Batch at the 2007 Asian Champs, Bangkok; Batch underwater, wearing his Swannies hat, off Palau Island (between Philippines and PNG).

Chris “Batch” Batchelor was there back in 2007 when the Swannies debuted at the Asian Champs in Bangers. the other week, he was diving off Palau Island (near the Philippines) while wearing his Swannies hat… Batch explains what’s happening with footy in Palau:

Unbelievable the depths one needs to go to in order to recruit new Palauan AFL converts.

On this particular trip, however, I managed to recruit an entire league – enough for three teams: the Sharks, Manta Rays (Mantas for short), and Barracudas.

I even had to knock back a few as there were enough Groupers (pronounced ‘groper’) on the mainland and I decided to veto a team wanting to call themselves ‘The Cods’.

So, it’s all good.

Cheers from The Republic of Palau.

Batch (working hard – Honk!)