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Format change as World Team and Flying Boomerangs kick off

  • Tuesday, July 07 2015 @ 12:15 pm ACST
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General News

The World Team format that saw a mix of overseas and multicultural players form a team to play in the National Under 16 Championships has seen a watering down of the overseas based players component of the team as the concept has worn on.  Now there are no overseas based players involved with the team now made up exclusively of players with multicultural Australian based players that were born in non-English speaking countries (although the squad below seems to have some exceptions to this) .

The South Pacific Team now does not compete at this national tournament - they now compete in the Qld U16 State championships (that were held in May) and can make it to the National Championships and represent Qld. 

The AFL has also indicated that in future, if there is an outstanding overseas based junior talent identified by international affiliates they will "be open to accommodating these players either through the World Team or through another state talent program."

 

Matches for the World Team and Flying Boomerangs begin today at 4pm.

Coolbinia Bombers – Special Needs, Special Players

  • Tuesday, July 07 2015 @ 07:32 am ACST
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  • Views: 2,419
Australia

The following story is about an extraordinary football club with an incredible vision, and some of the finest footballers you could ever wish to meet.  The Starkick program kicked off by the Coolbinia Bombers Junior Football Club in Perth, Western Australia is one of the most inspirational endeavours seen in Australian Rules football.

 

The article, written by Laura House for the Daily Mail Australia, looks at the program, its background, the people driving it and the kids who just love their footy. It is a fascinating insight into a club that has gone where few, if any, clubs have gone before, but where other clubs should dare to travel.

 

 

'When he's out there he's not a child with a disability - he's just a kid playing footy': Australia's first AFL team for children with special needs sees them play alongside their peers

Incredible Journeys From Africa To Australian Football

  • Monday, July 06 2015 @ 11:26 am ACST
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Africa

 

The following story is a fascinating, in depth account by Sam Landsberger at the Herald Sun newspaper exploring the paths of four young African footballers. Sam starts with the story of Gach Nyuon (Sudan) before moving on to the stories of Maibor Chol (Sudan/Egypt), Patrick Taban (Uganda) and Rueben William (Kenya). They are amazing stories of courage, freedom and ultimately their journey to football.

This story adds further to the recent look at the journey of Sydney Swans player Aliir Aliir, drafted last year Sudan To Sydney Swans: Aliir Aliir’s Journey Continues and the success of North Melbourne footballer Majak Daw, selected again for a senior game last weekend.

Gach Nyuon’s long journey from Africa to potential AFL draftee

(Picture: Jay Town, Herald Sun)

Four boys from Sudanese families have trekked through war-torn countries and survived refugee camps before arriving in Australia and falling in love with footy.

 

One saw an attempted kidnapping of his baby brother and another has more than 70 siblings, owing to his assassinated father’s 12 wives.

American dream MCG trip sees Hawks home

  • Sunday, July 05 2015 @ 09:32 pm ACST
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  • Views: 2,293
Australia
Stephen and I had only spoken before across the waves of the internet. As guests on Alex Benjamin's USAFL Weekly Report program we chimed in with tips and discussion on the footy of the week gone or the week to come.
 
 
It was often hard to get a word in at times with the delays on Skype. There were strong thoughts and opinions from the host Alex a big Crows fan from Nashville, and Lisa a Blues fan with a soft spot for the Swans who could dominate the show and knew a lot about footy. I could chime in to clarify some of the finer points such as which part of Australia Manuka Oval was in.
 
 
And then there was Stephen. Stephen always managed to get his point across. There was no doubting he was a staunch Blues man. From Texas. Somewhere near San Antonio. He clearly had a deep knowledge of the game and the broader issues around it.

Darwin Crowds Get Behind AFL Fixture

  • Sunday, July 05 2015 @ 12:57 pm ACST
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  • Views: 2,274
Australia

The Northern Territory’s desire to be a regular host of multiple AFL premiership games into the future received a huge boost tonight when the Melbourne Demons hosted the West Coast Eagles at TIO Stadium in the now regular Darwin AFL showcase match.

A crowd of 11,873 filed into the Northern Territory’s premier footy venue – an improvement on recent years and the 7th largest crowd at the venue for a sporting match. It is largest crowd at the venue for footy since 2007 when the Essendon Bombers took on the Aboriginal All-Stars. It is the largest Darwin crowd at an AFL Premiership match since 2006. The fact that nearly 12,000 fans came to watch would have delighted the AFLNT, and is a vindication of the AFL’s decision to continue to bring the highest level of the game to the Northern Territory capital.

This follows on from the crowd of just under 5000 people that attended the other Northern Territory fixture at TIO Traeger Park in Alice Springs in May between the Melbourne Demons and Port Adelaide Power.

Nottingham Scorpions Grateful For The Little Things

  • Saturday, July 04 2015 @ 05:45 pm ACST
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Europe
It might not mean much in the greater scheme of things, but a forfeit, often considered a “no result”, can sometimes be the trigger for something else. For the Nottingham Scorpions their four points gained from last weekend’s forfeit by the Tyne Tees Tigers has given the Scorpions finals chances a kick start. Suddenly, the Scorpions are back in the race in fifth place, just a game and not a huge percentage behind the fourth-placed Bears.

Whilst the Scorpions luck occurred without a kick in anger, for the league leaders – Manchester and Sheffield – it was almost the opposite. In a pulsating affair, the Mozzies consolidated top spot after an arm wrestle with their nearest ladder rivals in the battle for minor premiership favouritism. The final score saw the Mozzies beat the Thunder 15 13 103 to 15 10 100. They are now a game clear on top, and have returned fire after going down to the Sheffield crew back in Round Six.

Sesvete Double Blues On The Rise In Croatia

  • Saturday, July 04 2015 @ 10:38 am ACST
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Europe
The 2015 season has seen continued development of the Australian Rules football code in Croatia as they gear towards the upcoming Axios Euro Cup to be played in Umag in October. With the development of the new women’s team – the Velika Gorica Mambas Mambas Ready To Rock Croatia – and the new Sesvete Double Blues, the new season has been huge.

Josip Kravar, president of the Association of Australian Football in Croatia (AAFC) details the rise of the Double Blues in part two of a look at the acceleration of the game in the lead up to the Euro Cup.

“So the story is that three ex-Hawks players had idea to start a club in Sesvete. It is a small town near Zagreb, and they did it.”

“The club now is competing in HLAN and CEAFL where they struggled through the start of the season, but now they have won against both the Tigers and Styrian Downunderdogs, and so two games in row are here [in the bag].”

Phil Walsh – A Light In The Room Has Been Dimmed

  • Friday, July 03 2015 @ 05:13 pm ACST
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  • Views: 2,067
General News
Generally speaking, coaches do not coach because they are completely benevolent souls with nothing else to do with their lives. We coach because we enjoy it. We coach because we believe we have something still to offer. We coach because we believe that we can make a small difference. We also, no matter how much we want to deny it, coach because we still have a vicarious connection to playing the game…and that is not a bad thing. That’s a form of passion.

Those, like me, at junior level, often far from the madding crowds of the AFL big time, do not play for the same stakes as the 18 senior AFL coaches and, probably with few exceptions, are not in the same league as those coaches. Yet most of us look up to those 18 – an 18 which changes year to year, but is still the highest level in the land – and try to emulate them, either consciously or unconsciously.

RIP Phil Walsh

  • Friday, July 03 2015 @ 03:42 pm ACST
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Australia The life of Phil Walsh was tragically cut short today. Our condolences to the friends and family of the Adelaide Crows Senior Coach as well as to all Adelaide Football Club supporters and those in the extended football industry touched by Phil's contributions. A loss that will be felt by footy lovers around the world.

Sunday's match between Adelaide and Geelong has understandably been cancelled.

The following statement was made today by AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan.

Mambas Ready To Rock Croatia

  • Thursday, July 02 2015 @ 08:08 pm ACST
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  • Views: 4,206
Europe
With this year’s Axios Euro Cup just a matter of months away, the host nation, Croatia, has found a new weapon up its already impressive sleeve. Just in time to be ready for the October event in Umag, the new Velika Gorika Mambas women’s team has arrived, and they could spell the nucleus for a new Croatian women’s team.

According to Croatian footy president, Josip Kravar “This year AAFC (Association of Australian Football in Croatia) is host of Axios Euro Cup and we are celebrating 10 years of footy in Croatia.”

“In last 10 years we created 5 footy clubs and strong national team that is well known and respected among opponents. There is no better time to announce that we have first women club, Velika Gorica Mambas.”

Swans Flying Under The Radar – AFL London Round 7 (Split Round Pt.2)

  • Wednesday, July 01 2015 @ 07:25 am ACST
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Europe

With just three rounds remaining for the 2015 AFL London season, much of the jostling for a finals place is almost done. Whilst the Wildcats and Demons have all but secured their places at the top of the home and away tree, the London Swans have joined them with their win over the Wimbledon Hawks almost certainly locking them into the top four and leap-frogging the Lions into third place.

The Swans’ victory on the weekend, 13 8 86 to the Hawks’ 10 8 68, gave them their fourth win of the year and has them well placed to remain in the top three by finals time, albeit with a tough run home which includes both the Wildcats and Demons. It will depend on how the Lions negotiate their final rounds which does include clashes with both bottom placed teams – Magpies and Hawks.

In the other premiership match it was the West London Wildcats comfortably accounting for the Putney Magpies 19 14 128 to 7 5 47.

2015 AFL Round 14 - International broadcast schedules

  • Tuesday, June 30 2015 @ 09:00 pm ACST
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  • Views: 1,616
General News

                                                                    Thursday night footy in Sydney kicks off Round 14 with the Sydney hosting Port Adelaide. 

Once again viewers around the world can access matches live or delayed on a number of TV networks or stream the telecast via subscription to Watchafl.com.au. 

The broadcast schedule for this round can be seen below.

 

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