World Footy News

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

 

Friday night in Sydney Round 9 gets underway when Sydney host the under siege Blues.

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.

 

 

It is just a short six weeks until the far North Queensland city of Cairns hosts its annual AFL Premiership match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Western Bulldogs. It is a game which has put the city on the national AFL landscape, and bought the wonderful Cazalys Stadium to a national audience.

But according to some, that exposure could come to an end this year unless the people of the northern city get behind the game and get along in droves to show everyone that we are, in fact, an AFL worthy venue with an even bigger future.

Cairns Mayor, Bob Manning, was quoted on the Fox Sports Pulse AFL Cairns site stating that an NRL fixture earlier this year between reigning premiers the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Canberra Raiders attracted a smaller crowd that expected. ““It was disappointing that we didn’t get a better turnout to the South Sydney game and we’ll be lucky to get another NRL game now,” Mr Manning said. “That’s why I urge people to support the AFL when it’s on here.”

 

The anticipated top of the table clash between the Sheffield Thunder and Manchester Mosquitoes was expected by many to be a shootout between two sides gunning for top spot and would likely come down to a “last man standing” affair.

 

Sheffield Thunder, however, had other ideas and hammered the Mozzies to the tune of 74 points to remain the only undefeated team after six rounds of the AFLCNE season.

 

 

The performance underlines how well Sheffield has travelled so far this season. They have almost flown under the radar by sitting in the slipstream of the Manchester crew, but when push came to shove the Thunder produced a huge performance which will now have them outright flag favourites. No longer are they under the radar. Their performance effectively said “here we are, come and get us!”

The USAFL has announced their hunt for a new national team coach is over.  Tom Ellis, former Denver Bulldogs captain and US Revolution team captain has been given the nod.  He takes over the position from Matt Bishop who coached the Revo’s at IC11 and IC14 (and the years in between).

Ellis has coached the Revolution once before, in LA against a team of Australians that play in the USAFL back in 2007.  But this time around he is set for to coach at least a full International Cup cycle.  It would come as no surprise to those that know Ellis that he would one day coach the USA in international competition given his long time commitment to the game and passion for the Revo’s continual push to make it to the top of the International Cup tree.

 

Last Weekend’s Games: USAFL Week 7
This past weekend, there were two scheduled tourneys plus the Atlanta vs. Baton Rouge full game. There was a last minute addition and a postponement…the addition was Seattle vs. BC Eagles outside of Seattle, but the postponement was in Houston. The first round of the Texas Cup was postponed due to 11 inches of rain in a week in Houston that made Veterans Park unplayable.

Just 3 years ago, Houston and the state of Texas was in a Stage 3 Drought. Now, they have received 11-17 inches of rain during the month of May, including at the USAFL Nationals HQ in Austin, where the league will be in just 5 months from now.

The Texas Cup Round 1 has been rescheduled for a week from Saturday, 30 May. With that, here’s a recap of last weekend’s games, including extended tournament coverage of the Harrell Cup.