World Footy News

Irish IC14 representative Padraig Lucey scored a goal for Geelong in their narrow 8 point win over Richmond at Punt Road on Saturday. He also gave away four free kicks so there are definitely a few things for the big man to work on. He also managed 7 hit outs, 3 marks, 6 handballs and 2 tackles.

Round Three of the AFL Central and Northern England competition has been completed last weekend. The key stories to come from the round were Manchester Mozzies taking a stronger stranglehold on top spot with a comprehensive win against Tyne Tees Tigers and Sheffield Thunder moving into outright second after the Wolverhampton Wolverines were forced to forfeit.

In the other game, the Nottingham Scorpions defeated the Huddersfield Rams by 32 points to secure their grasp on third place. Final scores for the round were:

Tyne 22.23 (155) def. by Manc 7.11 (53)
Notts 14.13 (97) def Hudds 9.11 (65)
Sheff def. Wolves by default (Wolves unable to field a team)

The Birmingham Bears had the bye this round.

Adam Saad from the Gold Coast Suns is the Round Five NAB AFL Rising Star nominee. Adam received votes in the Marcus Ashcroft Medal following the Suns’ 64-point win over the Brisbane Lions in Saturday night’s Q-Clash.

The running defender collected 26 possessions, took seven marks and had nine bounces in the Suns’ first win of the season. After being over looked in two NAB AFL Drafts, Adam, 20, was selection 25 in the 2015 NAB AFL Rookie Draft and was upgraded to the Suns’ senior list after impressing in all three NAB Challenge matches.

He made is AFL debut in Round One and has played all five games this year. Adam played junior football with the West Coburg Football Club and the Calder Cannons. He represented the World XVIIIat the 2011 NAB AFL Under-16 Championships.

If you fancy yourself as a coach capable of changing the fortunes of a growing club in Europe - Denmark, to be exact - then the Odense Lions are looking for you.

According to club president Morten Merhoj “the Odense Lions footy club from Denmark is looking for a new coach from Australia to come and help us improve our club. “

Certainly this presents a fantastic opportunity for anyone with a coaching background and a desire to travel. The Odense Lions have grown steadily since their introduction to the DAFL a couple of years ago. Danish footy holds a special place on the European stage, winning last year’s Euro Cup in London and being a regular powerhouse on the bigger stage. The opportunity to be part of a successful club in a successful league in a country that has embraced the game would be highly attractive to many.

The 2015 AFL US Combine in Brandton, Florida has wrapped up after three days of testing the tallest crop of American athletes so far.  Well mostly American.  The tallest John Crnogorac is from Sydney.  He would not be an international rookie as such if listed by an AFL club but a Category B Rookie (and not the first basketballer to be speculatively listed as such by an AFL club).  Crnogorac also would come with some Aussie rules knowledge (even as an NRL fan) and without the need to adjust to life in Australia. He has been playing college basketball in the US.

Jalen Carethers would seem to be the obvious choice for the AFL clubs that attended the Combine to select to come to the Australian draft Combine in October, or even earlier ala Mason Cox in 2014.  If for no other reason than his surname Daquan Holiday could be another selected to make the trip.

 

 

 Picture from @BradAmes14 on Twitter

 All eyes on Kiwi Kurt Heatherley on Sunday with Brian Lake going down in Hawthorn’s Saturday night loss to Pt Adelaide. He was named in the best players for Box Hill as they defeated Coburg by 20 points, and may have been in the Hawthorn selectors minds to be upgraded to the senior list for a chance to play against North Melbourne on Saturday. 

Alex Benjamin from USAFL Weekly Report wraps up the USAFL ANZAC Round matches from this past weekend.

Cincinatti Metro postponed

The Cincinnati Dockers, the Louisville Kings and the Indianapolis Giants were set for a Metro tripleheader last weekend but the tournament was postponed because of a major severe tornado threat and nearly 4 inches of rain had deluged Point Pleasant Park in Cincinnati. These games will be rescheduled at a later date.

Odisha became the latest state to embrace footy as they welcomed ARFAI officials to hold an introductory training session at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) campus in Bhubaneshwar.

The Australian High Commission in India deserve a special note of thanks for sanctioning the Direct Aid Program (DAP) grant for the joint venture between ARFAI and KISS. Under this project, ARFAI officials will train senior students at KISS to be footy coaches, who will in turn help in training at least 1500 children by the end of this calendar year.

 

The following is a press release from the Essendon Football Club looking at the upcoming 20th anniversary of the events which led to the changes of AFL racial vilification laws and the Michael Long inspired “The Long Walk”.

 

The Long Walk Launch

Twenty years on from their history changing moment on the MCG, Michael Long and Damian Monkhorst were reunited at the famous ground to launch this year’s The Long Walk.

The theme of this year’s The Long Walk is ‘Together’, and it was fitting that Long and Monkhorst shared their memories of the 1995 ANZAC Day Clash and the AFL’s vilification policy which was born out of the fallout. 

 

“This was a game changer in that moment for the positive and the right things that we see now. You see so many different cultures playing this great game and I don’t think we realise how much that moment changed our great game,” Long said.

Here in tropical North Queensland “rampant mozzies” might mean disease carrying insects, but across central England it might equally mean the powerhouse Aussie Rules team from Manchester. Such was the case in Round Two action last weekend as AFLCNE teams gathered in combat on the footy fields and commemorated combat with pre-match recognition of ANZAC Day.

 

The round was hosted by both Sheffield and Huddersfield. The Thunder played the visiting Tyne Tees Tigers and also hosted the second match between the Birmingham Bears and Manchester Mosquitoes. The Huddersfield Rams played host to the visiting Wolverhampton Wolverines. The Nottingham Scorpions had the bye.

 

 

Thunder started their season in fine style after the first round bye, downing a spirited Tigers by 97 points. The Mozzies put the Bears to the sword to the tune of 59 points, enhancing their premiership prospects further, whilst in Huddersfield the Rams were too good for the Wolverines on the day, home by 63 points.

 

AFL Round 5 kicks off with the blockbuster clash of Carlton vs Collingwood at the MCG in Melbourne, Friday night.

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.