World Footy News

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.

 

The airwaves for Australian Football will grow even larger, and better, with the addition of a dedicated Multicultural Football Show for the remainder of the 2017 season. The following media release from the AFL details the initiative.           

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

AFL partners with NEMBC and 3ZZZ Radio to launch Multicultural Football Show

 

The AFL, together with the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council (NEMBC), is proud to announce 3ZZZ Community Radio Station will produce a series of Multicultural Football Shows and match broadcasts during the remainder of the 2017 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.

Inaugural All-Thai AFL Auskick Match

 Thailand Tigers Australian Football Club announced at AFL website the following news concerning an all-Thai local Auskick Footy match played out in Bangkok. 

Saturday 10th June saw the first ever match between all local Thai Auskickers as part of an AFL Tournament in Bangkok. The day comprised of under 9 and under 12 Auskick matches between the Bangkok Tigers and Pattaya Pirates, the 1st ever All Thai Auskick match between the Thai Blues and the Thai Reds and the AFL Asia match between the Thailand Tigers and Cambodian Eagles

We interviewed the founders of Australian Football Sri Lanka this week, just over a month out from their International Cup debut.   See the full interview below.

Their squad will be a mix of Sri Lankan and Australian based players. They will be coached by Sri Lankan born, former St Kilda big man Enrico Misso.