World Footy News

We're all familiar with players trying to raise money to head Down Under for the International Cup so this one is a little different.

Porto Alegro's Thiago Vacile has quickly become a keen Adelaide Crows supporter and posted about his passion for the team Adelaide fan Facebook page Adelaide Crows Pride. Suddenly there was a groundswell of support to try to raise funds to send him from Brazil to Australia to see a Crows game at Adelaide Oval. With the Pride of South Australia climbing to 2nd on the AFL ladder this weekend it seems a good time for Thiago to make the trip.

You can read more about the push on the Footy Almanac here or chip in a few dollars here.

Last year the North London Lions were on a roll in the lead-up to the finals and went all the way to win the 2015 flag. It’s a very long bow but the Wimbledon Hawks are playing themselves into form at the right time of the season.

Round 9 saw the Hawks down the Lions for just their third win of the season. But it will be enough for them to see finals action. With a very winnable final round match against the London Swans this weekend, the Hawks could enter the finals with momentum – and that’s what helped the Lions last year. It’s a long shot, but then very few predicted the Lions’ journey last year.

“I love coming up to Cairns. It is a break from Melbourne. We get to wear t-shirts and shorts which we can’t do down in Melbourne.”

Western Bulldogs’ champion Mitch Wallis has just created one of the best possible tourism slogans possible as he espouses a love affair with our northern city. Here in Cairns for his third AFL Premiership match against the Gold Coast Suns in the tropical north, Wallis was happy to profess his love for our region which he says is shared by the players and the club.

Maybe “love affair” isn’t quite the right term, but the Bulldogs have certainly turned Cazalys Stadium into a very happy hunting ground – and that alone is grounds for true love! In 2014 the Western Bulldogs turned on a six goal to two final-quarter to beat the suns by 28 points. They bettered that in 2015 with a blistering 10 goal final quarter to turn a 37 point deficit into a 22 point win.

Our intrepid writers in Austria - Michael Jud, Martin Schittegg and Oliver Krajacic from the Styrian DownUnderDogs - have provided this update from the CEAFL competition so far in 2016.

The 2nd round of the CEAFL 2016 was held in Dobl near Graz. After the 1st round in Zagreb, the ladder looks like this:

1. Giants 15 Points
2. Dockers 12 Points
3. Double Blues 10 Points
3. Hawks 10 Points
5. Dogs 08 Points
6. Eagles 06 Points
7. Bombers 04 Points

Round 17 kicks off in Sydney on Thursday night with Sydney hosting Hawthorn at the SCG. 

If you want to know when you can see the footy on TV in your part of the world, check out the full schedule below.

As always schedules are subject to change at the discretion of the local broadcaster so please check local guides for updates.

GAME	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH	VENUE	STATE	LOCAL TIME	GMT	NETWORK
1	Thursday July 14	Night	Sydney Swans vs. Hawthorn	SCG	NSW	19:20	09:20	SEVEN
2	Friday July 15	Night	Fremantle vs. Geelong Cats	Domain Stadium	WA	18:10	10:10	SEVEN
3	Saturday July 16	Day	Richmond vs. Essendon	MCG	VIC	13:40	03:40	FOX
4	Saturday July 16	Twilight	North Melbourne vs. Port Adelaide	Etihad Stadium	VIC	16:35	06:35	FOX
5	Saturday July 16	Night	Adelaide Crows vs. Collingwood	Adelaide Oval	SA	19:10	09:40	SEVEN
6	Saturday July 16	Night	Western Bulldogs vs. Gold Coast SUNS	Cazalys Stadium	QLD	19:25	09:25	FOX
7	Sunday July 17	Early	Carlton vs. West Coast Eagles	MCG	VIC	13:10	03:10	FOX
8	Sunday July 17	Day	St Kilda vs. Melbourne	Etihad Stadium	VIC	15:20	05:20	SEVEN
9	Sunday July 17	Twilight	Brisbane Lions vs. GWS GIANTS	The Gabba	QLD	16:40	06:40	FOX

The final round of the AFLCNE home and away competition was played last weekend with final places determined ready for next weekend’s finals series. Once again, thee Manchester Mozzies have taken out the minor premiership with an undefeated season to date, downing their nearest rivals – the Nottingham Scorpions – in the final round.

After a brave showing, and a huge learning curve throughout 2016, the Merseyside Saints took bottom place but have a chance to fight for higher honours during the finals series. Their heavy loss to the Huddersfield Rams assured a finish that was not unexpected, but it has been a year of excitement to offset disappointment in their first season. The Rams are now able to pursue bigger game during the finals and are on a roll now.

The AFL today announced VU Whitten Oval will host the final AFL Women’s Exhibition Match on Saturday, September 3 at 7.20pm.

The match will be broadcast live in Australia on the Seven Network and Telstra via the AFL Live App and PLUS7 applications including Telstra TV, Apple TV, mobile and web.

The Hampson-Hardeman Cup will be the first night match ever hosted by the VU Whitten Oval.

The best female players in Australia will represent Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs in primetime on the AFL’s bye weekend between Round 23 and the Toyota AFL Finals Series.

A new team in France is taking to the air with the new Toulouse-based Blagnac Aviators set to make an impact in the CNFA as early as next season (later this year) if they get their way. Whilst the 2015/16 season has not long finished, the Aviators have been spending their time wisely throughout the year to grow something special for themselves and their supporters, their city and French footy in general.

Blagnac is a suburb of Toulouse city, just five kilometres from the Toulouse CBD and home to the Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, hence the aviation reference in the team’s moniker.

Rob Aziza is one of the club’s co-founders and is excited at the development of the Blagnac Aviators to date and what the immediate and longer term future holds for the fledgling club.

The first ever AFL National Combine In Russia has been deemed a great success by co-organiser, Slava Belov, president and founder of the St Petersburg Cats. Designed to attract more athletes in the two key AFL cities of St Petersburg and Moscow, the event saw prospective players from a variety of sporting backgrounds (basketball, soccer) try their hand at Australian Rules football.

According to Slava, “it went well, six blokes showed up in every city. We expected 10 at least, so in terms of numbers it's a bit of a disappointment, but five of the six of those participants in St Petersburg went to the [club] training yesterday, so it's a very good result overall.”

“The disciplines were the 20m run, shuttle run, push-ups, kicking 10m/30m, marking 10m/30m and the horizontal standing jump.”

Territory football fans will be able to see four more AFL matches on home turf following a new deal between the NT Government and AFL to stage two premiership matches in each of the 2017 and 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership seasons.

Chief Minister Adam Giles announced the agreement during Saturday’s clash between the Melbourne Demons and Fremantle Dockers at TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Mr Giles said the Territory Government was pleased to continue its partnership with the AFL and Melbourne, which will be the “home” club for all Territory matches.

“Melbourne has embraced the Territory through its support of community football, indigenous development and investment attraction,” Mr Giles said.
“AFL matches in Darwin and Alice Springs showcase the Territory to footy fans around the world.

A group of us were chatting online after training this week about each player’s multicultural heritage. The club is Pyramid Power in Cairns – my team – and we are a club already renowned for having a 92% indigenous playing list. Most of our players are aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander by heritage. When you have that kind of background there mustn’t be much else in terms of diverse backgrounds.

Wrong!

A closer look unveiled Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Irish, English, Welsh, Scottish, Sierra Leone, Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, Samoan, South Sea Islander (by description, but uncertain of which islands) and Papua New Guinean. And these diverse origins didn’t come from the 8% of non-indigenous players. Such is the cultural diversity amongst indigenous and non-indigenous Australians – multiculturalism lives across all humanity.

The AFL Players’ Association has established its inaugural Multicultural Players’ Advisory Board to better understand the needs and issues affecting the current 122 players with multicultural backgrounds.

Made up of players from each state, the Board had its first official meeting last week and has since appointed Collingwood’s Mason Cox (USA) to lead the group as Chair.