World Footy News

Russian and Finnish football have added a new competition to their respective football calendars with the development of the Baltic Cup – this year played in St. Petersburg. The tournament featured teams from the Russian city playing against the Helsinki Heatseekers club representing Finland.

In a four-team draw, the St. Petersburg club fielded their Russian champions, the Cats, as well as a second team – the Northern Tigers which are a local club playing as part of the local St. Petersburg competition. They also added some played to the Leaders Rugby Club for a fourth team as did the Heatseekers. The tournament was played as a nine per side competition.

The Helsinki Heatseekers, fresh from having defeated the Vaasa Wombats to take the Finnish (FAFL) premiership two weeks ago, made the journey to the Russian city for the event. The St. Petersburg Cats also won the Russian Championship for 2017 with the Lazy Koalas unable to make the journey from Moscow to compete, therefore forfeiting the final leg of the Russian Championship to the Cats.

The Greater Glasgow Giants have etched their names in the AFL Scotland/SARFL history books by downing the Kingdom Kangaroos last month in the 2017 grand-final. The final scores saw the Giants win the match 18 9 117 to 11 13 79 by 38 points to win their first SARFL flag after three attempts.

The result either way would have made history, with the Kingdom Kangaroos also chasing their maiden premiership playing in their first SARFL grand-final. But the day belonged to the Giants, as they added their club name to the premiership honour roll.

The match started with anything but a Giants win on the cards. The Kangaroos stormed away to an early 40 to 9. By half-time, however, the Giants had clawed their way back to be on level terms at the main break, both teams locked on 49 points.

The footy champions from Cork, the Leeside Lions, have claimed the 2017 ARFLI premiership and in so doing gone back to back after winning the title in 2016 also. In a match described as “a keenly contested game with some quality footy from both sides”, the Lions held of a determined South Dublin Swans by 44 points to write a new chapter in their own history, as well as the history of Australian Rules football in Ireland.

The final score saw the Leeside Lions 13 7 85 down the South Dublin Swans 6 5 41 in front of an enthusiastic home crowd at Mardyke Arena in Cork.

The result tops off another great season from the Lions – the team following on from last year’s success by being the dominant side of 2017. But it wasn’t all one-way traffic on grand final day with the Swans rolling up their sleeves and making the Lions work hard.

The Berlin Crocodiles are the toast of German footy after having won their maiden first division AFLG premiership against the Munich Kangaroos. Having gone through the season undefeated, the Crocs were expected to win but they were up against last year’s title-holders and the Munich Kangaroos know how to win on the biggest of days.

It has been a long journey for the Crocs, formed back in 2001. They did taste success in 2009 when they took out the Division B premiership against the Rheinland Lions, and reached their first national grand final two years later, going down to the Lions in 2011.

Last season they reached the grand final again, only to go down to the Munich Kangaroos – in the end it was a blow out of 112 points. That result must have rankled the Crocs and been a huge motivating factor in their flawless performance in 2017. Nothing was going to hold back these Crocs and the final margin of 88 points was just as emphatic in victory this season as last year’s defeat.

Thanks to Baltimore-Washington Eagles for the following match write ups by "Eagles" - the original can be found here.  (Looking forward to the Sep 23rd BWE vs NY match - Ed.)

WASHINGTON, DC – Over 100 Washingtonians came out to see the Baltimore-Washington Eagles men’s and women’s teams at Anacostia Park on Saturday, as they played host to the Boston Demons and North Carolina Tigers.

It was a sunny day of Australian football in the nation’s capital, with canopies and picnic blankets decorating the boundary line, and the BBQ grilling all day as spectators watched the Eagles men’s and women’s teams compete in the first USAFL games held in DC this year.

Essendon Football Club has today announced Conor McKenna has re-signed with the Bombers for a further four years.  The press release follows.

The new contract will see the defender ‘Don the Sash’ until at least 2021.

McKenna said the decision to continue his journey with the Bombers was based on the bright future and vision of the club.

“Essendon has made my transition into football an easy and enjoyable one,” McKenna said.

“We have a great group of players, and the strong bonds I’ve made with my teammates have helped me develop my game and drive me to want to achieve success.

 

Mason Cox will remain a Magpie after signing a three-year contract extension with the club which brought him from the United States to Australia.

The 211cm American first began honing his AFL skills at Collingwood as a Category B international rookie in 2014 playing in the VFL.

Since, the Dallas native has played 20 AFL games – including nine as a key forward and ruckman in 2017.

Speculation in recent weeks around his contract had seen him linked to Hawthorn, Richmond and Brisbane as possible destinations for the American.

 

The third round of the Australian Rules Football Russian Championship for 2017 took place on 2nd September at the Moscow State University stadium. This round, called the Concrete & Steel Cup, was played in fine conditions in front of a modest but committed crowd. The Cats won the day and have now set up their chance to take the AFL Russia title for 2017.

The final scores saw the Cats lead at every change against the home team before holding on to a five-goal victory – 81 to 51. Our Cat reporter in St.Petersburg, Alexey Andryushin, sent his report about the day and its ramifications.

The inaugural NAB AFL Women’s State of Origin match will be played at Etihad Stadium tonight.

Entry to the match is FREE of charge.  It will be streamed here (we assume worldwide).

The AFL and Etihad Stadium have announced a heavily reduced parking fee for the event – a flat rate of $10.

The NAB AFL Women’s State of Origin match will be broadcast live nationally on the Seven Network and FOXTEL/FOX FOOTY.

worldfootynews.com has been publishing unofficial Men's World Rankings since 2006 and has been using a consistent methodology since 2010.  In establishing that methodology we consulted with our readership and that influenced the final decision.

Although some informal updates were published during IC17 our last formal edition was in late 2016 and we're due to issue a post-IC17 update, but find ourselves confronted by some difficult decision regarding which teams qualify.

It has been suggested that a match involving Canada B could be included, as well as games by the hybrid sides Indochina and Asia Lions.  There's also a match between the USA and Canada way back in 1993 that has been suggested as needing to go into our statistics. In the spirit of the 2010 debate, we're seeking feedback from our readers as to their thoughts.

The Port Moresby senior competition in Port Moresby is resuming this weekend.  The season did stall after Round 8 due to the high number of IC representatives coming out of the competition and also because of the situation surrounding the extended PNG elections that dragged out and caused security concerns in the nation's capital.

With their hometown heroes returning with the International Cup and the election issues now being cleared the season is ready to push through to the end and see some great footy played. The Lamana Dockers are leaders in both the Seniors and Reserves men's competition, while the Gerehu Magpies lead in the women's competition (and have the bye this week). 

See the full draw below for Round 9 and the current ladders.
 

The AFL has released the twenty-first intake into Level One of the NAB AFL Academy.  Of World Footy interest is the inclusion of 15 year old  Hewago "Ace" Paul Oea. 

Ace comes to the Academy via PNG's participation in the AFL Queensland development pathway and first came to prominence when he starred in Queensland's U16 team at the recent National carnival.  As well as winning the best on ground medal in the recent International Cup grand final, he has recently also been playing senior football for Broadbeach in the AFLQ competition. 

The 22 players will receive a NAB AFL Academy scholarship and under the guidance of AFL National Academy Head Coach Luke Power, will come together for accelerated AFL football and personal development camps to be held in Australia and overseas over the next 12 months.

This intake was selected from the NAB AFL Under-16 Championships which recently concluded in Queensland with players aspiring towards the 2019 NAB AFL Draft.