World Footy News

Collingwood big man Mason Cox is healthy and ready to be a difference maker in 2017. Now on the senior list, he’s in line to play a larger role in part due to a couple of departures-- Premiership player Travis Cloke to the Western Bulldogs, and second ruckman Jarrod Witts, who is now a Gold Coast Sun.

At 211 cm Cox is able to play some in the ruck, but his soccer and basketball skills make him versatile enough to win his fair share of marking contests on the Collingwood forward line. Certainly his teammates love having a big target up front.

By now you’ve certainly heard the story of the big man (and fellow Texan). He played on the scout team for the Oklahoma State University women’s basketball side, worked his way onto the men’s team, graduated with an engineering degree, and was about to start a new job when he showed up at the AFL combine in 2014.

Cian Hanley had all the ingredients to obtain anonymity. Having been recruited by the Brisbane Lions as an international rookie in 2014, the younger brother of new Gold Coast Suns recruit, Pearce Hanley, has endured injury and media attention directed towards his brother after his trade to the Gold Coast Suns last year.

In some ways he has been the forgotten Lion, but his quiet determination to overcome injury and chase the same dream as his brother has been agonisingly long but impressively tenacious. Having to overcome a serious ACL injury, then ongoing groin problems, Hanley has done it tough since joining the club from a Gaelic Football background for Country Mayo. On the weekend, Cian Hanley lined up for the Brisbane Lions in their final NEAFL practice match against the Gold Coast Suns.

The Blagnac Aviators have negotiated their first season in the CNFA and finished with a smile after enjoying a 40 point victory over the Perpignan Tigers. Their second win of their debut season has seen them leapfrog their Toulouse siblings, the Toulouse Hawks, to claw their way off the bottom of the ladder.

The final score saw the Aviators down the Tigers 113 to 73.

The Blagnac Aviators will sit down now and measure their success over the course of the season, but they will be delighted to have won their first game against the Hawks earlier in the season. To claim another win against the Tigers will very likely see the club rank their first season as “above expectations” and an exciting platform to build on for next season.

Australian Rules football has been growing impressively across India for a number of years now, driven in no small way by the drive and foresight of many people, most notably Sudip Chakraborty who was able to get the game accepted in states across India. Most commonly this saw small localised one-off tournaments or larger national events – almost all of which were singular annual events.

The first national tournament, the Indian National Championship Of Australian Football, run under the guise of AFL India was held in Calicut (Kerala state) in 2012, then Goa in 2013, Mumbai in 2014, Kolkata in 2015 and again in 2016. These were the foundation blocks for which localised competitions could potentially grow.

The Icelandic capital city of Reykjavic will host the fledgling Arctic Cup later this weekend in a huge boost for footy in Iceland and a great opportunity for teams headed to the nation for the event. An Iceland team will compete against the visiting Baltimore-Washington Eagles from the USA, the Halifax Dockers from Nova Scotia in Canada, Port Malmo Maulers from Sweden and the South East London Giants from England.

 

 

Featuring men’s and women’s matches, the tournament will take place at the suburb of Fossvogur on Saturday 24th March. Competing teams will arrive in Reykjavic Friday and Sunday will be spent sightseeing and taking in as many charms as possible from around nearby sights. The carnival is a pre-season match for visiting teams, but also a kick-start for interest in the game in Iceland.

The 2017 AFL Season kicks of in Melbourne on Thursday night with the now traditional Carlton vs Richmond match at the MCG.  Once again in 2017 we will have the International Broadcast schedule available (below) so you can see when and on what network you can watch footy around the world. 

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.

 

GAME	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH		VENUE	LOCAL TIME	GMT
1	23-Mar	Night	Carlton vs. Richmond		MCG	19:20	08:20
2	24-Mar	Night	Collingwood vs. Western Bulldogs		MCG	19:50	08:50
3	25-Mar	Twilight	Sydney Swans vs. Port Adelaide		SCG	16:35	05:35
4	25-Mar	Twilight	St Kilda vs. Melbourne		Etihad	16:35	05:35
6	25-Mar	Night	Gold Coast SUNS vs. Brisbane Lions		Metricon	19:05	09:05
5	25-Mar	Night	Essendon vs. Hawthorn		MCG	19:25	08:25
7	26-Mar	Early	North Melbourne vs. West Coast Eagles		Etihad	13:10	02:10
8	26-Mar	Day	Adelaide Crows vs. GWS GIANTS		Adelaide Oval	14:50	04:20
9	26-Mar	Twilight	Fremantle vs. Geelong Cats		Domain	16:40	08:40

 

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

The South Pacific country of Tonga has been introduced to footy fairly recently, but they’ve taken to the sport quickly and have been able to earn their stripes on the international level. The small Polynesian archipelago of roughly 103,000 people is home to many talented athletes.

Tongans have historically favoured other full-contact sports throughout their history, as rugby union is their national sport and rugby league is also widely played in the islands. This influence is apparent in the growing Tongan diaspora, specifically in Australia and New Zealand.

Footy wasn’t introduced to Tonga until the 1980s, when a couple of Australian teachers visited Tongan schools and managed to show the kids the rules of the game. Later on in the 90s, Ewen Gracie, a teacher from Melbourne, worked at a Tongan high school and attempted to establish an ongoing school-based Aussie rules competition with reasonable success

As clubs and nations prepare for this year’s ANZAC Day services and commemorations across the world, the Tyne Tees Tigers from Newcastle, England, are marking the event in their own special way. The club is also keen to gain the support and assistance of any interested in joining their special service. The following article comes from the Tyne Tees Tigers website.

ANZAC Day, 25 April, is one of Australia’s most important national occasions. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. 

 

With the 2017 AFL Europe Champion’s League tournament looming in Amsterdam, the Manchester Mozzies have shared their views about the event and their preparations. Pool teams will be announced soon, but this article from the Mozzies’ website gives an insight into what happens in the lead-up to one of AFL Europe’s showpieces. 

After nearly three months of training, the Mozzies are just two training sessions away from AFL Europe’s Champions League 2017. Though the groups for the initial stages of the tournament are yet to be announced the Mozzies are looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead in Amsterdam on April 1st.

Coach Chris Sproule has been including plenty of match simulation drills in training getting the squad ready for the intensity the AFL Champions League brings. “The boys are looking good, they’ve had plenty of running in their legs and their commitment to the contest is really impressive,” Coach Sproule said last week.

The Port Adelaide Football Club is delighted to welcome Premier Li Keqiang, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, to its first match of the season on Saturday.

As part of the his state visit, Premier Li will, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, attend Port Adelaide’s AFL Opening Round game against the Sydney Swans at the SCG on Saturday afternoon.

It follows an announcement by Prime Minister Turnbull in Shanghai during April 2016 of Port Adelaide’s intention to play a game for premiership points in Shanghai. That game will take place on May 14 against the Gold Coast Suns.

The Northern Territory Football League’s resident powerhouse, the St Mary’s Saints, have won last weekend’s NTFL Grand Final, downing the Wanderers Eagles by 54 points to claim their 31st flag. In a game where the “The Green Machine” was at almost unbackable odds to claim the title, they withstood a brave fight by the Wanderers to coast away in the final quarter.

Just two goals separated the teams at the first break and by half time St Mary’s only held a 16 point lead. Whilst not strolling away with a cavalcade of goals, the Saint defence had kept Wanderers to just two goals for the half.

Round 2 kicked off on Friday evening with the two teams hungry for success after losing their matches in Round 1. Cats led by veteran skipper Trent Depaune against the rebuilding Kangaroos.

Cats vs Kangaroos

The Friday game was a close one between two teams determined to notch up their first win for the season. The Kangaroos charged hard in the last quarter coming from 3 goals behind to level the scores with 4 minutes left. But a clutch goal from Cats veteran player Tiana Waidabu sealed the game for the Cats. Inspirational Cats Captain Trent Depaune led from the front and was named best player for his team. Young Lockett Mau was strong in defence saving a couple of goals and running the ball out of defence with speed and great evasiveness on several occasions. Pilo Dagiaro’s lethal left boot was again on display regularly hitting his forwards with great precision.

For the unlucky Roos they tried valiantly and could have easily snatched the game late in the last quarter, but it was not to be. Leaders Charles Dagiaro and Jarmen Pole won plenty of the ball and spearhead Bronco Deidenang kicked 4 majors causing headaches for the Cats defenders. Shenko Canon was solid in defence and Templa Tau was switched from defence to the forward line and his aggressive attack on the ball created options for the Roos. Young Roos Charmoro Ribauw and Lazarus Caleb impressed with their fearless attack on the football against much bigger bodies. The Roos are definitely on the improve and it should not be long before they notch up their first win for the season. But in this game, it was the Cats that triumphed by 8 points.