World Footy News

Grand Final re-matches, barnstorming come-from-behind victories, exciting debuts, scintillating footy and the sounds of leather hitting boots. No, we are not talking about the battlegrounds of the MCG or Etihad Stadium – this is footy in France, and the new season has kicked off in stunning style across the nation.

Last year the Perpignan Tigers won many admirers with a break out season which saw then just miss out on finals action. They won more yesterday when they launched a stunning comeback against the Toulouse Hawks in the double header at the Stade Robert Barran (Robert Barran Stadium) in Toulouse. For the most part, Toulouse held sway across the first three quarters, but the Tigers were far from finished and stormed home to win an absolute thriller by just four points. Final score saw the Perpignan Tigers 86 down Toulouse 82.

Greg Bridges plays for the Ottowa Swans and has made the Canadian Northwind Team to play in the 2017 International Cup.  And now he has made a video about it.  Check it out below or on Youtube.

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We look forward to following Greg's journey in this video blog series as he prepares for the tournament in Melbourne in August next year. 

See you in Melbourne Greg.

The AFL National Women's Draft was held in Melbourne today. The 8 foundation clubs of the AFL Women's league set to debut in 2017 added to their initial list of priority picks and rookies with a total of 145 selections in today's draft.

We held out hope that a number of players from Ireland, the US and Canada might be among them but it was not to be. If they are to be a part of the inaugural season they must now hope they can secure a place at one of the clubs during the "free agency period" between now and October 31. Each club will have three places on their list for these players.

Some international connections to footy overseas were however noted.

The momentum continues to build towards the AFL Women's league 2017 kick-off.  In less than 24 hours most of the players for the league's inaugural season will have been allocated to clubs via tomorrow's draft to be held in Melbourne.

And for the first time (in men's and women's drafts) there is the possibility that there will be internationals that have learnt and played the game in their own country up for grabs. 

The AFL tell us there have been around 1300 players register for the draft, and although they have not issued that list, they have confirmed that Kim Hemenway (USA), Katie Klatt (USA) and Kendra Heil (Canada) have all nominated.  They have also confirmed that  Aimee Legault (Canada) has unfortunately not nominated despite speculation that she would.

It is also expected there may be a number of Australian based Irish players such as Gill Behan, who plays for the UTS Shamrocks in Sydney, that may be drafted.

NAB is the inaugural sponsor of the new AFL Women’s League.

Andrew Thorburn, NAB CEO, and Gillon McLachlan, AFL CEO, today announced the partnership with the AFL Women’s League, as well as confirming NAB’s continued support of Auskick and the AFL player pathway program for a further six years.

Mr Thorburn said he was excited to be building on the bank’s 14-year partnership with the AFL and proud to be supporting both men’s and women’s football.

The following article is from Callum Twomey at the www.afl.com.au website.

THREE clubs are in the race to sign Irish prospect Mark O'Connor, who finished his stint in Australia with an excellent run at the NAB AFL Draft Combine.

Geelong, North Melbourne and Melbourne are understood to be keen to sign the 19-year-old, who travelled to Melbourne from Ireland for last weekend's combine at Etihad Stadium.

O'Connor trialed at five clubs (the three chasing his signature plus Essendon and Carlton) during his two-week stay, but has headed back to Ireland to make a decision on where he wants to start his AFL career. He can be signed as a category B rookie.

The AFL Europe Euro Cup in Lisbon, Portugal, has been completed with the Croatian Knights triumphant in the men’s tournament and the Irish Banshees taking out the women’s crown. The organisers of the event in Portugal did a wonderful job to showcase the best footy that Europe has to offer and congratulations are in order for their tremendous work.

The Croatian Knights won their second AFL Europe Euro Cup, and their first since downing the Netherlands in Milan, Italy, in 2010. They defeated the Irish Warriors, back in the final again for the first time since winning the title in 2012, in an incredible final that was decided in extra time. Scores were locked at 35 all at the final siren, but the Knights went on a 10 minute extra time assault to eventually win the title 53 to 39.

The Darwin-based NTFL competition got under way today in Northern Territory capital. Amid the actual football, the year 2016 is now recognised as the year that a game was played in the Northern Territory. The first match for premiership points was between Wanderers and Waratah in 2017, and they will play their centenary match in Round 15 next year. But both teams made a centenary statement today.

To kick off the new season, Round One presented four hard fought matches. It was a round of upsets, close shaves and huge excitement – great qualities to continue the celebration of 100 years of footy in the Northern Territory.

The Entertainer Dubai Dingoes have kept part one of their 2016/17 season promise by taking out the Pre-Season Cup last night, downing reigning premiers, the Dubai Dragons, and claiming new silverware for the trophy cabinet.

In an interview last week (see Dingoes Hoping To Revamp History) Myles Lynch stated that “off the back of an extremely inconsistent year last year we are once again desperate to secure the silverware for the oldest club in the AFLME and the focus and mission for the year is to bring everyone together as a tight-knit club - as a champion team will beat a team of individual champions every time.”

With that first task done, the Dingoes now have the momentum and belief to push further into the season proper and seek to win the AFL Middle East premiership for the first time.

The end of the Australian AFL season sometimes brings despair. For thee seasoned footy fan their run from February to October is finished as their beloved team is done for now. Same goes for local level. Some survive by tuning into the great race at Mount Panorama, the Bathurst 1000 car race. Others struggle through with Spring Racing Carnival, highlighted by the Melbourne Cup, then the cricket season kicks in.

But for some that just isn’t enough.

They want footy. They adore footy. They live and breathe footy. And the solutions are right there if they know where to look. In some cases the new seasons are about to start, competitions which will run through until the next “footy season”. In others, major overseas Aussie Rules tournaments are about to get under way.

The USAFL tonight announced that the 2017 National Championships will be held in San Diego, California.  This will be the first time since Las Vegas hosted the tournament in 2006 that the Championships will be held on the western side of the nation and the first time in California since 2000. 

As this is written there are some concerns for the venue of this year's tournament, Sarasota, Florida (October 14-16 at the Premier Sports Campus).  Hurricane Matthew is making it's way across the Caribbean Sea towards Florida and could possibly do some serious damage across the state and up the east coast if it lands there.  Fortunately the tournament is not this weekend, but there could be on-going issues into next week that may affect travel and the host facilities. 

In the meantime we hope that all our friends on the US East coast stay safe and dry.