World Footy News

The Tokyo Goannas triumphed in the AFL Japan Grand Final played out on Saturday 21st November at the Yokohama Country and Athletic Club.
In what turned out to be a 'come from behind' thriller, the Tokyo Goannas over came a Tokyo Bay Suns three quarter time 11 point advantage with a 4 goal to 2 goal last quarter to take out their seventh Top League Grand Final by a mere 2 points, final scores being 10 - 8 (68) to 10 - 6 (66).

It was a hard fought battle from the outset between the two powerhouse teams in the AFL Japan Top League East, with the Suns kicking away to 4 goal to one first quarter.

With a pair of goals each from Nakamura Hisaosame (Suns) and N. Payne (Goannas) the Suns maintained their 3 goal lead in the second quarter, 6 -3 (39) to 3 - 3(21)

Just last weekend, after six straight losses, the Tiwi Bombers’ season was unravelling faster than a woollen cardigan in the possession of a destructive kitten. They had not played poorly during the season, just not as well as their opponents. Something had to change in a hurry – and it did. During the week they had no wins and no points. By yesterday they had two wins and were now just two games adrift of the top five.

Courtesy of a ruling by the NTFL which saw the Waratah Warriors stripped of their two points for playing an unregistered player in their win over the Bombers , the Tiwi side were awarded their first points of the season. Days later the Bombers hosted the in-form Palmerston Magpies and delighted their home crown at Wurrumiyanga on Bathurst Island. Leading all day, and helped by an eight goal bag from Ross Tungatalum and some new southern recruits including Jydon Neagle, son of former Essendon great Merv Neagle, the Tiwi Bombers ran out 35 point winners. The loss for Palmerston was costly, dumping them back into fourth spot, albeit just a game behind the leadership logjam.

If ever you find a car in an old garage, covered in dust and blankets, but it has the legendary Rolls Royce symbol on the bonnet you just know it would be worth investing some time and effort into restoring it. After all, it is a Rolls Royce and it doesn’t have such a fine reputation for nothing. It is all class – no matter which model you might discover.

Much the same can be said for the Rioli name nowadays in Australian Rules football. Just mention the prospect of a Rioli at a national draft for player talent and suddenly talent scouts and managers become akin to Pavlov’s dogs. At the mere mention of the word “Rioli” they will all sit up on cue and salivate.

Such is the case at the 2015 NAB AFL Draft being held in Adelaide on Tuesday. Young Daniel Rioli is the next edition off the production line and he has tails and tongues wagging. Such is the value of his name alone that all clubs are likely to have pencilled him in as either a first round pick, or at worst an early second rounder. But Daniel is keen to ensure he is known, and drafted, on his own merits.

The BM Bulls reacted in a most severe way to their last start loss to the Dubai Dragons with a huge win over the Abu Dhabi Falcons in the Round Four match on Friday. Whilst it was a dark day for the Falcons, playing on the picturesque grounds of the exquisite Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, for the Bulls it was a landmark day of records, including their highest club score and biggest win in their short history. The setting for the match at the Emirates Palace might well be the most opulent location ever produced for an Australian Rules football match anywhere in the world.

For the record, the BM Bulls, with astonishing accuracy, defeated the Abu Dhabi Falcons by a whopping 127 points with the Bulls kicking 27 6 168 to the Falcons 6 5 41.

The Grand Final for AFL Japan will be played this Saturday 31st November, the match will be a battle between two powerhouses of Japanese footy.

Two-time reigning premiers Tokyo Bay Suns will battle it out against the multi-premiership winning Tokyo Goannas with the Goannas probably being the warm favourites as they made their way into the Grand Final by crushing the Senshu Powers last Sunday 22-14 (145) to 9-8 (62), whereas the Suns fended off the Komazawa Magpies in a memorable First Semi-final 14-8 (92) to 9-11 (65).

The Grand Final will begin at 4.25 pm at the Yokohama Country and Athletic Club, 11-1 Yaguchidai, Naka-Ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa.

The 2015 International Rules Series will be just one Test played at Croke Park in Ireland tonight at 19:00 hours Dublin time (Sunday morning Melbourne time). The big talking points pre-match will centre around the 95th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the horrific events at Croke Park, and the final match played by Australian goalkeeper Dustin Fletcher.

The match will be televised in Australia live and at other locations around the world on delay. Live streaming will also be available for subscribers to the WATCHAFL.AFL.COM.AU service.

The schedule is as follows.

THE VIRGIN Australia International Rules Series has an exciting future, says AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan.

He spoke after arriving in Dublin to watch the Test match at Croke Park on Saturday night, and dismissed critics of the venture, saying such concepts demonstrated the game's desire to be ambitious and aspirational.

The squad trained on Wednesday at Croke Park after arriving in a damp and windy Dublin on Tuesday following five days in New York.

McLachlan, who is due to meet formally with the Gaelic Athletic Association on Friday, said it was important the AFL was never insular in its thinking.

Round Six of the NTFL competition in Darwin was highlighted by the Palmerston Magpies and their upset win against reigning premiers, Wanderers. The win has catapulted the Magpies into second position on the NTFL ladder and sounded a warning to all teams that the Magpies deserve respect and might just be a smokey for this year’s title.

The Magpies playing list is becoming quite formidable, boasting both Aaron and Alwyn Davey from Melbourne and Essendon respectively, ex-Bomber Leroy Jetta and former Geelong premiership player Matthew Stokes. These additions certainly make the Palmerston list much stronger and a likely thorn in every team’s side for the rest of the season.

Next week they have the chance of really nailing second place when they meet the still winless Tiwi Bombers.

In light of the truly horrifying and incomprehensible terror attacks in Paris earlier today, the CNFA – Football Australien (controlling body of Australian Rules football in France) has released the following information about weekend matches on their Facebook page.

“Au vu des récents évènements, le match Lyon-Paris Cockerels est reporté à une date ultérieure. De l'autre côté, les Paris Cockatoos ont choisi de ne pas se plier à la barbarie et se déplaceront malgré tout à Bordeaux. Nous soutenons bien sûr nos clubs dans leur choix.
A notre communauté, nous espérons que vous et vos proches êtes en sécurité. Toutes nos pensées vont également aux victimes et leur entourage.‪ - #Prayforparis”

The match that was scheduled to take place today (NY time) between the Australian IRS team and they NY GAA team has been cancelled. The NY GAA this morning relayed the message via Twitter "Due to circumstances beyond the control of NYGAA, the International Rules Challenge v Australia is cancelled. Apologies for any inconvenience."

It will be a set back for the Australians who would have benefitted greatly by having some round ball match practice under their belts before next weekend's one-off IRS Test Match at Croke Park in Ireland. It may also be a setback for those involved in the International Rules Series who are keen to have a match staged in the US in the future.

The match was called off after the AFL's football operations staff inspected the ground for the match. They determined that some areas of the turn were of concern and as such the ground was not fit for play.

The indigenous representative side, the 2015 AFL Flying Boomerangs, has capped a successful week with a win over the Victorian Diversity All Stars on Saturday in Melbourne.

The group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, aged 14 -15 years old, spent this week at a high performance camp where they were guests of the Collingwood and St Kilda Football Clubs, as well as the Australian Navy.

Led by four goals from Shaydan Close, the Boomerangs were too good for the All Stars, winning 12.11 (83) to 3.3 (21), in an entertaining match at Punt Road Oval.

The squad of 25 boys was selected by AFL talent managers from around Australia based on their school attendance, leadership skills and football ability.

After a game that had stayed close from the opening bounce, with multiple lead changes, the Dubai Dingoes stole the points from their opponents, the Doha Kangaroos, after the final siren. In a thriller, a Dingo shot on goal after the final siren had blown saw them pinch the game by just one point, much to the horror of the local Doha crowd.

The final scores saw the Dubai Dingoes 11 9 75 down the Doha Kangaroos 10 14 74

The win restores order for the Dingoes after they lost their first match of the season to the BM Bulls. For the kangaroos, the result has compounded a bad start to the season. They are yet to win a game from two outings this season and have to meet powerhouse, the Dubai Dragons, next round in Doha.