World Footy News

 

In the following article by Peter Ryan on the www.afl.com.au website, the visit of a trade delegation from the Netherlands has been undertaken to explore the role of the game within sectors of Australian society. Whilst their aims seem to have a broader scope than simply sport, or indeed Australian Rules football in the Netherlands, it is interesting that our game is considered a potential blueprint for other nations to follow.

A HIGH-LEVEL trade delegation from the Netherlands visited AFL House on Friday, keen to understand Australian football's place in the community. 

 

The delegation included the Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs, Mr Henk Kamp, the Deputy Director of European and International Affairs, Ms Yvette van Eechoud, and officials from various Dutch sports including the Royal Dutch Football Federation. 

 

Travis King from www.afl.com.au reports that Essendon’s young Irish recruit, Conor McKenna, has signed a new deal which will see him on the Essendon senior list for 2017. The signing provides a great platform for McKenna to launch a long-term career with the Bombers. 

NORTHERN Irish speedster Conor McKenna will remain at Essendon next season after inking a fresh one-year deal. 

After playing 12 games this season, the former Category B rookie has also been rewarded with elevation to the senior list in 2017.

Whilst the Saints and Tigers had big wins on the weekend, and Crocs continued to build their season, it was the Waratah team that had tongues wagging as they won their third match from four starts and made last year’s horror season a distant memory.

The weekend’s first match saw St Mary’s dish out a lesson in football desperation and tactics when they hammered the Tiwi Bombers by 103 points. The contest was effectively done by half time with the Saints holding a 10 goal lead. Despite kicking the first couple of goals in the final quarter, Tiwi just couldn’t get back into the game – the Saints pressure causing turnovers throughout the game and leading to continual scoring options.

Final Score: St Mary’s 26 14 170 d Tiwi Bombers 9 13 67

In this article from Travis King on the www.afl.com.au website, Hawthorn’s post season list changes have included the addition of another young Irishman to accompany their other Irish player Conor Glass.

HAWTHORN has signed its second Irish rookie in 12 months, luring emerging Gaelic football and rugby star Conor Nash to Waverley.

As reported by AFL.com.au in August last year, the Hawks have been circling Nash for some time and the talented Irishman has finally joined the club.

 

The youngster, who hails from Navin about 45 minutes north-west of Dublin, will link up with the Hawks when pre-season training begins next month.

After two completed rounds of the CNFA 2016/17 season, the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes have cleared out to a handsome lead. They sit on top of the ladder with two wins from two starts and a very healthy percentage after a huge win against the Perpignan Tigers.

The Tigers came to Paris determined to take the game up to the Coyotes, but the home team was switched on from the beginning. By half time they led by a whopping 96 points, having shut the game down early. From there, the run to the final siren went much the same way. The clinical skills in a last quarter that yielded 60 points to nil underlined the strength of the Coyotes.

Former Cairns Saints junior footballer Jack Bowes sits on the cusp of making some AFL history of his own when the national draft comes around on November 25th. Jack won’t be the first draftee to come from the Far North Queensland city, but he is at unbackable odds to be the highest ranked draft choice to come from Cairns.

Being a member of the Gold Coast Suns Academy since he was just 13, Jack will almost certainly be grabbed by the Suns with their Pick 4 on draft night. But with the vagaries of the draft bidding system, if current number one pick holder, Essendon, were to place a bid for Bowes with their prized pick, thereby forcing the Suns to match the bid, Bowes could go as the draft’s #1 pick. The Giants or Lions could also pull the same trick at #2 and #3. No matter which of these scenarios occurs, Jack is destined to be picked inside the top 5 – a remarkable effort for a humble Cairns lad.

A new footy force is starting to growl softly in the south of Sweden. The Eksjö Bulldogs have arrived and they intend to take the Swedish footy world by storm, just as their AFL namesakes, the Western Bulldogs, did this year. “We come out snarling, Bulldogs through and through.”

The town of Eksjö is located a little over 300 kilometres to the south-west of Stockholm, close to the southern city of Jönköping and a part of the Jönköping County. The town is also close enough to the Skane County clubs such as the Helsingborg Saints and Port Malmo Maulers to entertain fairly regular matches.

Gustav Svensson is the force behind the ‘Dogs, but already has plenty of friends prepared to work hard to develop this team and bring it to full fruition.

Jason Holmes’ AFL dream is set to continue with the Illinois-born big man offered a one-year contract with the club.  

Holmes was recruited as St Kilda’s international selection with pick No. 36 at the 2014 Rookie Draft and was the first born and raised American to make an AFL debut in Round 21, 2015.  He is also the first American to play in two AFL seasons.

Elevated in Round 9 this year, Holmes has earnt a permanent spot on the senior list after stepping up for the last two games of the 2016 season in Tom Hickey’s absence.

The mooted Port Adelaide match in China in 2017, the first outside Australia/New Zealand for premiership points has officially been given the green light. Port Adelaide will play their away match hosted by the Gold Coast Suns in Shanghai. The match will take place on Sunday, May 14.

The round eight clash was revealed this afternoon in Melbourne. The match will be show live into Australia at 3.20pm Melbourne time.

 

World Rankings at the conclusion of All Asia Championships and International Test between Great Britain and Ireland

The contesting of the All Asia Championships on Friday 14th October saw the debut of a new  International Australian Football entity, Team IndoChina. The Team IndoChina concept is similar to the European Crusaders in that it draws local Asian players from the Indochina Nations that are currently unable to field a full National side. This first edition of Team IndoChina was formed with players from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The tropical Far North Queensland city of Cairns has just received arguably its biggest boost for hosting future AFL Premiership matches with the announcement that it will host its sixth consecutive annual AFL event. Despite falling attendances since 2013 when the Richmond v Gold Coast match drew a crowd of over 11,000 people, the current premiers, Western Bulldogs, will headline the 2017 event – the first time Cairns has played host to a reigning premier.

The match will be part of the Round 18 AFL Premiership fixture and be played again in the original twilight timeslot after opting for an evening event in 2016.

Football evolves. It is the nature of sports as they tap new markets, respond to opportunities, move to develop stronger fan bases and keep ahead of potential challenges.

Such is the story of France’s newest Australian football team, the Lille Eagles. The city of Lille sits close to the border with Belgium in the far north of France, a little over 200 kilometres north of Paris. With a population of over 200,000 (and an greater urban population of over one million), the city is a prime location to develop the game, particularly with its proximity to the city of Amiens and the nearby memorials of The Somme Battlefields where Australian and French teams play their annual ANZAC Day memorial clash - an area that has already embraced Australian football.