World Footy News

South America is one massive continent. It absolutely dwarfs Australia in size – and Europe for that matter. The Andes Mountains which run the entire west coast of the continent run for around 7000 kilometres alone. The distance by road from Bogota in Colombia and Santiago in Chile is around 6000 kilometres. This is where the footy kicks in. On July 22nd the Bogota Bulldogs will travel that distance to Santiago for the final instalment of the Andes Cup for 2017 – though probably not by road.

Australian Rules football in South America has long been championed by the Santiago Saints in Chile. They have remained the only permanent team for many years, crying out for company. With the arrival of the Bogota Bulldogs the game has a great chance to grow even further.

In a press release for local newspapers in Chile, the Santiago Saints report that “AFL football is back for the second instalment of Latin America's newest rivalry. This Saturday, the 22nd of July, teams from Chile and Colombia will go head to head for the Andes Cup in the leafy surrounds of Lo Barnachea in Santiago, 2pm local time. The Bogota Bulldogs will be hoping to retain the Cup after its comprehensive victory in the inaugural clash in Bogota in September 2016. By contrast, the Santiago Saints are desperate to reclaim the mantle as the powerhouse of Latin American footy, back in more familiar conditions closer to sea level.”

Just when the script appeared to be settled after Round 8 results, along comes Round 9 with some new plot twists to shake up the competition with just one home and away round to go. The West London Wildcats were locked in a battle for top spot, until the North London Lions defeated them. Of equal significance – or greater depending on your point of view – was the London Swans efforts to defeat the Wimbledon Hawks and usurp them in the top four.

The Lions hosted the Wildcats and in a tough and close match it was the ions that found the little bit extra to get them over the lie by just nine points. Granted the result could have been greater had the Lions kicked straight, but they did enough to keep their heads in front at the final siren – and that’s what counts. The final score saw the North London Lions 7 16 58 defeat the West London Wildcats 7 7 49.

The final matches of the AFLCNE home and away season will be played this weekend in Nottingham when the Scorpions host the third and final Lightning Round. The matches will determine the final placings for the season before the finals series over the last two weekends in July.

Whilst there is interest in which team will finish on top of the ladder – currently the Mozzies are two points and a big percentage ahead of the Scorpions – it is the battle for the last finals place which will have the league buzzing. Currently the Huddersfield Rams hold fourth place ahead of the Tyne Tees Tigers. Should the Tigers win enough games in Nottingham to pass the Rams it will be an historic event. It would mark the first finals campaign for the Tyne Tees Tigers. It will be a tall order, playing against the Rams, Mozzies and Wolverines, but they will throw everything at the chance.

Round 17 of the 2017 AFL Season kicks off tomorrow night at the Etihad Stadium with St Kilda hosting co-tenant Essendon.  The full international broadcast schedule can be seen below.

In addition to the TV networks you can also subscribe to the Watch AFL service that will give you live access to all the matches and more (outside Australia only).  You can access that service by clicking on the link here or the  Watch AFL banner below and paying the subscription fee.

 

 

MATCH	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH	VENUE	STATE	LOCAL TIME	GMT
1	14-Jul	Night	St Kilda vs. Essendon	Etihad Stadium	VIC	19:50	09:50
2	15-Jul	Day	Geelong Cats vs. Hawthorn	MCG	VIC	13:45	03:45
3	15-Jul	Day	Port Adelaide vs. North Melbourne	Adelaide Oval	SA	13:40	04:10
4	15-Jul	Twilight	Gold Coast SUNS vs. Collingwood	Metricon Stadium	QLD	16:35	06:35
6	15-Jul	Night	GWS GIANTS vs. Sydney Swans	Spotless Stadium	NSW	19:25	09:25
5	15-Jul	Night	Melbourne vs. Adelaide Crows	TIO Stadium	NT	19:10	09:40
7	16-Jul	Early	Richmond vs. Brisbane Lions	Etihad Stadium	VIC	13:10	03:10
8	16-Jul	Day	Carlton vs. Western Bulldogs	MCG	VIC	15:20	05:20
9	16-Jul	Twilight	Fremantle vs. West Coast Eagles	Domain Stadium	WA	14:40	06:40

So many times the dream and our reality are vastly different. It is certainly true in Tyler Ames’ case, but his current reality is somewhat of a dream, and it certainly doesn’t resemble what he saw for himself.

Tyler went to college in the US as many of us do. He figured he’d become a businessman and have the American dream - a wife he loved, two kids, two cars, and such. He settled on accounting and finance at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and landed a job.

One day he became good friends with Michio McGrath, an Australian expat who persuaded him to try his hand at footy. Ironically, it was Tyler who helped recruit Michio to his accounting firm. McGrath in turn spent an entire Colorado winter selling Tyler on the game as well as on his favorite club the West Coast Eagles.

The AFL is pleased to announce a collaboration with Thomas & Friends in an international first for the two brands.

 The collaboration will see four short episodes produced, centred around the AFL and following Thomas and his friends on their Australian adventures with the first episode to be released today, Wednesday July 12.

Two AFL superstars will voice characters in the four short episodes, with former Richmond Tiger Matthew Richardson starring as Shane the Train, an Australian character introduced in the last Thomas & Friends movie ‘The Great Race’ and Brisbane Lions AFLW player Sabrina Frederick-Traub as Tracy the Melbourne Tram.

Shane the Train - Image Courtesy Mattel

The following story originally appeared on Frederick's Blog and the original article can be found here. 

Ireland is significant as one of the first European nations to have adopted the sport of Aussie rules. However, footy has never enjoyed significantly broad popularity in the country due to the dominance of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), which overseas the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, handball, and Gaelic football.

Gaelic football — by far the largest Irish spectator sport — has several similarities to Aussie rules, which have been well-documented over the years. The primary differences are the number of players, the size and shape of the ball and pitch, and the fact that Gaelic football is not full-contact.

Irish interest in footy was most likely initially sparked in 1967 during the Australian Football World Tour, which played a couple of test matches in Dublin. The hybrid sport of international rules football (a combination of Aussie rules and Gaelic football) has its roots in the World Tour. In addition, many Gaelic footballers have given Aussie rules a shot since the 1980s, primarily due to the lure of a quality salary; the Gaelic games are only played at an amateur level in Ireland.

The Leeside Lions and the Belfast Redbacks were the big winners at last weekend’s ARFLI carnival, hosted by the Redbacks at their home ground at the Boucher Road playing Fields. Both teams won both of their matches, and in the process the Lions have locked in a home final for the second year in a row after finishing the home and away season on top of the ladder.

That result certainly means that the Lions will firm even further for premiership favouritism.

The results of the weekend matches saw:

Belfast Redbacks 7 6 48 d South Dublin Swans 1 2 8
Belfast Redbacks 6 9 45 d Galway Magpies 1 4 10
Leeside Lions 7 5 47 d South Dublin Swans 1 10 16
Leeside Lions 10 8 68 d Galway Magpies 1 1 7

One of the great thing about competitions with smaller amounts of teams is that every match has the capacity to impact the whole competition. Such is the case with the last round results for the SARFL competition in Scotland. The Glasgow Sharks went into the game without a win for 2017. The Kingdom Kangaroos were sitting second looking to consolidate that position.

The Edinburgh Bloods looked on from afar with keen interest, while the Greater Glasgow Giants watch all those below them fight and jostle. In the end it was the Glasgow Sharks that enjoyed their first win of the season, after a number of unlucky close shaves. But their win at home against the Kingdom Kangaroos – 147 to 74 - has ramifications for the whole competition.

Heading into the Round 9 clashes – the penultimate round of the AFL London home and away season – the league’s two perennial heavyweights were locked in a huge battle for minor premiership honours and subsequent premiership favouritism.

At the end of the round, both sides were locked on seven wins apiece with the Wandsworth Demons ahead of the West London Wildcats by percentage only (236.8 to 222.8). Their respective Round 9 clashes this weekend would certainly tell some stories. The Demons taking on the last-placed Giants, whilst the Wildcats (2nd) would take on the North London Lions (3rd).

July is the time of the year when northern humidity is at its lowest and conditions are ideal for Australian Rules football in our most northern cities. Hence, the next two weekends are the annual showcase of northern footy with two AFL premiership matches being played in both Darwin and Cairns.

Many good teams have travelled north at this time of year to play, but usually not in matches which would determine finals fortunes – at least not both matches together. But this year Darwin will be blessed with a genuine match which could determine the makeup of the top four, whilst Cairns will host a game which will spell curtains for the loser in terms of 2017 finals.

Journalist Wouter Pienaar has reported recently in the Potchefstroom Herald about the exploits of South African footballer, Godfrey Molohlanyi, and his journey towards the 2017 International Cup in Melbourne.

Finding an Aussie Rules Football player in Potchefstroom is almost like finding a needle in a haystack. And, if that player is also representing South Africa in the Australian Football International Cup then you know you have discovered something unique. 

Godfrey Molohlanyi is a South African Aussie Rules Football player from Ventersdorp. He is currently employed at Pick n Pay Vanderhoff Park in Potch where he works as a merchandiser by day.  

Godfrey Molohlanyi packs merchandise at Pick n Pay Vanderhoff Park by day and, after hours, he plays Aussie Rules Football for South Africa.