World Footy News

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.

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

The AFL today announced Hawthorn's triple-premiership skipper Luke Hodge would be captain of the Virgin Australia International Rules team to contest the one-off Test against Ireland, to be played at Croke Park in Dublin next Saturday November 21.

The Australian team coaching group of Alastair Clarkson, Ross Lyon and Chris Scott nominated Hodge to be captain from the leadership group comprising Robert Murphy, Nick Riewoldt, Harry Taylor and Sam Mitchell at a team function in New York on Friday evening November 13 (Saturday November 14 Australian time).

The 2015 season in Australia, and many other countries, is done – apart from those resilient and fanatical “Top-Enders” in Darwin where matches will be played, rain, hail, shine or monsoon, until March. Competitions in the Middle East and France keep the flame flickering also. Many now will sit back and reflect on the exploits of their favourite players, teams, matches or subjects other than footy. Discussions may turn to club recruiting, drafting, trading, coaching or a range of other “team” related topics.

But behind the scenes at all levels of the game, volunteers and diehards that keep those players on the field get a small window where other things in life – like resting and eating – can return to a more “normal” state. Clubs and players might succeed on the battle fields of football grounds, but they cannot, simply cannot, succeed without the tireless and generous efforts of their crews behind the scenes.

Take the mythical “Bandicoots” team. A fabricated name for the story, but inhabited by a cast of people that are as real as the sweat and talent on field.

As women's footy continues to grow and head towards a national league, a significant announcement for women's footy was made today revealing that AFL Victoria plans to establish a women’s state league competition in 2016.

The new competition will be aligned with the Victorian Football League (VFL), featuring 10 clubs, with the six Victorian Women’s Football League (VWFL) Premier Division teams from 2015 – Darebin Falcons, Diamond Creek, Eastern Devils, Melbourne Uni, St Kilda and VU Western Spurs – to be joined by the top four Division 1 sides – Cranbourne, Geelong, Knox and Seaford.

AFL Victoria believes the time is right for a dedicated state league, with the 10 clubs all geographically spread across Melbourne and featuring a wealth of talent.

“This is the starting point for something really exciting in women’s football,” AFL Victoria CEO Steven Reaper said.

The Australian team has spent most of this week warming up and getting to know each other in New York City.  The US stopover before next week's International Rules Test match in Ireland will conclude after this weekend.  Before they leave for Ireland though the Australian team will play a New York GAA team.  The match will take place on Saturday at the Rockland GAA Centre of Excellence in Orangeburg starting at midday. 

If you are going to head down there to watch the match please be aware that there are limited facilities (so don't expect seating), entry is $10 for adults and free for under 18's.

Earlier in the week the AFL today announced a five-man leadership group for the Virgin Australia International Rules team to contest the one-off Test against Ireland, to be played at Croke Park in Dublin on Saturday November 21.