World Footy News

On October 10th, 2015 teams from across Japan travel to Chiba, just outside of Tokyo for the much anticipated 4th AFL Japan Cup. In what was a welcome change from the torrential rain of previous years, the weather held up to allow for a massive day of competitive football from seven of Japan’s clubs.

There was some doubt heading into the tournament as to who the favourites would be as one of the JAFL’s powerhouse clubs, the Tokyo Bay Suns decided to join forces with competition debutants, the Miyazaki Grandswells, while veteran clubs, the Eastern Hawks and the R246 Lions merged toform a formidable team for the tournament. Throw in the Senshu Powers, Tokyo Goannas, Komazawa Magpies, Shonan Poseidons and the new team from Sendai Port, and it was the scene was set for a special day.

The competition started with a round robin of matches where each team played each other once with the highest finishing teams then contesting for the cup in the finals. The initial rounds saw some aggressive, bruising football as all teams were out to win their early games.

The new look AFLG footy format wound up last month with the Hamburg Dockers defeating the Munich Kangaroos in the Grand Final by 39 points in the 16 players per side competition held from July to September. This followed a reversed result in the earlier nine per side competition held between April and June where the Kangaroos defeated the Hamburg Pirates (one of two Hamburg teams in this competition) by 32 points.

The new format which was put together over the past off season was designed to allow teams which had struggled with numbers to compete across a season more effectively and fairly. The draw was also constructed to rationalise the locations of rounds to allow multiple games to be help at a single venue to increase games but make planning for travelling a little easier.

In the “9’s” competition, the Frankfurt Redbacks were able to return to competition after a season out of regular combat. At the same time the format allowed for newly formed teams, the Dresden Wolves and Freiberg Taipans, to be able to enter the competition on a permanent playing basis for the first time. All three of these teams recorded multiple wins under the format, giving heart to the clubs and their supporters that they belong at this level and can grow.

The 16th AFL Asian Championships, to be held this Saturday 17 October in Bangkok, is set to be the biggest and best ever, with record numbers of teams, local player initiatives and a new 2-division format.

13 teams from across the Asian region will descend on Bangkok this week, with the Singapore Wombats looking to defend their 2014 “Asian Champs” title against six other teams in the new First Division, including the Hong Kong Dragons, Jakarta Bintangs, Malaysian Warriors, Philippine Eagles, Vietnam Swans and hosts the Thailand Tigers.

“The new format means no easy games this year”, said Vietnam Swans President and AFL Asia Vice President Grant Keys. “The larger teams just won’t be able to rest and rotate players like they have in the past, it should really even things out. All seven first division teams are going to Bangkok believing they can win it.”

Day 1 of the 2015 USAFL Nationals in Austin is complete. As players regroup and recover for Day 2 some will be eyeing a place in the final tomorrow afternoon, while others will be regretting those few errors that may have cost them a game today. It was a warm one so a few cold beverages under the Texas stars might assist with the hydration.

The Orange County Bombers have set themselves up for a crack at the Division 1 title in Pool B winning both their first round matches. Defending Champions New York got the day off to flier easily accounting for Dallas, but went down to Denver after lunch. They will play the undefeated Orange County tomorrow to decide who will go to the Grand Final. If Orange County win they go straight in but should New York win it could come down to percentage with Denver favourites to defeat Dallas in the other remaining match.

In the Pool A it is home side Austin that is undefeated knocking over both the Calgary Kangaroos and the Golden Gate Roos today. They just need to defeat the winless LA Dragons to progress through to the final for the second time in three years.
 

USAFL Nationals Day 1 Streaming Schedules are below.   All schedules are subject to change and some years the match schedules can stretch out during the day.  Click on the  icon next to each match to watch via Youtube.  All times and days are local Austin, TX times (the first 9am match Saturday is at 1am in Melbourne, Australia on Sunday).

Date	Division	Pool	Field	Match	Watch
Sat 09:00	Women's		Women's	San Francisco vs New York
Sat 10:00	Division I	Pool B	Cooper's	Orange County vs Denver
Sat 11:00	Division III	Pool A	Field 4	Tulsa vs Ohio Valley
Sat 12:00	Division I	Pool A	Cooper's	Los Angeles vs Calgary
Sat 14:00	Division III	Pool B	Field 4	Portland vs Des Moines
Sat 15:00	Division I	Pool B	Cooper's	New York vs Denver
Sat 16:00	Women's		Women's	Denver vs Sacramento
Sat 17:00	Division II	Pool A	Field 2	Columbus vs Sacramento

The love of the game in Russia is slowly growing, largely through the efforts of late of two of their newest clubs – the Saint Petersburg Cats and the Lazy Koalas in Moscow. After many years of work by Roger Scott and his crew to get a foothold in Moscow, a new breed has grabbed the game by the throat and is lovingly steering it to bigger and better places.

Whilst the national team has yet to reappear at the Euro Cup since their debut international appearance in 2011, the game is far from finished in Russia. During this season the teams from Moscow and St Petersburg have found the resources to compete on a reasonably regular basis – considering distance, opportunity and personnel need to be available at the same time every time to make an event happen.

Alexey Andryushin from the Saint Petersburg Cats, one of the new clubs in the nation, forming in 2014, was happy to give an overview of the 2015 season in Russia – especially from the viewpoint of the Cats as they continue thee long road to stability and success.

With a simple tweet Mike Pyke literally and figuratively hangs up his boots after a successful (surprisingly so) career at the Sydney Swans that was highlighted by a most solid outing in the 2012 premiership win against the pre-three-peat Hawthorn Hawks. From a 25 year old taking as big a personal sporting gamble as several more high profile 'code hoppers' - but with far less fanfare or fortune - Pyke has carved out a 6 year career that more than justified his personal journey and also the leap of faith of his club and coaches. And also highlighted the need the system to retain the means by which the sporting narrative can throw up such pleasant surprises rather than militarily fit to a formularised predictability.

The AFLCNE will welcome a new team to their playing fields for the 2016 in a move which will bring the competition back to eight teams and bring the city of Liverpool back into the Australian Rules football scene.

The recent AGM for the league saw a unanimous decision to allow the fledgling Merseyside Saints to take their place in the competition next year. A message from the AFLCNE on their Twitter account said “following today's AGM it gives us great pleasure to welcome [the] Merseyside Saints into the AFLCNE. See you on the field!”

Will Sykes is co-founder of the club and club president. In a short interview, Will laid out the situation for the club in terms of how people feel about the decision. He also looked at the demographics of this newest team from a Liverpool base and what will ensure future longer term success.

 

The Hong Kong Dragons have won the Asian Champs tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. Final scores: HK Dragons 4 11 35 d Malaysian Warriors 2 3 15. Congratulastions to the Dragons. More details to follow.

 

The Port Adelaide website has released a story outlining the role the club has had in the development of the game in Asia, particularly with the China Reds team. The article below showcases their involvement ahead of the Asian Championships which begin tomorrow in Bangkok, Thailand.

 

(Picture: Zhang Hao, Russell Ebert, Chen Shao Ling – Port Adelaide FC)

 

THE China Reds will take part in the AFL Asian Championships in Bangkok this weekend with the help of Port Adelaide as part of the club’s push into Asia.

 

With money raised from the 2014 Port Adelaide ANZAC Day fundraising auction, 11 local Chinese players have been given the opportunity to make the trip to Thailand.

Each year at the AFL Europe Axios Euro Cup one team seems to have its moment in the sun – a year where they reach a new height which surprises some but thrills many. In 2014, Wales finished fifth when they surprised England in their playoff. In 2013 the story was host nation France reaching the final. Norway had the European footy world talking when they won the Euro Plate in their debut year.

The “feel good” story from the 2015 event in Umag, Croatia, could well be Austria. Their seventh placing overall was their best performance ever at a Euro Cup. Michael Jud, captain of the Austrian Avalanche national team has been through the lows in the past, but was delighted to talk about this high.

“Before the Euro Cup we didn't know how to feel about it, because our year was not the best one when it comes to training and games because we had to cancel a lot of sessions due to heavy rain. Furthermore, quite a lot people were almost fully booked with working, studying and becoming fathers.”

The USAFL Nationals are set to get underway in Austin Texas this weekend.  USAFL matches have been underway since early in the year but for most clubs all those games are the warm-up for this tournament.  This year 36 men's teams and 9 women's teams from all over the US will battle it out in warm conditions at Onion Creek Soccer complex in Austin.

The Austin Crows will be favourites in their own backyard to take the title as they did here two years ago, their most likely rival in the final is set to be the reigning champions the New York Magpies.  Don't be surprised though if Austin's neighbours in the Dallas Magpies can work some magic to make it an all Texas affair in the final.  In the Women's Division the Denver Lady Bulldogs are looking to go 6 in a row but will face stiff competition from the other four teams in their division.

Read on for all the details on the schedule of events, the pools, my predictions and the USAFL Weekly Report show schedule for the Nationals.