World Footy News

Round 15 of the 2017 AFL Season kicks off tomorrow night at the MCG with Melbourne hosting Sydney.  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	30-Jun	Night	Melbourne vs. Sydney Swans	MCG	VIC	19:50	09:50
2	1-Jul	Day	Western Bulldogs vs. West Coast Eagles	Etihad Stadium	VIC	13:45	03:45
3	1-Jul	Day	Carlton vs. Adelaide Crows	MCG	VIC	14:10	04:10
4	1-Jul	Twilight	Gold Coast SUNS vs. North Melbourne	Metricon Stadium	QLD	16:35	06:35
5	1-Jul	Night	GWS GIANTS vs. Geelong Cats	Spotless Stadium	NSW	19:25	09:25
6	1-Jul	Night	Port Adelaide vs. Richmond	Adelaide Oval	SA	19:10	09:40
7	2-Jul	Early	Essendon vs. Brisbane Lions	Etihad Stadium	VIC	13:10	03:10
8	2-Jul	Day	Hawthorn vs. Collingwood	MCG	VIC	15:20	05:20
9	2-Jul	Twilight	Fremantle vs. St Kilda	Domain Stadium	WA	14:40	06:40

AFL Media Release - Bachar Houli programs set to grow, including female Academy.

The Federal Government, together with the AFL, today announced a $625,000 investment to the Bachar Houli programs, growing the existing programs to include a female component of the Bachar Houli Academy and the Bachar Houli Schools Cup.

The Bachar Houli Academy is a high-performance football talent program while the Bachar Houli Cup engages over 5,000 Islamic school students, providing a starting point for players from a Muslim background to transition into football pathways.

AFL Chief Executive Officer Gillon McLachlan said the Bachar Houli Programs have been an integral part of engaging Muslim youth into the AFL, allowing young men and women the best opportunities to excel on and off the football field through training and guidance.

A combination of recent premierships and past history – as well as results to date this season – might see the term “premiership favourites” directed towards the incumbent champions the Greater Glasgow Giants, their nearest rival the Edinburgh Bloods or even the historical record of the Glasgow Sharks. The Kingdom Kangaroos are not usually the first name tied to 2017 flag chances.

But after their last start home victory against the Glasgow Sharks, so soon after their maiden win against the Edinburgh Bloods, the Kingdom Kangaroos have sent a clear message to other teams and fans – write us off at your peril.

Their big win against the Glasgow Sharks – 21 16 142 to 12 9 81 – proved comprehensively that the ‘Roos do have the firepower to challenge any of the other teams. Add that to their efforts back in May to ground the Bloods by 45 points and the Kingdom Kangaroos are moving into flag calculations.

The www.afl.com.au  website reports that a match for premiership points could be played in India as early as next season. The following article gives details of the planned move which follows in the wake of a premiership match in China earlier this year.

GREATER Western Sydney and Richmond appear to have stolen the march in staging an AFL match in India, with the clubs confirming plans for a premiership-season encounter on the sub-continent.

The Giants-Tigers clash is likely to take place in Mumbai during the mid-season bye round, with GWS playing host.

 

"Both clubs have the ambition to play for premiership points in Mumbai as early as next year," Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale confirmed to News Corp.

Today AFL Japan announced the Japan Samurai squad to contest the 2017 International Cup in Melbourne in August 2017. The squad announced 20/6/17 has an exciting blend of youth and experience look to it.

Once again the IC veteran Michito Sakaki (I believe this is his 6th IC) graces the squad with his experience and talent, which could well make him the only player in international footy to play in all the International Cups. Other IC veterans include Hisayoshi Oura, Toshiki Matsuhashi (4th IC), Yuosuke Kuno (suiting up for his 5th IC), Yuta Toyshima (played IC14), Jumpei Ito, Yuki Akita and Ryosuke Sato (each 2nd IC).

By Dylan Wolfgramm

 AFL Fiji is set to take IC17 by storm with the naming of it’s strongest team to date. The men’s team otherwise known as the Fiji Tribe, will take part in their third consecutive International Cup since 2011.

With a core group of men who have been together since 2010, The Fiji tribe will look to build on its strong performances in their local competition and push for a birth in the Division 1 final. Speaking with Head Coach Simon Highfield, he was very impressed with the level of dedication the team had shown over the last couple of months “They are very fit and their skills have really improved, we under performed in past International Cups, so we are hoping to come of age this year.”

 

The Australian Football League Central & Northern England has reached half-way through the 2017 season. The following story is from the AFLCNE website and looks at the journey so far this season with hints towards what the season may yet bring.

With the last update being a month ago (blame it on the weather/footy/beers) we at the league thought it was an opportunity to give you all an update on the past few weeks (and a lot has happened).

 

The final round of May saw the Rams consolidate their position just inside the playoffs by defeating a travelling Tigers side, while the Mozzies narrowly overcame one of this season’s finals contenders the Wolverines in a show of intent to put themselves comfortably in prime position. Meanwhile, the Thunder secured their first points by default, after mechanical issues meant half the travelling Merseyside team were stuck near Manchester (credit goes to those who made it playing in an excellent scratch match with Sheffield and Nottingham players).

 

Herald Sun journalist, Chris Cavanagh, has reported on the new style of Australian Rules football to be experimented with at season’s end. Loosely referred to as a “Twenty 20” version of the game, the AFL is looking closely at this format assisting in the development of the game in overseas markets. The move is sure to create conjecture and only time can tell if the game will have the proposed and hoped for merit. The following story from Chris gives the first hints.

THE AFL is reportedly preparing to launch a Twenty20-inspired version of the game later this year which is seen as the answer to opening up international markets.

After months of secret trials, AFLX — a high-octane, seven-a-side version of football played on soccer-sized grounds with quarters shortened to 10 minutes — is being slated to be shown off to fans on the pre-finals bye weekend this year.

The following story originally appeared on Frederick's Blog and the original article can be found here.  This is very timely given Germany will make their long awaited International Cup debut in less than two months.

The Aussie rules phenomenon has expanded in continental Europe in recent years, and Germany has been no exception. The sport was originally played there in 1995, with clubs formed by Aussie expats in both Munich (the Redbacks) and Frankfurt (the Kangaroos). The two clubs competed against each other on a largely informal basis until AFL Germany was founded in 1999.

In 2003, the league expanded, with the Berlin Crocodiles and Hamburg Dockers joining and forming a nice nucleus for a nationwide German competition. Soon enough, the Dusseldorf Lions (now the Rheinland Lions) and the Stuttgart Emus were added in the ensuing years.

Round 14 of the 2017 AFL Season kicks off tomorrow night at Adelaide Oval with the Adelaide Crows hosting Hawthorn.  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	22-Jun	Night	Adelaide Crows vs. Hawthorn	Adelaide Oval	SA	19:20	09:50
2	23-Jun	Night	Sydney Swans vs. Essendon	SCG	NSW	19:50	09:50
3	24-Jun	Day	Collingwood vs. Port Adelaide	MCG	VIC	13:45	03:45
4	24-Jun	Twilight	Brisbane Lions vs. GWS GIANTS	The Gabba	QLD	16:35	06:35
5	24-Jun	Night	Western Bulldogs vs. North Melbourne	Etihad Stadium	VIC	19:25	09:25
6	24-Jun	Night	West Coast Eagles vs. Melbourne	Domain Stadium	WA	17:40	09:40
7	25-Jun	Early	Geelong Cats vs. Fremantle	Simonds Stadium	VIC	13:10	03:10
8	25-Jun	Day	Richmond vs. Carlton	MCG	VIC	15:20	05:20
9	25-Jun	Twilight	St Kilda vs. Gold Coast SUNS	Etihad Stadium	VIC	16:40	06:40

The Australian Football League (AFL) last night announced that decorated premiership player, goalkicker and premiership coach Malcolm Blight had been named an official Legend of the Game.

Blight, 67, was a star of both the SANFL and VFL across an 18-season career between 1968-85 representing Woodville and North Melbourne, before going on to coach in the SANFL, VFL and AFL with five clubs, and leading the Adelaide Crows to their first two premierships.

The second round of the 2017 CEAFL tournament was completed on the weekend in Graz, Austria. Played at the Viktor-Franz-Platz, the competition featured five teams from four European countries with teams from host nation Austria, two from Croatia, and one each from Italy and the Czech Republic.

Austria’s own super-club, the Styrian DownUnderDogs took on the might and determination of the Sesvete Double Blues and Zagreb Cvjetno Dockers from Croatia, the Prague Dragons from the Czech Republic and the North West Footy Eagles representing AFL Italia.

The Croatian teams dominated the round robin matches to the extent that both the Blues and Dockers went through to meet each other in the Grand Final. Whilst the Dockers had a narrow win against the Blues, by four points in the round robin stage, the Blues were far too strong in the return bout to take the title by a commanding 34 points. In the battle for third place, the DownUnderDogs defeated the Eagles comfortably by 21 points.