World Footy News

The brand new season for AFL London got under way last weekend with two huge magnets dominating the program. The Premiership League kicked off with a grand-final replay between the West London Wildcats and the Wandsworth Demons. Equally exciting was the first women’s match in the AFL London competition when the South East London Giants took on the North London Lions.

 

The following reports from the AFL London website give the details of the weekend’s matches.

 

Round 1 Premiership Results:

Round 1 saw some great games of footy in the sunshine here in London, including the huge grand final rematch between the Wildcats and the Demons. Results were:

 

Wildcats 12.7.79 def Demons 9.8.62

Swans  6.6.42 def by Lions 15.14.104

Hawks 15.15.105 def Magpies 4.6.30

The recent allegation of racial vilification aimed at Richmond footballer Bachar Houli is a worrying sign. Whilst the journalist involved has apologised and does not recall having labelled Houli as a "terrorist", the mere fact that there might be a perceived vilifying link is disturbing on so many levels.

Whilst the ramifications go all the way to the rights of all people to a life without threats, bullying, stereotyping and fear, there is also a lesser argument that football codes, in this case Australian Rules football, will be damaged as a brand by the actions of a small minority.

This incident come just over a week after Western Bulldogs player, Lin Jong, was the target of racial slurs. His lineage is both East Timorese and Taiwanese. Richmond's Chief Executive, Brendon Gale stated to the AFL's website that ""Lin Jong is a fine young player and we should be celebrating the diversity he brings to our game."

Likewise, Bachar Houli's contribution to the game in terms of the development of multicultural markets for our game should be applauded and widely recognised. Racial slurs, whether in jest, without thought or deliberately targeted have absolutely no place in our game, or any sport, and all that can be done needs to be so stamp out racial slurs.

This article courtesy of Michael Douglas from the Greater Glasgow Giants.

The Greater Glasgow Giants made their competitive debut at the 2015 Haggis Cup, an annual invitational tournament held in Scotland every April. This year’s event took place in Edinburgh and, with experience levels ranging from 20 years to a few weeks, the Giants’ squad started the tournament excited to develop and get vital game time ahead of the 2015 season starting in May.

They faced a daunting task in the opening match as the Huddersfield Rams had brought a squad full of experience and littered with England internationals. The game went to the wire with the Rams coming out on top by 2 points, the Giants got off to a slow start but came back strong in the 2nd half finding themselves unlucky not to snatch victory late on as they had the chances!

 

Australian Rules football has slowly and surely spread its influence to all corners of the world. Many times it is expats going abroad from Australian to other countries, but many other overseas seeds were planted by service men and women in many locations.

 

There are famous accounts of impromptu matches suddenly erupting on some of the world’s most famous battle fields. The match being played on ANZAC Day in the French town of Villers-Bretonneaux, on the Somme, celebrates wartime accounts of matches played on the site of the Australian War Memorial.

 

Often the seeds of our sport, planted in wartime, burst into flower in the future.

 

Ben Guthrie from www.afl.com reports that Australian and New Zealand troops stationed and serving in Afghanistan will be playing an ANZAC Day footy match. 

As part of the AFL extravaganza happening in Wellington around the Anzac day clash between the St Kilda Saints and Carlton Blues the AFL Academy U17’s will tour playing their third annual game against NZ’s finest.

The Level One side (selected after the AFL U 16 Championships last year) include Ben Ainsworth who is a powerful small forward who leaps high, has a powerful burst of speed and can kick a goal from nothing.

Until this week, he has used those traits as a player for local club Morwell, TAC Cup team Gippsland Power and representative side Vic Country. Now he will face the New Zealand Hawks at Westpac Stadium in Wellington as part of the 100-year anniversary of Anzac Day.

The following list of ANZAC Day commemorations across the USA is thanks to the USAFL -the original article appears here.

100 years ago, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, better known as the ANZACs, fought against enemy forces in the Battle of Gallipoli. The bravery and sacrifice of the men who fought that battle in 1915, and every man and woman who has served afterwards, are remembered and commemorated every April 25th.

Though ANZAC Day is an occasion of solemn reflection and gratitude to for those who have dedicated their lives defending Australia, it is a also a celebration of the identity of her people that was forged over a century ago and that continues to grow and thrive into the future.

Australians everywhere will be marking ANZAC Day 2015 in a variety of different ways, and the US is no exception. From memorial services to games of 2-up to watch parties for the always enormous Bombers-Magpies game from the MCG, here is a look at what's going on this weekend:

Alex Benjamin from USAFL Weekly Report recaps the weekends matches and provides his latest USAFL Standings table (with comparison to the new USAFL rankings poll). He also looks at the matches ahead for the weekend, tells us about his personal Road to Austin walk and previews his Youtube streaming show for this week.

 USAFL Last Weekend

What can I say about the Eastern Regional Weekend except…”Expect the Unexpected…” 2 Upsets and the USAFLWR standings are turned on its head, including the USAFL Top 20 as well. Here’s how the weekend’s games went:

Eastern Regional Tournament: Fort Lauderdale

Game #1: North Carolina 4.1.25 New York 10.8.68
Game #2: Fort Lauderdale 6.7.43 New York 2.6.18
Game #3: Fort Lauderdale 7.6.48 North Carolina 3.7.25

Thanks to AFL Asia

The sport of Australian Rules football will be used to commemorate the ANZAC Centenary across Asia this Saturday through AFL Asia’s massive ANZAC ROUND of matches. Seven clubs will be hosting ANZAC matches in conjunction with dawn services in some of the most significant locations in Asia where Australian Defence Forces have previously served.

 “ANZAC matches have become a special part of playing footy in Asia.” AFL Asia President Darren Whitfield said. “Our clubs and players realise the significance of the day, using it to celebrate the relationship we have with the communities we now live in”.

AFL Asia’s ANZAC games will this year be played on Saturday 25th April in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines.

The new footy season for AFL in central and northern England (AFLCNE) got underway last weekend with a settled group of teams ready and waiting. Whilst in previous seasons there has been the addition of new clubs (Tyne Tees Tigers) and the departure of clubs for indefinite periods (Leeds Minotaurs), this season saw the same seven clubs hit the fields.

The future may hold new changes with the possibility of a new team from Liverpool (Merseyside Saints – see story: Merseyside Saints Continue Liverpool Legend but for now the 2015 teams remain the same as last season.

Round One got away to a start with the Manchester Mozzies hosting two matches, whilst the Birmingham Bears hosted the other.

 

The United States Australian Football League officially got the 2015 season under way this past weekend with the Eastern regional tournament being held at the Central Broward Park Cricket Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  2015 will see a full slate of regional (Eastern, Central and Western) tournaments held across the league; these events, and a new USAFL poll-ranking system, will help determine divisional seeding at the National Championships in Austin, Texas later this year.

While three teams (#1 New York Magpies, North Carolina Tigers and the #20 Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids) competed as full units, numerous players from other squads made the journey down to sunny Florida for an April footy-cation.  With two 2014 national champion sides in attendance, the stage was set for a wonderful day of Aussie Rules, with sunscreen and hydration the order of the day. 

Match results of the day surprised many observers of the USAFL. 

Report courtesy of Matt Jaggar, AFLCNE

After six years of trying, the Huddersfield Rams Australian Rules Football Club finally triumphed in the Haggis Cup last weekend.

Edinburgh played host to this year’s pre-season AFL Scotland tournament, which saw the Rams narrowly beat Glasgow Giants in the first game, before walking over them in the final of this year’s Haggis Cup.

The Rams, who are sponsored by Grosvenor Casino, named a match day squad that was a dynamic mix of fresh blood, youth and experience, with newbies getting their first taste of Aussie Rules alongside players who had competed in all five of the previous attempts north of the border.

Huddersfield’s pathway to the final was by no means a straight shot as they ran in a couple of close games with wins of less than one goal in two out of three games before the final.

Luke Booth, the Rams' most decorated player, claimed the tournament's Best on Ground votes, whilst club founder, Karl Haigh kicked the most goals and Robbie Wilson marked his Rams return with a performance which earned him the club’s player of the tournament.

This Saturday brings the first round AFL Central and Northern England League, which sees the Rams face off against Manchester Mosquitoes in a rematch of last season’s Grand Final. Huddersfield will be eager to seek revenge after narrowly missing out on the flag in 2014 in a close final.

The club is always seeking new players of any ability and holds weekly training sessions at Huddersfield YMCA, Laund Hill, Salendine Nook from 6:45pm, every Tuesday.