A TEAM of internationally-born players will compete in the NAB AFL Under-16 Championships next year as the AFL looks to find the next Harry O'Brien or Trent Croad.

The World XVIII will allow some of the best international young players to be showcased at the 2010 championships in a bid to deepen the talent pool of emerging stars.

The players must have been born outside of Australia, lived outside of the country for at least three years and been identified as talent prospects through one of the League's international affiliate programs.

It is expected the majority of next year's participants will hail from Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and South Africa.

"The AFL must be innovative as we strive to maintain and increase our talent pool," AFL general manager of development David Matthews said.

"The predominant focus of the AFL industry will remain on domestic talent, but a targeted approach to international talent will aim to develop international players for the AFL competition and also to stimulate the development of the game in foreign markets, particularly at youth level."

O'Brien (born in Brazil) and Croad (New Zealand) are just two of a number of current AFL players born outside of Australian.

David Rodan (Fiji), Michael Quinn (Ireland) and Aaron Edwards (Samoa) were all internationally born, while new AFL recruit Karmichael Hunt was born in New Zealand with parentage from the Cook Islands.

Matthews said the current overseas programs had already increased talent identification in countries such as Ireland, Japan, Fiji, Tonga, Nauru and Samoa, while other talented athletes could still be identified from affiliated leagues in Canada, the USA, China and continental Europe.

He also said the League's innovative international scholarship program opened more opportunities for off-shore recruitment.

"Historically, AFL clubs have considered it difficult to speculate on or invest in international talent at the expense of local talent, given the limited number of positions available on their primary and rookie lists," he said.

"The recent introduction of the international scholarship list provides them with scope."

The World XVIII will play matches against Division Two sides (NSW/ACT, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania) in the 2010 championships.

The players, who will be aged up to 18 owing to their inexperience compared to Australian-born players, will also take part in a five-day high performance camp to hasten their development while in the country.