World Footy News

Watching Sydney Swans player Mike Pyke being chaired from Metricon Stadium tonight after playing his 100th game against the Gold Coast Suns was quite special. Not so much the fact it was 100 games, but that it was achieved by a player who, by his own admission, would have been content to play just one.

To reach the 100 games mark after switching codes sends strong messages to any other players from overseas. If it isn’t enough to see Pyke’s milestone as proof that it is important to follow your dreams, he has also demonstrated that age, background, tyranny of distance and knowledge of the game are just small impediments on a journey which is dictated more by determination, opportunity, a little luck and most of all belief.

Much has been written about Pyke’s journey previously Pyke reaches the peak of Aussie Rules Football and his story is inspirational, especially when looked at from the point of view of international success for prospective players. But a brief recap certainly provides a remarkable insight into a very talented athlete.

In a round where other results were far more lop-sided, the North London Lions held off a determined Wimbledon Hawks team in Round Four of the AFL London Premiership Competition. Going into the match, the Lions sat in second place on the ladder and the Hawks in fifth. But in reality only one game separated the teams on the ladder and this result showed how close many of the London teams are in talent on any given day.

 

In other results, the West London Wildcats reinforced their dominance of the competition with a 135 point crushing of the London Swans. It was their third win in succession over 120 points and underlined again how strong the Wildcats are. For a full match review, read the following article by Sarah Ongarello from AFL Europe: http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/top-effort-from-rover-dog-as-wildcats-clip-swans-wings/

 

 

The Wolverhampton Wolverines have to be considered extremely unlucky to lose last weekend. It is not often that a team can kick a score of 24 21 (165) and still be beaten…by a mere 7 points to the undefeated Sheffield Thunder which kicked 25 22 (172). Whilst losing is never a palatable result at the best of times, the Wolverines will take heart that they pushed the league leaders to the limit and found 45 ways to score against them.

But the high scoring wasn’t just confined to the Wolverhampton match. Up at Huddersfield the goal spree continued unabated.

The home team, Huddersfield Rams, scored their best win of the season with a 72 point victory against the Nottingham Scorpions. The result keeps the Rams in finals contention, but certainly places pressure on the Scorpions to fight for a finals berth. In another high scoring match, a combined 40 goals were kicked.

 

Friday night footy in Perth kicks off Round 10 with unbeaten Fremantle hosting Richmond who have notched up three consecutive wins. 

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.

 

 

The Fiji Times has reported the start to the new (2015) Aussie Rules footy season in Fiji. The season got underway across the second last weekend of May and continued on with Round 2 across this last weekend of May just gone.

Week 1 saw the new improved AFL Fiji ‘Bulakick’ program underway – with a great turnout of kids who loved their new Bulakick backpacks and footies. This program runs 9 to 10.30 am on Saturday mornings for kids aged 4 to 11.

All matches are conducted at Maile Park playing grounds, University of the South Pacific (USP), Laucala Bay Road, Suva (enter through main gate and continue past the USP gym and tennis courts) – for any locals or expats passing through who want to have a look.

The four finalists to contest this season’s CNFA finals series have been decided, but not before some teams decided to put fairly large exclamation marks next to their home and away season performances with some big wins.

Played over the past two weekends, the final four matches were played out, each having a potential impact of the final makeup of the top four. By the end the finalists were decided and will be played as follows:


Paris Cockerels v Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes – 13th June
Toulouse Hawks v Montpellier Firesharks – 13th June

The semi-finals both have a regional taste with the battle of Paris teams the Cockerels and the Coyotes from the satellite suburbs to the north-west of the French capital. Meanwhile, the battle of the south makes the other semi-final with the Toulouse Hawks hosting the Montpellier Firesharks. The respective winners will face each other in the grand-final on June 27th in Paris.

An appreciative and vocal crowd in Alice Springs watched a determined Port Adelaide Power kick start their finals prospects with a resounding win against the Melbourne Demons. The final score saw the Power 18 7 115 defeat the Demons 8 6 54.

For the Port Adelaide crew the visit to the Northern Territory saw their fourth win of the season, seeing them now sit just a game outside the top eight after an indifferent start to the season so far. For the Demons it was a lost opportunity to be in that same boat and instead sit two games adrift of the current top eight.

But the biggest winner was perhaps Northern Territory football. Once again the crowd nudged 5000 people and showcased the game to an enthusiastic Central Australian audience, a part of the country where the game is played with passion the equal of anywhere else in Australia.

The following article by Bence Hamerli for the SBS website looks at the work Bachar Houli, the Richmond AFL footballer, is doing in the western suburbs of Sydney – a state away from his home in Melbourne – to prepare young Muslim footballers for the Bachar Houli Cup.

 

(Picture: Students from Al Faisal College playing in the 2014 Bachar Houli Cup – www.localnewsplus.com )

 

AFL player Bachar Houli has travelled to western Sydney to meet with Islamic school kids for the Bachar Houli Cup.

 

 

On his day off from Richmond training, Bachar Houli travelled to Western Sydney to meet about 200 Islamic students.

The celebration by Adam Goodes in yesterday’s match between the Sydney Swans and Carlton was theatre on a grand scale which epitomised the pride attached to the AFL Indigenous Round this weekend. In a round designed to recognise and celebrate the riches given to the game of Australian Rules football by indigenous footballers, these acts will be remembered as iconic moments.

 

The AFL promotes the weekend’s round of football at all levels nationally by stating:

 

From a deep connection with the land comes a proud history of runners, jumpers, hunters, collectors, dancers, artists and leaders. These skills echo the incredible contribution that Indigenous footballers have made to the game.

 

The 2015 Toyota AFL Indigenous Round is an opportunity to celebrate the role these athletes have had in shaping Australian Rules football. Not just making the game spectacular, but bringing two cultures together. 

 

There were no games this past weekend, due to Memorial Day weekend. This week, there are four 4-quarter games in the USAFL.

1. This week’s matches takes us to Pflugerville, outside of Austin, Texas as Houston will take on Austin. Normally, this game would be played at Onion Creek Soccer Fields, but they are underwater at present