World Footy News

There has been plenty happening of late across England and Scotland as local competitions gradually build towards the start of their respective 2016 seasons.

 

The Haggis Cup was played last weekend at the CSE Peffermill Playing Fields in Edinburgh, Scotland. After a hotly contested event which featured Scottish teams – Greater Glasgow Giants, Glasgow Sharks, Falkirk Silverbacks, Kingdom Kangaroos and the Edinburgh Bloods – AFL London club the Wimbledon Hawks, ARFLI’s own Leeside Lions, the Netherland’s Amsterdam Devils and a combined Huddersfield Rams/Tyne Tees Tigers team (AFLCNE), it was the Wimbledon Hawks victorious.

 

 

In the men’s final the Hawks downed the Greater Glasgow Giants to take the 2016 Haggis Cup. In the women’s competition it was the Saltires defeating the Wolves.

In 2015 it was the debut of Jason Holmes and now the second full graduate of the AFL's US Combines looks set to debut in the AFL for Collingwood. After Mason Cox attended the 2014 AFL Combine in Los Angeles the AFL couldn't rush him out here quick enough where he auditioned for a number of clubs and settled on Collingwood as his choice of club.

Today Collingwood upgraded him to the senior list for the injured Matt Scharenberg.  And tonight they have named him on an extended interchange bench for the match against Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.  There is no guarantee he will play in the final 22 and could have another week in the VFL.

The match will not be shown in the US on TV but it can be streamed via www.Watchafl.afl.com.au

The Essendon Bombers have upgraded their Irish International Rookie, Conor McKenna for their Round 4 clash against Geelong in the “Country Game”, a new idea from Bomber legend Kevin Sheedy. In recognition of the contributions of country and farmers across Australia, Sheedy has created a match between Essendon and Geelong to help raise rural awareness by staging another marquee game – think ANZAC Day match and the “Dreamtime at the G”.

 

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

 

IRISHMAN Conor McKenna will play for Essendon against Geelong on Saturday after being elevated from the club’s rookie list.

 

He made his debut last season against Richmond in the second-last round and also played the following week against Collingwood.

 

 

The Port Adelaide Football Club is proud and delighted to welcome Shanghai Cred as a new partner under a three-year, multimillion-dollar agreement connecting one of China’s leading property developers with one of Australia’s most successful sporting organisations.

The partnership – announced in Shanghai this morning – aims to bring the people of Australia and China together through a mutual passion for sport.

Port Adelaide and Shanghai Cred will work together to continue the development of Australian football in China through the support and sponsorship of the South China AFL, Guandong AFL, Team China and Auskick.

The AFL and Port Adelaide Football Club are one step closer to playing an AFL game for premiership points in China after both parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding this morning in Shanghai with Shanghai Cred Real Estate.

The historic signing was witnessed by the Prime Minister of Australia the Honourable Malcolm Turnbull in his first act in China as Prime Minister.

As part of the Memorandum of Understanding all parties will use reasonable endeavours to play an AFL match, in which Port Adelaide is a one of the participating teams, for premiership points in Shanghai during the 2017 AFL season.

The 2016 AFL season rolls into Round 4 Friday night with Richmond travelling to Perth to take on the West Coast Eagles at Domain 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.

 

GAME	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH	VENUE	STATE	LOCAL TIME	GMT	NETWORK
1	15/4	Night	West Coast Eagles vs. Richmond	Domain Stadium	WA	18:10	10:10	SEVEN
2	16/4	Day	Essendon vs. Geelong Cats	MCG	VIC	13:45	03:45	SEVEN
3	16/4	Day	Hawthorn vs. St Kilda	Aurora Stadium	TAS	14:10	04:10	FOX
4	16/4	Twilight	Brisbane Lions vs. Gold Coast SUNS	The Gabba	QLD	16:35	06:35	FOX
5	16/4	Night	Carlton vs. Western Bulldogs	Etihad Stadium	VIC	19:25	09:25	SEVEN
6	16/4	Night	Adelaide Crows vs. Sydney Swans	Adelaide Oval	SA	19:10	09:40	FOX
7	17/4	Early	GWS GIANTS vs. Port Adelaide	Manuka Oval	ACT	13:10	03:10	FOX
8	17/4	Day	Collingwood vs. Melbourne	MCG	VIC	15:20	05:20	SEVEN
9	17/4	Twilight	North Melbourne vs. Fremantle	Etihad Stadium	VIC	16:40	06:40	FOX

 

 

 

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

 

The AFL is pleased to announce the 2016 Boomerangs and World Team squads to compete at the 2016 NAB AFL Under-16 Championships on the Gold Coast in July.

 

 

Selected by AFL Club recruiters following the 2016 AFL National Diversity Championships held in Townsville, the respective squads of 30 young men has been chosen based on school attendance, leadership skills, and football ability.

Croatian international, Josip Habljak, playing at Sturt SANFL club was named  to lead the ruck in his second game for the Sturt reserves on Sunday 10th April.

Sturt lost this match against Central District 18-9 (117) to 13-4 (82).

His Champion Data stats for the game were 3 Kicks, 3 handballs, for six disposals, 2 uncontested marks, 3 contested possessions and 2 uncontested possessions, which again doesn't put him amongst Sturts best players.

Our thanks to Girls Play Footy  and Kristy Williams for the match write up of the NSW Academy match played today at the SCG. The match featured Americans Kim Hemenway (who played for the Sydney Swans squad) and Katie Klatt (who played for the GWS Giants squad).  The original article appeared here.

by Kristy Williams

The National Diversity Championships in Townsville wrapped up today after five hotly contested days of at times scintillating football. Whilst there were many great teams, and some definite prospects for future AFL team lists, it was a domination in the end by the Western Australians.

With both their Kickstart indigenous team and their All Nations multicultural team going through the round robin stages undefeated, both went in as favourites.

Neither had to play in yesterday’s Semi Final stage after topping the ladder (first and second placed teams went straight to the Preliminary Final stage), so they were able to watch on and prepare physically and mentally for their “prelims”.

The Semi Final stage in Kickstart saw the Victoria/Tasmania team down Queensland, whilst South Australia defeated the New South Wales/ACT team in the other.

If you are from "over east" then you probably just don't get it. But for Western Australians "The Derby" is their Aussie rules Christmas Day. With that in mind the West Coast Eagles have a good list of venues to watch the match around the world.

Venues are available in Cambodia, China, Denmark, Dubai, England, Greece, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand, USA, Vietnam and Zambia. Follow this link for more details.

If you prefer to watch it somewhere more quiet, like on your couch - check out the International Broadcast schedule here.

Tuesday night at 6pm saw the first hit out in 2016 for the fledgling football team in Banff. Looking for motor vehicles I thought something was amiss but soon realised that players were arriving by bicycle. The field was in good condition if a little spongy and there was no question this recreation ground has one of best back-drops you'll ever see.

Nick Mamerow led the session with five others with an icy wind encouraging much activity. What's the synopsis for the future of this team?

It was a small turn-out on a cold windy Tuesday night. A fine week-end day should bring out a lot more of those numerous Banff Facebook members. The team is youthful, athletic and skilled because it is mostly Australian. This means they will be competitive in the Calgary league but it does present a problem for the long-term. Since most players are Australians a lot are associated with the service industry on two year visas. The Banff team are aware of this and are trying hard to attract locals but even locals tend to be newcomers here.