World Footy News

 

The www.afl.com.au website has recognised the recent international Australian Rules football carnivals across the world with this overview of the AFL Europe Axios Euro Cup in Croatia, the AFL Asia Asian Champs in Thailand and the USAFL Nationals Tournament in Austin, Texas.

 

The article by Dinny Navaratnam shows a strong endorsement by the AFL of how far the game has come on three continents - Europe, Asia and North America – by having so many clubs and national teams represented. It truly stands as example of our game beginning to take on the initial  appearance of – The World Game.

 (Picture: Rob Brewer for AFL Asia)

Asian Champs

 

THE HONG Kong Dragons are the champions of Asia, after they beat the Malaysian Warriors last Saturday, 4.11 (35) to 2.3 (15).

 

The following article from the AFL Asia website gives a wrap of the recent Asian Champs tournament in Bangkok. The Hong Kong Dragons took the Division 1 title, whilst the Laos Elephants celebrated winning the title in Division 2.

 

The Hong Kong Dragons have restored their claim to being the most successful team in Asia following their 6th AFL Asian Championships victory, defeating a gallant Malaysian Warriors team 4.11.35 to 2.3.15 in what many have described as the most successful ‘Asian Champs’ in the 16 year history of the event, this year hosted by the Thailand Tigers at the Harrow International School in Bangkok on Saturday 17 October.

 

 

Playing their 5th straight Asian Champs Grand Final, the experience of the Dragons in managing a large roster of players to get through the biggest day of footy in Asia shone through, running over the Warriors in the second half to put the Dragons back on top of Asian footy after last year’s Grand Final defeat to the Singapore Wombats.

The Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes have got their season of to a fantastic start, winning the opening match of the new Football Australien (CNFA) season for 2015/16. Up against last year’s premiers and most dominant team, the Coyotes left nothing in the tank and showed no regard for past reputations by downing their cross-town Paris rivals.

The final score saw the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes 111 defeat the Paris Cockerels 82.

With the Paris Cockerels having spawned a new team, the Paris Cockatoos, over the off season it is likely that the Paris team may have been missing a player or two compared to last season, but that means little as the Coyotes, but their own admission, were “in the face” of their opponents from the outset and determined to fight. Certainly, the Coyotes took full advantage of playing on home soil to ground out their 29 point win.

The ladder after the second round of the NTFL season sees two teams undefeated (Southern Districts and Wanderers), two teams winless (Buffaloes and Tiwi Bombers) and St Mary’s in the somewhat unusual landscape of fifth place. But as clinical as leader positions can be, they don’t tell the story of the matches played to get there. Round two was a case in point as the fans were treated to thrillers, seesaws and a hiding for good measure.

The round kicked off with the Nightcliff Tigers taking on the Tiwi Bombers. Nothing in the game at quarter time became a useful three goal lead to the Tigers by the main break. Then the Tiwi boys unleashed a willowing third quarter to kick nine goals and take total control of the match. Being 23 points up at the final change, the Bombers should have put this away, but Nightcliff then powered home with nine goals of their own in the final quarter to win by the same half time margin – 18 points. In an amazing statistical anomaly, both teams kicked eleven goals seven for the second half, built around two opposing quarters of dominance.

Day 2 of the 2015 USAFL Nationals in Austin is now completed.  The Austin Crows 4.4 (28) have defeated the Orange County Bombers 2.4 (16) to win the National Championship for the second time in three years.

Division 2 saw the silverware headed north of the International border with the Quebec Saints 3.9 (27) defeating the Sacramento Suns 0.0 (0) in a 27-0 shutout.

The Women's Division 1 was once again won by the Denver Lady Bulldogs who have earned their 6th straight national title finishing on top of the table with a 4 win 1 loss record.
 

Division 3 was won by the Portland Steelheads 5.7 (37) to Ohio Valley 1.3 (9). 

Division 4 was won by San Diego/OC Bombers combine team 7.5 (47) defeating KC Power 4.3 (27). 

The Women's Div 2 was won by the Calgary/Portland/Vancouver combine.

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.