After the debut of Fiji 9s in March last year; the 2012 version kicked off on Friday May 4 at Albert Park with 5 teams and over 60 players turning out.

AFL Fiji reporting that the 5 teams were the Nausori Delta Blues, the Nauluvatu Eagles, the Raiwaqa Bulldogs, the City Swans and the Cunningham Red Hills.

The USAFL has revealed today on their website that they will have two representatives on the World XVIII team in the Australian Under16 Championships in Sydney this July. 

Brad Heicklen (pictured left) is perhaps not such a big suprise as it was revealed that he would be in the squad back in February.  Heicklin has been working for a number of years on punting and discovered footy through ESPN and subsequently hooked up with the Beachside Sharks in California.  This year he has been playing as an onballer with the club in the SCAFL and the 14 year old shows great promise.  His World XVIII audition tape can be seen below.

The 2012 Indigenous Round will celebrate Land and Country.  The launch in Brisbane was attended by AFL Community Engagement Manager Jason Mifsud, Murri elder Aunty Carol Currie, students from the Murri School and players Ashley McGrath (Brisbane Lions) and Jarrod Harbrow (Gold Coast SUNS).

Jason Mifsud said country is central to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders.  “While players play for their jumper, they represent and acknowledge their land, communities and people.  Land defines and inspires players on and off the field. This week is an opportunity for the players to share their stories about their country.

Perhaps it was the rapid debuts of Marty Clarke for Collingwood and Michael Quinn for Essendon that set the expectations high for Irish recruits.  They made their AFL debuts after being at their clubs only months after arriving from Ireland. 

But for 24 year old Tommy Walsh it has been a long waiting game as his chance to debut at AFL level never came at St Kilda.  Whether it was a matter of the timing never quite being right, or that Ross Lyon did not have confidence in the Irishman - in the two years at Saint Kilda he was confined to the VFL.

The AFL and the Reach Foundation today announced the launch of the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award in honour of the former Melbourne Football Club President and champion player who passed away in March this year, following a lengthy battle with cancer.  The announcement was made by Jim Stynes’ widow, Sam Stynes, Melbourne Football Club President Don McLardy and AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou.

This award will commemorate Jim Stynes’ tireless service and leadership across the community and will be bestowed annually to the AFL player who demonstrates the values of Jim Stynes in his commitment to the community and understanding the value of helping others.

Stateside Footy presents its first match of 2012 between the New York Magpies and the Boston Demons  (w/ Lady Demons Highlights). This episode was recorded on location at Ipswich River Park in North Reading, Massachusetts on Saturday, April 28, 2012.

The latest Stateside Footy episode can be view below  "Boston Demons 2011 Year In Review"  looks back at the 2011 Boston Demons Footy season and shares the highlights of the year. The season is recapped game by game, and the standout moments of the year for the Demons and Lady Demons are all shown just as they originally appeared on "Stateside Footy".

Please note that these details are correct at the time of publishing. WFN accepts no responsibility for any changes to these times by broadcasters. Please check local guides or afl.com.au.

2012 TOYOTA AFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 8 INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE Friday 18 May – Monday 20 May

The following is a press release from the Sacramento Australian Football Club

May 15, 2012, Sacramento, CA – The Sacramento Australian Football Club (SAFC) is pleased to announce that the men’s and women’s representative teams are now officially named the Sacramento Suns.

The SAFC is excited that the club will now boast both a men’s and women’s, nicknamed the Lady Suns, representative team that will participate in the 2012 USAFL National Tournament to be held in Mason, OH, during the weekend of October 13-14.
 

The 2012 Welsh Australian Rules Football League season got off to an explosive start over the weekend as the first round of matches saw two massive scores posted as the Cardiff Panthers and Swansea Magpies looked to assert their dominance.

Having won the WARFL Premiership for the last 3 years, and having gone for all of 2011 undefeated, the Panthers picked up where they left off with a huge win over the Vale Warriors.

The Panthers started the game at a fast pace and scored their first goal within seconds of the opening bounce. Great Britain ruckman Chris James knocked the ball forward and Brian Sparkes, making his Panthers debut got the first goal of the game.

The goals then continued to flow for the Panthers as the relatively inexperienced Warriors team struggled to keep pace with the Panthers European, British, Welsh and Scottish international players.

Calum Newman kept working hard for the Warriors and was rewarded for his ruck play with 2 goals. However, Owain Rylands, playing his first ever Aussie Rules game, scored 5 goals as the Panthers dominated and despite some positive play from the Vale and the match drew on, the Panthers won 34.12.205 – 7.7.49

2009 and 2010 Grand Finalists also won big on the weekend, as they defeated the visiting Cardiff Double Blues. Having struggled to even field a team at times last year, the Magpie seem to be back to their winning ways as they won 22.22.154 – 3.3.21 against an inexperienced Blues side.

The Double Blues fielded 7 debutants in the game as the Magpies looked to reassert the authority they held in the league two seasons ago.

The weekend's other scheduled game, Bristol Dockers vs Bridgend Eagles is due to be rearranged due to a waterlogged pitch.

The much hyped about AFL recruitment of NRL ‘converts’ Karmichael Hunt and Israel Folau has unabashedly been very heavily weighted to the promotional benefits for the code. No matter how good a player that Karmichael Hunt has already become – his on field value to the Gold Coast Suns Football Club is now measured differently to his initial promotional value both to the club and to the AFL. The increased awareness of Australian Football in new markets and new demographics has been much talked about – and perhaps recent Dandenong Stingrays debutant Agape Patolo may be amongst the first of many to give the game a go - who may otherwise not have - and perhaps make a career from it.