World Footy News

NZ  hosted their U16 National Championships. These Championships involve 3 teams of invited footballers held after the regional Hawks Cup competitions take place within the schools. By inviting a select number of students to attend it ensures that the best available talent can attend and that issues such as various regions lacking enough to field a team does not impact on whether an interested , and talented, footballer gets the opportunity to attend. The tournament involved the best Under 16 AFL athletes in New Zealand, and featured many players who have, or will go on to play for New Zealand.

The three teams, the Giants, the Suns and the Eagles, contested the Under 16 National Championships and itwas the Eagles who triumphed, led by strong performances from Te Kopa Tipene-Thomas, Carlos Donnell-Brown, Nathan Lenihan and Utusa’itoa Ah Kuoi.

The following press release from the AFLNT looks at the development of an exciting new footballing initiative for school aged players who wish to consider Australian Rules football as a personal development pathway. The Batchelor Area School is in the town of Batchelor located almost 100 kilometres south of Darwin.

NAB AFL Auskick Ambassador Shane Crawford, NT Thunder Head Coach Xavier Clarke along with Department of Education CEO Ken Davies, will today unveil the newest AFL Northern Territory's initiative at Batchelor Area School, announcing them as the first of many AFLNT Future Leaders Football Schools within the Northern Territory.

The Greater Western Sydney Giants have become the first AFL club to launch on Chinese social media.

 The Giants have created a club account on Weibo, one of the largest social networking sites in the world used by more than 500 million people.

The Giants have teamed up with the Shanghai-based Mailman Group which has created Weibo accounts for some of the biggest sporting clubs in the world including Liverpool and Manchester United.

This week's international broadcast networks and airing times below.

Some good news for viewers in NZ with the Sommet Sports station that currently airs on free to air digital TV in New Zealand starting to also broadcast on Sky on the 14th April on channel 69 which should mean that 90% of New Zealanders should have access to 6 live AFL matches and three on delay each round.

The Scottish city of Glasgow will again come alive on April to the sounds of umpires whistles, screaming crowds and calls of “Baaalll…!!” as the 2014 Haggis Cup celebrates its 10th year. The Glasgow Sharks will be hosting and organising the event, to be played at the GHA Rugby Football Club fields at Giffnock on the 12th of April.

This year’s event also boasts a distinctly international flavour in the men’s competition with English clubs the Huddersfield Rams and Tyne Tees Tigers being joined by French club, the Paris Cockerels to take on the three Scottish teams: the Glasgow Sharks, Kingdom Kangaroos and Edinburgh Bloods. The women’s teams will be confirmed and released shortly.

The following press release from the AFLNT details the Under 15 squad selections for the upcoming carnival in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. As with previous seasons, many of these boys are just this step away from possible selection in the national indigenous team the Flying Boomerangs. The event will also feature teams from all other states and territories as well as the South Pacific Cup, this year featuring teams from New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the combined Oceania team selected from last year’s Oceania Cup in Fiji.

Thirty-six Territory boys will line up for the Northern Territory at the National Indigenous Kickstart Championships and the All Nations Carnival to be held simultaneously in Coffs Harbour, from April 11-16.

In a situation that might feel eerily similar to 1992 when the West Coast Eagles first removed the premiership cup from Victoria, the Doha Kangaroos have defied all odds and pinched the AFL Middle East flag. Not only does it represent the first premiership for the Doha Kangaroos, which in itself is a wonderful achievement, but it is the first time the premiership cup has left the United Arab Emirates.

The final scores saw the Doha Kangaroos 13. 5 (89) defeat the Dubai Dragons 8. 9 (57).

Going into the game, history was largely working in the Dragon’s favour. Recent wins against the Kangaroos, including last year’s grand-final, the emotion of a possible three peat for the Dragons and the Kangaroo’s own demons after losing last year meant that Doha would need to surmount enormous odds. And they did.

 

 

 

 

Aussie Rules footy is about to grow extra legs in one of the world’s farthest flung locations for the game. Chilean club, the Santiago Saints, have steadily developed in the five years of operation since 2008, and hope to see further expansion in 2014.

As mentioned in a previous article contributed by Saints stalwart, Daniel Boyle, the team has grown “with a mix of Chilean and expat players. We have had a number of players visiting or living in Chile involved with the mining industry and this has seen players with experience in the lower leagues in Australia pass on their knowledge to other players.”

This week's international broadcast networks and airing times below.

Some good news for viewers in NZ with the Sommet Sports station that currently airs on free to air digital TV in New Zealand starting to also broadcast on Sky on the 14th April on channel 69 which should mean that 90% of New Zealanders should have access to 6 live AFL matches and three on delay each round.

This weekend’s clash between the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes and the Bordeaux Bombers may go a long way towards shaping the 2013/14 finals of the CNFA competition in France. With just seven matches remaining before the finals, the Coyotes feature in three of them and may well hold the key to which teams makes the finals.

The Coyotes have done little wrong this season, yet through the anomalies of the draw they sit currently in fifth place. So far this season they have trounced the Strasbourg Kangaroos, won a memorable one point game against their cross town Parisian neighbours the Paris Cockerels and went down by just four points to the Montpellier Fire Sharks who are also in finals contention.

This Friday, March 28th, the OSN AFLME 2013/14 Grand Final will be played at The Sevens Pitch in Dubai featuring the Dubai Dragons and the Doha Kangaroos in a replay of last year’s premiership match. A Middle Eastern rivalry is now brewing between these clubs, and both are keen to rewrite their own history books on the day.

As the weather heats up again across the region, a top temperature of high twenties is expected, and will certainly test the fitness of both teams. The 1pm starting time will place the game at the hotter part of the day, and whichever team handles the conditions better may well win out on the day.

The Solomon Islands AFL (SIAFL) is gearing up for the start of the 2014 league competition this weekend. With a grand opening ceremony to take place this Saturday (29th March) at the KGVI (King George VI) oval in East Honiara.

The SIAFL invite all members of the public to come along - hotdogs and soft drink will be provided for all players with players required to be at KGVI Oval by 12:00pm sharp on the day.

The following is as reported in the Solomon Star newspaper website AFL set to kick off