World Footy News

The Wandsworth Demons didn’t waste any time sending messages to the rest of the AFL London competition about their intentions for the 2016 season. With Round One being played last weekend, the Demons kicked of their year with a rousing 17 point win over league powerhouse, the West London Wildcats. One round is not a season, but the Wildcats have been making a habit of grabbing any silverware not nailed down. Their Champions League victory coupled with their pre-season cup win had them pencilled in again as early favourites for another title by many.

Pick 44 in the 2013 AFL Draft was Sydney’s. They had plenty of other players to choose from that later made other team’s lists. Some of the names that went after 44 included Ben Brown (North Melbourne - 47), Orazio Fantasia (Essendon – 55), James Sicily (Hawthorn – 56), Tom Langdon (Collingwood – 65), Sam Lloyd (Richmond – 66) and a few other decent picks.

But the Sydney Swans had already seen something they liked better. Their scouts had been up in Queensland watching the skills and potential of Aliir Aliir, the Sudanese boy who had been firing at junior levels for years. When he went to Western Australia in 2013 to improve his drafting chances (after being overlooked in the 2012 draft), Sydney’s eyes followed. The Swans, not afraid to take a chance, picked a fruit from the draft tree that might take a while to ripen, but when it did it would likely be a delight.

Round 6 kicks off on Friday night with North Melbourne hosting the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium. 

If you want to know when you can see the footy on TV in your part of the world, check out the schedule below. As always schedules are subject to change at the discretion of the local broadcaster so please check local guides for updates.

 For those in the US looking to watch American Mason Cox in his second AFL match with Collingwood, you will need to be able to tune into Fox Soccer Plus channel or watch via subscription service WATCHAFL.AFL.COM.AU.

 

GAME	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH	VENUE	STATE	LOCAL	GMT	NETWORK
1	29-Apr	Night	North Melbourne vs. Western Bulldogs	Etihad Stadium	VIC	19:50	09:50	SEVEN
2	30-Apr	Day	Melbourne vs. St Kilda	Etihad Stadium	VIC	13:45	03:45	SEVEN
3	30-Apr	Day	Adelaide Crows vs. Fremantle	Adelaide Oval	SA	13:40	04:10	FOX
4	30-Apr	Twilight	GWS GIANTS vs. Hawthorn	Spotless Stadium	NSW	16:35	06:35	FOX
5	30-Apr	Night	Geelong Cats vs. Gold Coast SUNS	Simonds Stadium	VIC	19:25	09:25	SEVEN
6	30-Apr	Night	Richmond vs. Port Adelaide	MCG	VIC	19:25	09:25	FOX
7	1-May	Early	Brisbane Lions vs. Sydney Swans	The Gabba	QLD	13:10	03:10	FOX
8	1-May	Day	Carlton vs. Essendon	MCG	VIC	15:20	05:20	SEVEN
9	1-May	Twilight	West Coast Eagles vs. Collingwood	Domain Stadium	WA	14:40	06:40	FOX

This is not an 18 man team you would want to match up against. Okay they may be a bit top heavy.

These 18 elite athletes are undergoing testing at the AFL's US Combine in Los Angeles Monday through Wednesday this week. And not all of them are American.

The other nationalities include French, Nigerian and one athlete who is a citizen of The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Most of them are basketballers (as their main college sport) with just two Janko Beras who is a baseball and gridiron football player and Daniel Joseph Woody Quinn who played baseball and volleyball in college. The full list is below, some of the stats may be out of date.

The first day at the AFL's US combine in Los Angeles has been completed. All the guys here are big. That's what AFL clubs have told the AFL they want them to find.

Well they found one especially big one. But he is not American. Stanislas Heili is a 7ft 1in, 240 lb Frenchman. His hometown is Strabourg France. Heili went to top university INSA Lyon in France and played basketball in Lyon-Villeurbanne in the Ligue Nationale de Basket League before heading to the US.

In the US the 22 year-old has been playing basketball for Lindenwood Univerity which is located in St Charles, Missouri.

(Image Source Twitter @GriffinGil12)

The cold hard statistics lie sometimes. Other times they don’t. For Collingwood’s big Texan, Mason Cox, they tell an amazing story. On his AFL debut, on arguably the second biggest stage behind the AFL Grand Final, Cox played an admirable game. The stats say: 10 possessions (six kicks, four handpasses), 3 marks, 3 tackles, 11 hitouts 1 goal and 1 behind. Incredible given how short a time he has had in the Australian game.

Where the stats do lie is in his impact beyond the stats. He kicked the opening goal of the match for Collingwood – the goal that opened the floodgates as the ‘Pies rampaged to a 69 point win over the Bombers. The celebration by Collingwood players (and supporters) after that goal showed such elation that it boosted their collective confidence immediately. They went on to win the ANZAC Day match 22 10 142 to 11 7 73 in front of 85 000 fans.

Last week Collingwood upgraded American Mason Cox to the senior list for the injured Matt Scharenberg.  They then named him on an extended interchange bench for their match against Melbourne at the MCG last Sunday, but when the final 22 were named on Friday afternoon he did not make the cut.  So it was another week in the VFL.  He had 51 hit outs, kicked a goal, and had eight disposals and two marks.  

The Collingwood AFL side had another bad week on the field losing to Melbourne, taking their record to one win and three losses and the pressure was on.  Coach Nathan Buckley said post match there would be changes.  Early in the week the media speculation started.  Cox's name was mentioned in press conferences, on panel shows and on the back page of Melbourne's leading footy newspaper The Herald Sun. 

When the 25-man team was named this evening Cox was again in there, this time named on the field, at full forward - replacing Jesse White who was dropped from the side.

Just like last week we will have to wait for final confirmation, and extra day (4pm Saturday) but barring any extraordinary events we expect Mason will be named in the final 22 and will be running out as the first American to play in the AFL for the mighty colossus that is the Collingwood Football Club on Monday.  Not just any day but the biggest day in AFL football outside of the finals series, ANZAC Day.

 

Only a few weeks ago the Moscow based Lazy Koalas travelled to Amsterdam to represent Russia at the 2nd Annual AFL Europe Champions League. It was a huge step for the club, and footy in Russia, but the greater benefit might have been seen last weekend at the opening match of the 2016 AFL Russia season.

The opening match saw the Lazy Koalas host the St Petersburg Cats in a rivalry that is gaining more and more support each year. The final result was a little one-sided, with the mighty Lazy Koalas downing the Cats 144 to 24. But the result further proved how far the Koalas have come so quickly. Despite their moniker, these Koalas are a long way from lazy. They have become the current Australian Rules football powerhouse in Russia.

ANZAC Day is always well commemorated by AFL Asia clubs and 2016 is no different - the following preview comes courtesy of AFL Asia and first appeared here. 

The 2016 AFL Asia season will heat up on Saturday 23 April with another big round of ANZAC games across the region. Matches will be played in Vietnam, Thailand and Hong Kong, with commemoration events to also accompany the games.

AFL Asia President Darren Whitfield was excited about the Round ahead in saying “Anzac Day matches in Asia are always a massive, a sought after highlight of the AFL Asia season. They are a great way for our Clubs to remember the hardship of Wars gone by and acknowledge the enduring friendships that still survive. We expect large crowds across the footy fields of Asia for this momentous day in the Asian Footy calendar! Get involved!”

With the NZ AFL Premiership won by the Western Crows attention turns to – well – turns to more footy. The next few days across the ANZAC Day weekend will probably be the most hectic part of the annual AFLNZ calendar. There’s rep footy for seniors, juniors, boys and girls, there’s a combine and a decent feed to be had at the High Performance dinner & awards on Saturday.

The first event is Thursdays combine. Across the ANZAC Day weekend the NZ Hawks senior team will again front up to the AFL Academy side. New Zealand youth teams will play in a 2 game series against the Peninsula Saints from South East of Melbourne and the NSW Independent Schools.