World Footy News

Neville Stibbard has made a long career out of talent scouting. The current Western Bulldogs recruiter also had 16 years with the North Melbourne Kangaroos during their glory era of the 1990’s as well as working to put together the initial playing lists for the Gold Coast Suns and the Greater Wester Sydney Giants in the years before they hit the field as the AFL’s 17th and 18th clubs.

His years of experience put him in the ideal position to assess talent from across the nation. He is also a guru for young talent to tap into as they develop their skills on and off the field to improve as footballers and young men in the community.

In Townsville for the current national Diversity Championships, Neville is spending his time watching the best indigenous and multicultural talent from across Australia.

The opening day of competition got under way today at the U15 Kickstart and All Nations Cup with last year’s title holders in each competition getting off to impressive starts. Western Australia has won the Kickstart title for the past five years, and began today winning both of their matches. The reigning All Nations winners Queensland also had the perfect start winning both of their opening matches played today.

On a beautiful day in Townsville the cream of Under 15 indigenous and multicultural talent took to the fields for their respective teams. The crowds were treated to some of the most scintillating football imaginable as players displayed a combination of team discipline and outrageous individual skills.

Adam Davis, the AFL National Umpiring Development Manager, proudly watches over his crop of umpires officiating at the National Diversity Championships in Townsville. Not only are these umpires representative of the six national teams competing at the carnival (Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, Northern Territory, the combined Victoria/Tasmania team and the combined New South Wales/ACT team), they are also from diverse backgrounds themselves.

This diversity echoes the push that Adam and his umpiring team are chasing as their current recruiting program gathers steam.

In the last 12 months there has been a 15% increase in umpire registrations. As the game grows with more women’s footy, multicultural carnivals and other growth areas, umpiring numbers have to grow with that rather than fall backwards and further behind what is needed.

Under the lights on a beautiful, mild Townsville night, the 2016 National Diversity Championships got under way with an opening ceremony at Tony Ireland Stadium. With a cooling light breeze to welcome the event, an enthusiastic crowd, many having travelled from all points of the nation, watched on as the cream of national indigenous and multicultural talent marched onto the field.

With MC for the night, Ms Beth Kempe, welcoming firstly the umpires and then the Kickstart and All Nations Under 15 players to Townsville, the assembled competitors and spectators were treated to a small but focused program of speakers and local entertainment.

Following on from the national anthem, Randall Ross, elder of the local Bindil people, gave the welcome to country on behalf of both the Bindil and Wulgurukaba people on who’s lands the tournament is taking place.

The Port Adelaide Football Club and the world’s largest television network, China Central Television (CCTV) have reached a landmark agreement to broadcast AFL throughout China.

The agreement will see Port Adelaide’s upcoming home games against Essendon in Round 3 and Geelong in Round 5 broadcast on CCTV, with the latter to be televised live.

 

In an interview yesterday with Melbourne radio station 3AW’s Neil Mitchell, AFL chief Gillon McLachlan once again floated the distant possibility of an AFL team one day being based in New Zealand.

 

The full interview can be heard by following the link: http://www.3aw.com.au/news/gillon-mclachlan-says-new-zealand-most-likely-country-for-international-team-20160331-gnvt7a.html and playing back either of the video links. However, the most salient aspects of the interview are outlined below.

 

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan says New Zealand is the most likely location for the league's first internationally-based team.

 

While not on the agenda short-term, McLachlan said it could happen within 30 years.

 

 

AFL Asia has announced that Australian Football Coaching Courses will be held in Singapore and Vung Tau, Vietnam on the weekend prior to Anzac Day, 2016.

AFL Asia Media Release:

Thanks to the support of the AFL and in conjunction with the Vietnam Swans and Singapore Sharks and Wombats, AFL Asia is delighted to make available Level 1 Coaching Courses in Singapore on Saturday 23 April and in Vung Tau, Vietnam on Sunday 24 April.

The courses will be conducted by Wally Gallio, High Performance Manager for AFL Northern Territory and NT Thunder. Wally is an AFL High Performance (Level 3) accredited coach and the courses will be open to all levels of senior and Auskick coaches across Asia, free of charge.

The USAFL Regional Tournament Series is back for the 2016 season with the venues finalised today.  The three tournaments allow clubs to compete against a number of clubs from their region at one location.  The results are used as part of the ranking of teams for the National Championships in October to be held in Sarasota, Florida.

Each (East, West and South) region will host both men's and women's matches with a Sunday morning training camp at each weekend for the women's national team to help determine the USA Freedom and Liberty squads for the 2017 International Cup.

The AFL today announced three Women’s Exhibition Matches will be television broadcast in 2016. Matches will be broadcast by FOX SPORTS and will be aired live nationally. All three matches will be made available live on afl.com.au and the AFL Live App on mobile and tablet.

Broadcast matches:

West Coast Eagles v Fremantle

Saturday, April 9

Domain Stadium

3:05pm WST / 5:05pm EST



Melbourne v Queensland

Sunday, May 22

MCG

10:05am EST



South Australia v New South Wales

Sunday, June 5

Adelaide Oval

1:05pm CST / 1:35pm EST

 

An article in the Herald Sun this morning has linked AFL club North Melbourne with NFL club the Denver Broncos. The Colorado city of Denver, the home of the most successful USAFL club the Denver Bulldogs could be set to rapidly expand their footy interests. 

In the article Denver’s vice-president of public relations, April Thewell, confirmed the team’s interest in the AFL.

“There is a lot of intrigue about Aussie Rules over here and we see the North Melbourne Kangaroos as a perfect fit,” she said.

“Our VP of football operations John Elway and other members of our management team are heading out to Australia in the coming days to accelerate the negotiations.

“Could the next Peyton Manning come from Arden St? We’d like to think so.”

The 2016 AFL season continues tomorrow night in Melbourne with Collingwood hosting Richmond at the MCG. If you want to know when you can see the footy on TV in your part of the world, check out the schedule below.

*We have news through this morning from our friends at AFANA that Fox Sports 1 will be taking one AFL match live from next week.  This is big for the US as Fox Sports 1 has many more viewers and more potential new viewers of the game.

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	1/04/16	Night	Collingwood vs. Richmond	MCG	VIC	19:50	08:50	SEVEN
2	2/04/16	Day	Adelaide Crows vs. Port Adelaide	Adelaide Oval	SA	13:15	02:45	SEVEN
3	2/04/16	Day	Essendon vs. Melbourne	MCG	VIC	14:10	03:10	FOX
4	2/04/16	Twilight	Brisbane Lions vs. North Melbourne	The Gabba	QLD	15:35	05:35	FOX
5	2/04/16	Night	St Kilda vs. Western Bulldogs	Etihad Stadium	VIC	19:25	08:25	SEVEN
6	2/04/16	Night	Fremantle vs. Gold Coast SUNS	Domain Stadium	WA	16:40	08:40	FOX
7	3/04/16	Early	GWS GIANTS vs. Geelong Cats	Manuka Oval	ACT	13:10	03:10	FOX
8	3/04/16	Day	Hawthorn vs. West Coast Eagles	MCG	VIC	15:20	05:20	SEVEN
9	3/04/16	Twilight	Carlton vs. Sydney Swans	Etihad Stadium	VIC	16:40	06:40	FOX