World Footy News

 

Just two rounds remain until the NTFL finals series begins and Round 16 provided plenty of excitement as teams jostled for finals berths. In the highlight of the round the Crocs and Eagles played a pulsating draw, St Mary’s booted Palmerston out of the top five, Buffaloes all but killed off the Tiwi Bombers finals hopes and the Nightcliff Tigers leapt into the top five.

Southern Districts Crocs has virtually assured themselves of the minor premiership, so their clash against Wanderers Eagles was less about top spot and more about flexing muscle against another likely finalist. Wanderers were still on a mission to prove doubters wrong and show they could actually defend their title after a tardy first half of the season. The result was a slashing game where little separated the teams all day and had them locked at 73 points apiece by the final siren. Incredibly, it was the tenth time this season that Wanderers had played in a game decided by less than a goal, with them being on the credit side with six wins a draw and three losses. It says something about their belief that they can stay in games so long and surge when they need to. That is something other finals teams will need to watch very closely.

Final Score: Southern Districts Crocs 10 13 73 drew with Wanderers Eagles 10 13 73

Today I met with East Fremantle Football Club's General Manager Darryn Fry. Primarily it was to take charge of some uniforms destined for Canada's newest men's club the Victoria Sharks. (Victoria is the capital of British Columbia not the bigger Vancouver).The EFFC has also sent uniforms to the Beachside Sharks in L.A. and football boots to South Africa

It was interesting talking to Darryn on the many aspects of running a football club. Running a club in the WAFL like any second tier Australian football club requires the same level of sophistication of an AFL club at a fraction of an AFL's club budget. They definitely identify with the struggles of a football club yet their home ground, the biggest in the league looked a treat.

The AFL has granted Victorian based clubs the opportunity to develop their own talent academies to boost the development of players from non-traditional football backgrounds, or to fast-track development of project players across multicultural player markets. The following article from the www.afl.com.au website details the plan and the impact it will have on Victoria and the Northern Territory.

 

VICTORIAN clubs have been given seed funding to establish club-branded academies in allocated areas throughout Victoria and the Northern Territory in a radical plan to attract youngsters from non-traditional football backgrounds to the game.

 

 

Under the plan unveiled to clubs on Tuesday, they will be given the chance to invest in specific regions to attract youngsters from diverse backgrounds and indigenous heritage to play AFL and develop elite talent within those areas.

 

The French football season is due to return this weekend after an extended break for the winter and festive seasons. Barring new unwanted delays, the rescheduled Round One match between the Bordeaux Bombers and the Strasbourg Kangourous is set to take place in Bordeaux. It marks a vital game for both teams. Strasbourg currently sits inside the top four and another win could cement that spot a little longer. Bordeaux also needs a win to get away from the lower rungs of the ladder.

Later this month the other rescheduled Round Three match between the ALFA Lions and the Paris Cockerels will be played in Lyon. Once again both teams need this win, the Lions to claw their way off the bottom of the ladder and the Cockerels to secure their place in the top four. The match is scheduled for 20th February, the same day as the first of the Round Five matches featuring the Bordeaux Bombers versus the Perpignan Tigers and the Toulouse Hawks versus the Paris Cockatoos.

The second half of the AFL Middle East competition got under way last Friday after the winter break. Whilst the scheduled Muscat Magpies versus BM Bulls match had long been cancelled, the other match went ahead with the Dubai Dingoes hosting fellow finals aspirant, the Abu Dhabi Falcons. The BM Bulls also played the Doha Kangaroos with their match being brought forward.

The final scores saw the Dubai Dingoes 9 14 68 defeat the Abu Dhabi Falcons 7 3 45.

The BM Bulls, however, defeated the Doha Kangaroos - 14 17 101 to 1 6 12 to secure the first grand final place with their third win for the season.

The Dingoes/Falcons match was like a mini final for both teams. Locked on a win apiece heading into the match, whichever team won would go into finals calculations whilst the other would almost certainly be out of the running. The result now sees the Falcons unlikely to reach the final as their final match is against the league leaders, the Dubai Dragons.

With the Northern Territory Football League just three rounds away, the jostling for top five positions took some interesting turns on the weekend. Along the way, the Tiwi Bombers may have surrendered their chances, the Darwin Buffaloes tried to do the same, Nightcliff announced they are back in the race with fangs at the ready and Southern Districts effectively secured the minor premiership.

The Nightcliff Tigers’ form in recent weeks has seen three wins from their last five outings and they now sit just a game out of the top five and a realistic chance of stealing a finals berth. The team they would most likely dislodge would be their victims from last weekend, Darwin Buffaloes. The Tigers and Buffaloes fought out a tight first half before Nightcliff kicked seven goals to two in the second half to score a vital win, and inflict a damaging loss on the Buffaloes. For the Buffaloes to hold a finals berth, after just one win in their past six matches, they need to beat both Tiwi and Waratah in the next two rounds before meeting the powerhouse Crocs in the final round. It can be done but the Buffaloes cannot make a mistake from here on. Nightcliff, on the other hand, are playing with a devil-may-care attitude that is dangerous and they would love to sneak into finals action.

Final Score: Nightcliff Tigers 13 13 91 d Darwin Buffaloes 8 10 58

The inaugural Northern Storm football teams for the upcoming clashes against the England Dragonslayers and the AFL London tournament have been announced on the AFLCNE website.  This is the first occasion where an 18 per side format has been used for the selections.

 

The following AFLCNE players have been nominated and selected to represent the Central and Northern England Australian Football League  with  The Northern Storm in April 2016.  For the game against the England Dragonslayers,  as the higher tier of representation the national team had first choice of available AFLCNE players.

 

The Northern Storm Inaugural Squad

 

Game Vs England April 2nd at Huddersfield.

Recently it has emerged via social media that the dates for the AFL International Cup 2017 had been set. Today the AFL confirmed that these dates are proposed dates only and at this stage have not been locked in.

The dates were proposed by the AFL and sent to affiliates for feedback, and at this stage there has been no feedback opposed to these dates.

So again, this is not yet 100% confirmed, but it looks likely that IC17 will take place from Saturday August 5 to Sunday August 20, 2017 (inclusive) in Melbourne.