World Footy News

The release of the new playing fixture for the 2015 season in Germany contains some very welcome and pleasing additions to the roster – both an extension on 2014 and an expansion across the league which highlights the game’s growth in the country.

The league welcomes the Dresden Wolves and the Ludwigsburg Taipans for their first seasons in the new national format. After a season spent on “the bench”, the Frankfurt Redbacks also return to the fold.

The new season will feature two halves. An eight round draw from April to June will feature a nationwide AFL 9’s competition. Whilst this is a drop in on-field player numbers, it also ensures that thee competition will extend to 10 viable teams. Hamburg Dockers and the Rheinland Lions will enter two teams each, whilst Munich Kangaroos, Berlin Crocs and Stuttgart Emus will be joined by the new teams from Dresden, Ludwigsburg and the returning Frankfurt Redbacks.

USAFL Club the Portland Steelheads are currently in an online battle for the title of Portland’s Best Sports Logo in Portland (Oregon). 

The competition has come down to the final four and the Steelheads Logo is going strong even knocking off the Timbers MLS soccer team.

They are now up against Pacific University Boxers rugby team and trailing by 200 votes.  So support an Aussie rules team (with a great logo) and help to raise their profile in the city that once hosted a post season match between Melbourne and West Coast (attendance 14,787).

Here is a link to the vote: http://www.portlandsports.com/portland/final-four-portlands-best-sports-logo/

Linda Dessau was yesterday named as Victoria's new Governor. For those outside Australia the Victorian Governor is the representative of Queen Elizabeth II (Australia's head of state) in the state of Victoria. The position is largely ceremonial with the day to day running of the state by the elected Premier and his/her government.

In footy circles Linda (pictured far left with fellow Commisioners at IC14 Women's Grand Final) is best known as one of the current AFL Commissioners. From an international footy perspective Linda has been a visible presence at IC11 and IC14 matches and official functions. Linda also contributed financially to the St Alban's Spurs playing tour to the US in 2014. The support of individuals on the AFL Commission no doubt shapes the resources and attention given to the game outside Australia, so it disappointing from that point of view to lose her.

AFL Commission Chairman Mike Fitzpatrick today said the appointment of Commissioner Linda Dessau as Governor-elect of Victoria recognises her outstanding contribution to the community in various roles, including her legal career, and was a great honour for the wider football community.

The following article written by Claire Shapland for the AFL England website details the changes occurring within the structure of the GB [Great Britain] Bulldogs team. With an exciting future coming over the next few seasons, opportunities exist for positions that are either vacant or advertised.

 

Anybody interested, either in Europe or even from Australia, who may wish to take on these roles, can contact AFL England on the contacts at the end of this story. This would be an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of the game in England and across Great Britain.

 

With the departure of Mark Pitura, GB Bulldogs are seeking a new Head Coach alongside various other voluntary positions on the organising committee.

 

 

With the expansion of the Women’s game in the UK, a ladies team at the International Cup 2017 is a very real possibility so the Bulldogs Management team needs to be expanded and strengthened. The following positions are out to application:

A battle royale looms in the Northern Territory Football League over the remaining two rounds of the 2014/15 season. With the “Call To Arms” round being played this weekend, Round 17, that just leaves this weekend and next for teams to jostle for positions for the finals.

Currently three teams – the Tiwi Bombers (4th), Palmerston Magpies (5th) and last year’s grand finalists Wanderers (6th) are each locked on 32 points. Only two of them can make the finals, and the cull starts today.

Perennial league leaders, St Mary’s, still hold top spot safely, three and a half games clear of any rival. Nightcliff and Southern Districts hold second and third spots, though both had a case of the wobbles last weekend. Nightcliff crashed badly, thrashed by Saints. Southern District made their job harder losing to bottom placed Waratah. They are probably safe though, a game clear of the pursuing three.

Reports came through last week that the Brisbane Lions’ vice-captain, Pearce Hanley, had injured himself and could miss up to 12 weeks. A visit to the surgeon, however, found that the hip cartilage damage was worse than originally thought and the star player would not return until about Round 14.

Hanley had been carrying the injury, but when it became too uncomfortable to bear it was decided to have a cartilage clean-up. This procedure unearthed additional damage that would require more comprehensive surgery than first thought.

The Brisbane Lions club and fans would be disappointed, especially as Hanley had been enjoying a “promising” pre-season in readiness for being a key part of the club’s 2015 assault on a hoped for finals berth.

The slow, glacial trickle of USA athletes to Australia continues with two more players headed to the VFL willing to try their luck with Port Melbourne for the 2015 season. “The Borough” will play host to Carl Winston and Torrey Harkness, both of whom have been described as “NFL/Olympic sprinter-calibre athletes” by their Los Angeles-based agent, Miro Gladovic, from AFS (American Footy Star).

 

[Carl Winston (L) and Torrey Harkness (R) playing for the Los Angeles Dragons – Herald Sun]

 

This news comes quickly on the heels of a recent story about New York magpie, Alex Aurrichio, who will play this season with Carlton’s VFL affiliate, the Northern Blues, and the recent transitions of Eric Wallace, Mason Cox and Jason Holmes. These three players, who have played VFL with North Ballarat, Collingwood and Sandringham respectively, have made the leap from diverse elite sporting backgrounds back in the USA to reach the penultimate tiers of the Australian national game.

 

 

Both Carl and Torrey are imposing athletes. The biggest difference with these lads is that most players to have come and tried our game have been from basketball backgrounds, but these two are both ex-college football players with bodies more readily adaptable to Australian Rules football – in theory.

Necessity is the mother of invention. So the saying goes. And there are times in the international world of Australian Rules football when that saying is very close to the mark. In the case of teachers trying to introduce the Australian game into every day can be a new invention to find ways to generate and maintain interest up against so many other options.

 

It is not that teachers do not have access to resources – a visit to the AFL website, or even a half decent scroll around google can unearth plenty of free documents, manuals, videos as well as a host of subscriptions for more.

 

 

But the isolation of a teacher who might be the only person for many miles trying to kick-start the game can be profound. In my own case I am lucky to have another keen teacher in the same school, but in past schools I have been a lone voice competing against rugby codes, soccer, basketball and more. And that’s here in Australia.

 

Below is a press release from the AFLNT which details their own Cancer Council’s Call To Arms round this weekend to highlight the impacts of cancer on all Australians - in this case the people of the Northern Territory.

 

According to the Cancer Council’s own website, “in 2006, despite a decision by the Australian Football League (AFL) to the contrary, Essendon Football Club players wore yellow armbands, in the inaugural Clash For Cancer match against Melbourne Football Club, to support team-mate Adam Ramanauskas who was undergoing intensive treatment for yet another cancer diagnosis.

 

The AFL fined Essendon $20,000 for wearing the armbands, and later agreed that the fine could be donated to Cancer Council, Essendon's preferred charity.

 

In 2007, the AFL agreed to allow yellow armbands to be incorporated into the sleeve of the Essendon jumper for subsequent Clash For Cancer matches.

Last week saw the 47th anniversary of the independence of Nauru. Formerly known as Pleasant Island, the Republic of Nauru is the smallest state in the South Pacific and by population is the 2nd smallest state in the world after the Vatican City. Nevertheless – and despite a windy and wet day – the national game (along with weightlifting) of Australian Football played a hotly contested North vs South Independence Day match.

The following report is from AFL South Pacific.

The winter break is nearly over for the CNFA competition in France with the annual Coupe Du Sud (effectively the Southern Cup or Cup of the South – or more exactly South Cup) to be held in Pau, home of the fledgling CNFA hopefuls, the Pau Bears. The tournament will be held at the Stade Asptt Rugby ground in Pau this Sunday, 7th February.

The history of the event can be traced from this translation of the description of the Football Australian (CNFA) website:

“Created in [the] winter [of] 2010 [by]the club Perpignan Tigers, this competition has established itself in the [CNFA]schedule to host the winter break. Indeed, despite the cold, some southern clubs had the opportunity to play and have easier access to ground through a milder climate than the so-called northern clubs.

The following is an extract from my own new book which explores the early days of Australian Rules football in the districts to the south of Cairns in North Queensland. It looks at the history of clubs such as the Babinda Magpies and the mighty Centrals Aloomba teams of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s through to their modern day incarnation, Pyramid Power.

 

Along the way the deeds of great local people such as the legendary Howard Kennedy from Woopen Creek, the tragedy of Des Trannore and many more are looked at within the fabric of the game’s development in the tropics.

 

From the centre circle at Power Park I look south towards the majesty of Walsh’s Pyramid, the small mountain that watches serenely over Gordonvale and the surrounding district.  It is the landmark from which our club, Pyramid Power, has taken its name and is a symbol for the club, most local schools and many local businesses.

 

 

Occasionally my reverie is diverted by the irritated squawk of a nearby plover, or the gentle grazing of a flock of ibis.