World Footy News

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.

 

With the completion of the AFLG season in Germany, the Berlin Crocodiles have set themselves a new record – their first undefeated season since their inception as a club back in 2001. Their last start victory against fellow finals aspirants, the Hamburg Dockers, underlined how dominant their season has been as they thumped the previously second-placed Dockers by 126 points in Hamburg.

For the time being players from all clubs will return to local leagues to play as the national team – the German Eagles – travels to Australia for the IC17 (International Cup). Crocodiles will spend time playing in the local Berlin League to stay ready for the finals series from 26th August after the return of the national team.

Men’s Footy in Great Britain

The game has seen a steady increase in activity since the last tournament and expanded markedly in central England and Scotland. The quality of the game has increased, with more youngsters getting involved and staying with the game, many of whom travel into London to get increased exposure to the full 18’s game, as well as the 9’s they play regularly with their regional clubs.

The number of British eligible players across clubs has improved dramatically with numerous clubs now having strength in depth of their “rest of world” players, which local league rules stipulate must be in match day squads. The mix of high-level Australian players and talented British rookies has created one of the strongest leagues outside of Australia and bought those rookies up to speed and a good level of play quickly.

South Africa's Lions have been in camp preparing for IC17. Check out this great news story from CGTN Africa.