World Footy News

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

The Great Britain Bulldogs last weekend held their training camp at the elite training facilities of Surrey Sports Park, in preparation for the upcoming announcement of their 2014 International Cup squad.

With four of the Bulldogs also selected for the European Legion to play against the AFL-AIS Academy in the Easter challenge series, the camp was a chance to see some of the athletic prowess the Bulldogs will bring to the tournament Down Under.

This report courtesy of GB Bulldogs Performance and Team Coordinator Claire Shapland.

Following on from the brilliant work done by the boys at the Wolverhampton Wolverines team in England last year, when they promoted the cause of men’s cancer issues by appearing on the television show Embarrassing Bodies to raise awareness of early detection, Pyramid Power in Cairns is trying to help in their own way.

Where the Wolverines focused on testicular cancer, as part of the Balls To Cancer charity promotion to raise men’s awareness, Pyramid Power hopes to help women’s awareness of ovarian cancer. The following clip is their message to all to show that football clubs across the world can aid in the spread of the early detection messages. Watch the clip and spread the word as far and wide as possible.

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The Jakarta Bintangs recently featured on Channel 9's Adelaide news, with a focus on the role played by former South Australian policeman Adam Bray.  Possible International Cup opponents of Indonesia would view this with interest.  The locals look to be of slight build but fast and hard at the contest, and a few players displayed good skills (allowing for very slippery conditions).

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Here are a few youtube videos showing some of the coverage AFL India (ARFAI) has secured recently and a presentation to a UN Next Step Conference.

News piece on a Bengali New Channel which was aired for 4 consecutive days and later bought by another Bengali channel and shown on their channel as well.

Bengali article
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Tom Calder, Australian Trade Commissioner in India and also ARFAI President speaking at the UN Next Step Conference on sport for development, organised recently in Delhi by Magic Bus (famous international sports NGO).

The 2014 AFL season is underway with the first four games played last weekend. 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 soon to be broadcast also on Sky TV which should mean that 90% of New Zealanders should have access to 6 live AFL matches and three on delay each round.  We will update readers when this begins.

The St Mary’s dynasty added more silverware to an overcrowded cabinet tonight when they won the NTFL (Northern Territory Football League) 2013/14 premiership against Wanderers at TIO Stadium in Darwin. The weather threw up a temperature in the mid-thirties and almost 100% humidity, creating tough conditions for a grand-final.

Going into the match as raging hot favourites after an undefeated season, many felt that another Saint’s premiership might have been a foregone conclusion, and on face value that is probably true. But that does not adequately recognise how well Wanderers played. Over four tight quarters, the Eagles simply never gave up. Every time St Mary’s looked like breaking away, Wanderers found something to bring themselves into the game.

Picture Courtesy NT News.