World Footy News

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.

The annual Kelowna Cup  gets a little better each year.

We start with a report from Dan of the Calgary Kangaroos on this year’s event.

“On the men's side of the draw, the combined Edmonton/Vernon team took out the club competition, overcoming Calgary in the decider (5.6.36 v 3.8.26). The British Columbians won the Canadians only game over Alberta (9.4.58 v 3.6.24).

On the women's side of the draw, the combined Calgary/Edmonton team won the team competition against the combined Vancouver Vixens/Wildcats team (12.5.76 V 1.0.6). Alberta won the provincial game over BC (no score recorded).

 

With five rounds of the AFLG season played, and just three rounds to go before the finals, two teams sit on top of the ladder undefeated. The Berlin Crocodiles and Hamburg Dockers are placed one and two, and remarkably their percentages are enormous yet separated by less than 4% (Crocodiles 634.2, Dockers 630.5) suggesting a total dominance against all opposition all season.

That will change in Round 6 on June 24th when the two German leviathans meet in Berlin to decide which team will assume the mantle of premiership favourite. Clearly the Crocodiles will have home ground advantage, but the Dockers have been impressive all season and will not give the Berlin boys anything less than a huge fight.

The New Zealand Hawks (the squad formerly known as the Falcons) – have named a dynamic squad for the upcoming AFL International Cup. The Hawks previously won the tournament in 2005 with a strong win over Papua New Guinea, however, running 2nd in 2008 was the last time the New Zealand side tasted Grand Final action although they have never placed lower than third.

With 2 completed seasons now of the AFLNZ Premiership – the domestic preparation has never been better. The squad includes a majority of players who took part in season 2 of the AFLNZ Premiership including a fair sprinkling of team of the tournament reps. There are a number of current Australian based players including Joe Baker-Thomas.

The Belfast Redbacks have enjoyed a huge day for the club after the Round 5 and 6 matches last weekend at Bushy Park, Terenure, Dublin – home of the South Dublin Swans. Not only did the Redbacks win both of their matches to jump into second place on the ARFLI ladder, they also discovered the blueprint to bringing down the powerful Leeside Lions, previously undefeated.

The Redbacks started their day with a strong win against the Galway Magpies. It was a perfect start for the Belfast team, recording a 32-point win. The final score saw the Redbacks down the Magpies 57 to 25. It was a great way to build self-belief and it showed in their next match.

The Edinburgh Bloods avenged their recent loss to the Kingdom Kangaroos with a tight 86-71 win. According to the club’s Facebook page, “a strong 1st and 4th quarter saw us over the line along with a marked improvement in our physicality and attack on the footy.” After the Roos recorded their first ever win over the Bloods back in May, the Edinburgh team was determined to reclaim their authority and did so with a 15-point win.

In the previous round, the Glasgow derby saw another nail-biting result with the Greater Glasgow Giants holding on for a narrow 98 to 94 win against the Glasgow Sharks. Whilst the Giants are clear at the top of the ladder, the Sharks must be the unluckiest bottom team in recent memory with all three of their losses being decided by less than a goal.

Round 13 of the 2017 AFL Season kicks off tomorrow night at Domain Stadium in Perth with the West Coast Eagles hosting Geelong.  There are just six matches this round as six teams have their mid season bye this weekend.

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	15-Jun	Night	WC Eagles vs. Geelong Cats	Domain Stadium	WA	18:10	10:10
2	16-Jun	Night	North Melbourne vs. St Kilda	Etihad Stadium	VIC	19:50	09:50
3	17-Jun	Day	Richmond vs. Sydney Swans	MCG	VIC	13:45	03:45
4	17-Jun	Twilight	Port Adelaide vs. Brisbane Lions	Adelaide Oval	SA	16:05	06:35
5	17-Jun	Night	Gold Coast SUNS vs. Carlton	Metricon Stadium	QLD	19:25	09:25
6	18-Jun	Day	Western Bulldogs vs. Melbourne	Etihad Stadium	VIC	15:20	05:20

 

The Tyne Tees Tigers have enjoyed a highly successful day at this weekend’s AFLCNE Lightning Round played this weekend in Newcastle. The team enjoyed two wins from their two matches, as did the Nottingham Scorpions, to strengthen their season and send a signal to all clubs that they are still improving.

As well as the Tigers and Scorpions, the Merseyside Saints made the trip across England (west to east) as did the Manchester Mozzies. Unfortunately, the Sheffield Thunder team and Huddersfield Rams has to reschedule their Lightning Round dates and could not be in Newcastle.

The results see the Tyne Tees Tigers sitting in fifth place on the AFLCNE ladder, equal on points with the fourth placed Huddersfield Rams – a pleasing position for the Tigers to be in. The results also saw the Nottingham Scorpions move two games clear of the field at the top of the ladder with the depleted Manchester Mosquitoes losing both of their Newcastle matches.

Brianna Davey, one of Carlton’s marquee players in the AFLW, has agreed to become the International Ambassador for the North Delta Junior AFL in southern Vancouver, within British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province.

The 22-year old Carlton star was vice captain for the 2017 season and took out the club’s inaugural best & fairest award. Additionally, Brianna received All Australian honours as well as a number of media awards

President of the NDJAFL, Mike McFarlane, stated that “we are pleased to have Brianna join our league as the International Ambassador. It brings another level to our league and gives our kids more exposure to quality football people as Brianna is one of the top women's players in Australia.”