World Footy News

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.

The third round of the NTFL season in Darwin was completed yesterday when the Southern Districts Crocs defeated reigning premiers, St Mary’s by 18 points in a tight game at Norbuilt Oval. In other matches, the Nightcliff Tigers continued their tremendous start to the season with a resounding thumping of Palmerston Magpies, Wanderers defeated the Tiwi Bombers and Waratah downed the Darwin Buffaloes.

The Crocs and Saints played a high scoring game. The Saints got away to a good first quarter and again in the third with seven and eight goals respectively. But Crocs kicked seven goals to one in the second quarter, and did what they had to in the last to pull away. With 41 goals kicked for the game it was a defender’s nightmare, but the upshot sees the Crocs now with two wins for the season and just one for Saints.

Final Score: Southern Districts 22 7 139 d St Mary’s 19 7 121

In a friendly rematch, played after a last minute venue change in Dublin at Islandbridge, the Irish Warriors have defeated the Great Britain Bulldogs to gain some satisfaction after going down them in the European Championships in August. The match is another important step for both national teams as they prepare for next year’s International Cup (IC17) in Melbourne.

The Warriors were determined to make amends for their last encounter and got away to a strong start, holding an almost unassailable lead by three quarter time. They had to withstand a five goal deficit fightback from the Bulldogs, but still managed to hold on for a valuable seven point win.

Final Scores: Irish Warriors 12 6 78 d GB Bulldogs 10 11 71

The ALFA Lions have added an extra ingredient of interest in the opening CNFA match in Lyon yesterday. In a season that has already shown a welcome evenness, the Lions big win over the Toulouse Hawks has added further intrigue.

Distance, time, travelling arrangements and a host of other factors can impact on a team’s performance and sometimes a hosting team can get a seriously large home ground advantage. But recognition of that alone does not do justice to the performances of host teams. The Lions’ score of 26 19 175 to the Hawks 5 10 40 says that even if the Hawks were down on the day, there is some very serious talent and fire power growing in Lyon.

The AFL Middle East season opened with the double-header draw at Sevens Stadium in Dubai yesterday. The local footy community was treated to two games, both hotly contested and exciting, though for very different reasons.

The match between last year’s grand finalists, the Dubai Dragons and the Multiplex Bulls, was tight at half time. Both teams were out to make statements and locked horns, if you will, in a territorial fight where neither was prepared to concede. However, after the main break it was the Bulls that hammered home eight goals to one to run out convincing 34 point victors 11 11 77 to 6 7 43.

Irishman Mark O'Connor has chosen to sign with Geelong Football Club in the AFL after trialling at the NAB AFL Draft Combine in Melbourne earlier this month.  He will be signed to the club as an International Rookie and officially listed in the upcoming National Draft.

Irish media have widely reported his move to "Sleepy Hollow" after he confirmed it on Irish Radio na Gaeltachta’s An Saol ó Dheas this morning.

“It’s a very quiet place, like Dingle, and I was very comfortable there. I was really taken with Geelong.

“When I went in there everyone was very friendly, and I felt at home there,” the 19-year-old midfielder added."

 

The new 2016/17 AFL Middle East season gets under way at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai with a double-header on Friday, 21st October. In the opening match of the fixture the Entertainer (Dubai) Dingoes will take on the Abu Dhabi Falcons. This will be followed by the grand final rematch between the Multiplex Bulls and title holders the Dubai Dragons.

The Doha Kangaroos will start their season in coming weeks once all future fixtures are finalised.

The new season brings all sorts of possibilities, and each team playing on Friday will have the belief that a new season brings.

The Entertainer Dingoes won their first trophy two weeks ago when they claimed the pre-season cup. It heralds a new era for the Dingoes and they go into Friday night’s match against the Falcons with their own bar raised and a second cup on the horizon for this season.