Simon, who are representing their nation in the International Cup and dream of reaching senior AFL status.
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Beno, who holds an international scholarship with Brisbane Lions, said in PNG "lots of boys are really excited about playing the game".
AFL programs already reach thousands of youngsters in Pacific island nations and Woods said there was room for all codes.
"Some athletes from the Pacific islands are not naturally built to play rugby, but they still like a contact game that is fast-moving," he said.
"Fijians are playing for the first time in the International Cup and they have blown everyone away with their height and their athleticism, to the extent that we may get a talent outcome out of Fiji before, say, South Africa.
"We offer a viable alternative and over the next five to 10 years we will get some really elite talent outcomes across the Pacific."
Woods held out the prospect of eventually playing AFL fixtures offshore for premiership points.
