World Footy News

I sat down for a coffee and a chat with Gil Griffin author of Jumping at the chance this week on his promotional tour of Melbourne. You can hear the audio in the two parts below.

 

The following article is from the ARFLI website and looks at one particularly exciting aspect of last weekend’s Belfast Carnival, incorporating Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2016 ARFLI season. Galway won both of their matches, downing the Belfast Redbacks 9 2 56 to 5 6 36 for their first ever win in Belfast. They followed this with a tight 8 4 52 to 7 5 47 win over the South Dublin Swans. With one game to go before finals time, the Magpies sit clear second on the ladder behind the Leeside Lions.

In other matches, the Leeside Lions survived a close call against the Redbacks, winning 4 8 32 to 4 7 31. They also defeated the Swans 10 8 68 to 4 2 26, remaining undefeated so far this season.

Former AFL star Marty Clarke made his ARFLI debut on Saturday last at the Belfast Carnival.  Lining out for Galway Magpies he was impressive in helping the Pies to their first ever away win against the Belfast Redbacks.  Wearing his most recent Collingwood guernsey and County Down shorts he looked fit and strong.  The Pies beat the Redbacks by 17 points before overturning the South Dublin Swans by 4 points in an exciting second game.

The West London Wildcats clawed their way back to the top of the ladder, leaping back above the Wandsworth Demons, in the completion of the split Round 7 fixtures. After the Demons downed the Hawks last weekend they briefly grabbed back the lead. From here it will be a fight to the finish for each side, locked together on six wins apiece and not meeting each other again before the finals.

 

The circuit breaker is that both will meet third-placed North London Lions (Demons in Round 8 and Wildcats in Round 10), with both hoping the other slips up which would determine the minor premiership – although it would be interesting if the Lions won both encounters, though their percentage is far weaker.

Last weekend saw the Merseyside Saints host the AFLCNE Lightning Round, a round that threw up some more interesting permutations for the league as at rolls towards the 2016 finals series. There is still a battle for top spot, a battle for a finals berth and even a battle to avoid the wooden spoon. There was also an historic first win for the Merseyside Saints.

Sitting on top of the ladder are the Manchester Mozzies. They are a game clear of the Nottingham Scorpions, but with a lesser percentage. It means their final round clash could be played for premiership favouritism. The Sheffield Thunder have crept silently up behind the Huddersfield Rams to create a battle for a finals berth. Whilst the Rams have the better run home, they cannot afford to slip up of the Thunder could sneak a surprise finals opportunity.

The Merseyside Saints have been on a very steep learning curve in 2016, their inaugural season within the AFLCNE (Australian Football League Central & Northern England). The club was expecting defeats – heavy ones – and that has played out as expected. They also had a dream that maybe, just maybe, they might get their first win also. That, too, has played out to a myriad of emotions during the Lightning Round hosted by the Saints last weekend.

Their 11 point win over the Tyne Tees Tigers – 5 15 45 to 5 4 34 – will go down in club and league history as a day when the Saints proved to all and sundry that they belong.

The Paris Cockatoos have created all kinds of history in the CNFA Grand Final in Bordeaux, France, when they defeated the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes by 20 points – 110 to 90. Not only did they win their first ever premiership, but they did it in their very first season as a club, ostensibly having grown out of the bigger “brothers”, the Paris Cockerels, only last year.

Regardless of how the Cockatoos arrived on the French football scene, it is a remarkable achievement in any sport to reach the highest level of success in an inaugural season. Credit must go to the Cockatoos, the Paris Cockerels and the CNFA for having the foresight to develop another club in Paris, and to do it so well that the new entity was blessed with the talent and belief to go all the way.

No matches were played in the AFLCNE competition last weekend due to the selections for the England Dragonslayers national team for the upcoming Euro Cup in Lisbon, Portugal. The AFLCNE is well represented with ten players selected either in the main squad or as reserves.

 

The list as posted by AFL England on their website is: (AFLCNE players in bold type)

Matt Whiteley (captain) (Huddersfield Rams)

Ross Denton (North London Lions)

Cameron Cope (Wolverhampton Wolverines)

 

Alex Overton (Huddersfield Rams)

Every week in football there are the thrashings when a mismatch of teams occurs. Often it is top of the table versus cellar dweller (though it can be any team versus any other on any given day) and usually comes about when one team is undermanned or overwhelmed. An occasional hiding can be cast aside and used as motivation to change. More regular thrashings can lead to a variety of confidence related issues which can send a club into the doldrums for lengthy periods.

Often people speak of mercy rules (especially in junior grades) and prefer that these kind of results “are never spoken of again lest they be bad for football.” Maybe that is true and valid.

By the Nunawading Lions in suburban Melbourne have endured a season that could well have been played inside Dante’s Inferno, such has been the hellish nature of 2016 scorelines. Yet this club is leading the way in resilience in a way that very few clubs have done before.

The Wandsworth Demons have temporarily reclaimed top spot on the AFL London ladder with a comprehensive thrashing of the Wimbledon Hawks. In the only Premiership Division game played last weekend due to the split round, the Demons flexed their muscle to down the Hawks by 136 points.

The final score saw the Wandsworth Demons 22 18 150 defeat the Wimbledon Hawks 2 2 14.

It was a timely statement by the Demons after losing top spot the previous round when they were downed by the West London Wildcats. Whilst the Wildcats will most likely claim top spot back again next weekend, the Demons needed to keep the pressure on and themselves stay in the race for the minor premiership.

The following article by Michelangelo Rucci in the Adelaide Advertiser looks at the continuing search for an AFL home for Port Adelaide in shanghai, China. The original story can be found at:  http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/teams/port-adelaide/port-adelaide-eyes-china-stadium-with-potential/news-  

PORT Adelaide’s home in China is now down to two prospective venues in Shanghai — either a 1930s open “colosseum” or a modern 15,000-seat concrete bowl.

 

And Power president David Koch is now preferring the 1935 Jiangwan Stadium that hosted the 2010 AFL exhibition match between Melbourne and Brisbane.

 

The following story by Matt Thompson is from the www.afl.com.au website detailing the new head of diversity for the AFL replacing Jason Mifsud who left the position earlier this year.

THE AFL has appointed a second woman to its executive ranks, in a week when social issues, particularly attitudes towards women, have been at the forefront of the football conversation.

Tanya Hosch becomes the League's general manager of inclusion and social policy, a position revamped following the departure of long-time diversity advisor Jason Mifsud.

 

The AFL started its search to replace Mifsud more than four months ago.