World Footy News

After the weekend’s semi-finals, the Wandsworth Demons are the first team through to the AFL London Grand Final. Their win over the West London Wildcats, and the North London Lions own victory over the London Swans has set up a Wildcats versus Lions Preliminary Final this weekend.

In tough conditions, the Demons and Wildcats slugged out a low scoring match. Both teams have proven themselves capable of high scores all season, but a combination of weather and two very determined defences kept the scoring down and made for a close match all day. In a game described as an arm wrestle, it took a goal from the Demons in the final minute to win the game.

The final score saw the Wandsworth Demons 4 6 30 defeat the West London Wildcats 3 10 28.

The following is a quick review of this author's thoughts on who might win the Women's Division at the 2017 International Cup.

Let's be honest, no one can really be confident about who will win this competition.  Sure we can (and will) assume that Canada will play off against Ireland again, but with new teams and women's international footy still so young and vibrant it's hard to be confident.  And that makes this event all the more exciting.

One expects the European Crusaders to struggle, with players drawn from very small leagues or one off teams across Europe.  But who can be sure they won't bond and forge something special on this trip?  And there's no history to tell us what the Pakistan Dragoons may produce, and we don't yet know how many of their players have experience in Aussie leagues.

The PNG Flames struggled last time they competed but that was 6 years ago, and with large numbers of men playing maybe the women have taken the game up in numbers too.

The AFL Players’ Association is proud to present Supporting Multicultural Footballers, Best Practice Guidelines, a document aimed at promoting multiculturalism within the game.

 Supporting Multicultural Footballers, Best Practice Guidelines is intended to be a resource to help the industry better understand the various cultures represented within the AFL.

 The document profiles 39 countries represented by AFL and AFLW players and provides important information on topics such as cultural awareness, family traditions, language and key dates.

 More than 13 per cent of the AFL player population, both male and female, identify as multicultural by being born overseas or having at least one parent born overseas.

The Papua New Guinea mens team - the Mosquitos - are the reigning champions and return to Melbourne hoping to go back to back. With a proud history having competed in the tournament since its inception in 2002 - the Mosquitos have twice taken out the top prize. Their arch rivals have been Ireland and New Zealand. The Mozzies went down to Ireland in the first tournament. 2005 saw the Mozzies go down to New Zealand before revenge was gained with a win in 2008. 2011 again saw the Mozzies contest the final but falling short to Ireland.
And then there was 2014 - and a relatively young Mozzies squad where able to take on and overcome the Irish Warriors in a classic International Cup finale held under lights at the MCG. There were important moments and star performances - most notably from under size ruck John Ikupu whose late screamer and goal put the Mozzies 'nose' in front and from there a memorable win.

Yvette Wroby, Stephanie Connell and John Harms are pleased to announce The Women’s Footy Almanac 2017 is about to hit the shelves.

Featuring a fantastic cover (designed by John Kingsmill) it has Kate Birrell's wonderful painting (entitled Girls; First Season) which captures Sabrina Frederick-Traub, Erin Phillips and our Everygirl ten year old footballer.

The Women's Footy Almanac 2017 follows on from the annual The Footy Almanac which has featured footy fan's own accounts of AFL matches throughout each season. 

The following is a quick review of this author's thoughts on who might win the Men's Division 1 at the 2017 International Cup.

In terms of realistic prospects let's face it, there's the big 3 of PNG, Ireland and New Zealand, and then there's the rest.  That's probably a bit harsh, and South Africa and the United States probably deserve a nod too.  Between them, those 5 nations have filled the top 4 spots at all 5 international cups thus far.  Are there any new challengers?  I'm afraid not.

France and Fiji were first timers in Div 1 in 2014 and put up some good contests but were no match for the top sides.  They should be increasingly competitive against the middle Div 1 sides but the matches against the top teams may still expose a large gap. Aussie Rules is high scoring and merciless in exposing a difference.  Grabbing 1 or 2 wins each would be a great achievement.

Looking to the middle ranks of Div1 and Canada (juniors maturing), Great Britain (more regional teams) and the USA (metro leagues) have growing numbers to draw on and steady improvement is expected but probably not a major leap. Great Britain has a tough draw, while Canada and the USA face off in round 1 so probably only one will remain a Grand Final chance after that and will have to knock off one of the big 3 (PNG, Ireland, NZ) to make it.

Nauru are always dangerous but are probably limited by population size, I'm not expecting significant improvement.  But take them lightly and you'll get a scare on the scoreboard to go with a physical battering on the field.

Australian Rules Football has a brief history in Ireland. However in the years following, the level of interest, participation, and quality of play have all taken leaps forward.

History

The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland (ARFLI) was founded in 2000, but Aussie Rules actually came to Ireland in 1999 when squads in Belfast and Dublin recruited through the off season.

 

To play in this season’s Scottish SARFL finals, the Kingdom Kangaroos simply had to beat ladder leaders the Greater Glasgow Giants – and they did, in a comprehensive 32-point victory which sees the Kangaroos join the Giants and the Edinburgh Bloods as confirmed finalists for 2017. The win by the Kangaroos means that the Glasgow Sharks cannot reach the finals regardless of the result of their match against the Bloods next weekend.

According to the Kangaroos’ Facebook page, “an amazing performance today has ensured our place in the 2017 SARFL finals series. A much anticipated match of the greatest importance against league leaders the Greater Glasgow Giants lived up to the pre-game enthusiasm and hype from the boys. A brutally physical and bruising team performance saw us win 13 15 93 to 08 13 61 in wet and slippery conditions at Beveridge Park.”

Vince Serci, Steve Froggatt and Mike Seversinsen may not be the biggest names in world footy – however they share a common link. All were members of the inaugural AFL International Cup World Team from the first tournament back in 2002 and all were members of the New Zealand Falcons side that officially placed 3rd (defeating Denmark into 4th).

The Kiwi Falcons are now Hawks; and while their team moniker has changed the New Zealand team has been a permanent fixture in all previous International Cup tournaments (1 of 8 nations to do so). And they will enter IC17 determined to reclaim the title.

The AFL Players association is celebrating the AFL multicultural round. A great initiative they have released on their site is the "2017 Multicultural Map" which shows all the 149 AFL and AFLW current players that were either born outside Australia or have one parent born outside Australia.

From Austria to Zimbabwe, there are 38 countries represented on the 2017 Multicultural Map — the third of its kind.

Players highlighted in green were born outside Australia, while those in red have a parent born in another country. Therefore, some players may be listed against more than one country.

You can check it out here.

The AFL has released details of updated venue and changed match times.  These affect the matches in Round 2, the Schools Round and Round 3 the Community Round.

The NZ vs Fiji match will be played at St Kilda's home training base, Linen Park in Seaford.  St Kilda have an ongoing relationship with AFLNZ.

The India vs Pakistan match has been confirmed to be played at Golden Square (in Bendigo) on the Friday evening 11th of August at 7pm.

Please see the updated fixtures below.