World Footy News

No practice game is ever a waste, and the critics who see the NAB Challenge as a series of glorified practice games are probably right, though missing the point. Three points, actually.

Firstly, players got to show their wares as they jostle for starting positions in senior AFL line-ups for Round One in just two weeks’ time. They also gained valuable match fitness and awareness prior to the real show beginning.

Secondly, the fans who had patiently or impatiently waited since last September to watch their beloved game waited no more. It might not have been the start of the real deal, but a game with your own club to support is cherished by fans of all clubs. Practice match or not it is a wonderful experience for the footy tragic when they see or hear their team in actions again after such a long and seemingly endless wait. 

Alice Springs’ own TIO Traeger Park shone today, as did the blazing Centralian sky, as Geelong locked horns with Melbourne in the second last “18 Games in 18 Days” NAB Challenge.

With a touch of history thrown in, this was the first match played in Australia’s heart involving two Melbourne based clubs, with both being the founding clubs of the competition in Australia, coming into existence in 1859 as the oldest of the current AFL clubs.

With temperatures in the low 30’s, a crowd of a little less than 5500 fans turned up at to watch the Northern Territory’s first AFL match of 2014. The Alice Springs crowd was the biggest for an NAB Cup/Challenge match at the venue since 2008.

With just three games to be played in the home and away rounds for 2013/4, the AFL Middle East competition is beginning to take on an air of a Dragon three peat. Whilst the Doha Kangaroos are certainly in a position to spoil the Dragon’s party, there is something quite compelling which says the Dragons are on the cusp of something special.

With the Dubai Dragons having completed their six home and away games, it falls on the other teams to scramble for positions over coming weeks. The Dragons managed to win five of their six encounters, many by large margins. Their only blemish was a shock loss to fellow Dubai team, the Dingoes. At the moment the Dragons hold firm on top of the ladder.

With the build up to this years AFL International Cup picking up across the globe - the anticipation of seeing nations making their debut is one of the many highlights of these tournaments. The first appearance of the Solomon Islands will be a fine achievement building on the work of many over the last 10 years in particular - including the Australian High Commissioner to South Africa Graeme Wilson who as Special Coordinator of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) played a key role in getting the Solomon Sharks first national representative team to Tonga in 2010 for the Oceania cup of that year.

With the formation of the official body of the Solomon Islands AFL the tireless efforts of Job Vulita as National development officer as well as more recently Rowan Fajerman helping oversee the progression we now see the graduation of the first junior side into a senior squad to take on the world - so to speak. Below is an update provided by Job.

When the AFLCNE (Australian Football League Central & Northern England) made the decision to admit the Tyne Tees Tigers for the 2014 as a fully-fledged eighth team they may not have foreseen the small football revolution that the Tigers would bring with them.

Since their admission to the league in their own right, the Tyne Tees Tigers have also managed to develop their own women’s team as well as initiating their first regional expansion team, the Wearside Wallabies.

This team, which initially will join in with localised games and events in the Newcastle on Tyne district, has tapped into the Aussie Rules interest generated by the Tyne Tees crew around the Sunderland, Durham and Washington area south of Newcastle.

It certainly appears that the admission of this team in north-east England to the AFLCNE competition, spread mainly across the north central corridor may have even greater long term benefits to the league that first envisioned.

A recent chat with Tyne Tees Tigers club president, Ian Baxter, sheds light on the expansion and the visions of a 10 year plan which are starting to come together.

Essendon District FL team Northern Saints FC are proud to announce they are fielding a Youth Girls team for the 2014 season. To get local girls involved in the club and the game has been a longstanding aim of the Saints, a club renowned for their investment in juniors footy and their inviting, family atmosphere.

The club, based at Mutton Reserve in Fawkner, Melbourne, is currently recruiting girls aged 13-17 to join up. From experienced players to total beginners, everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy a great, fun sport in a safe and friendly family orientated club.

Along with players, the Saints are also looking to recruit an experienced coach who is comfortable with the idea of coaching seasoned players and girls who are new to the game. Some players may not be as skilled and others may need to learn the rules and skills of the game, but the ideal coach would be a supportive leader with the drive and enthusiasm to make playing Aussie Rules footy a fun and inclusive time. A passion for the game and fitness is a must, and leadership and organisational skills are paramount.

The club will provide all the resources necessary to make a positive impact into the world of Youth Girls footy and is prepared to contribute towards coaching costs if the candidate can show how this will benefit the girls and the club.

If you are interested in becoming a coach or a player, please get in touch with Geoff Kosmak on 0420 672 327. Visit their website at northernsaints.org.au for further information on the club and their hopes for the 2014 season.

The 2014 International Cup will take place from the 9th to the 23rd of August 2014. As with IC11, there will be a women’s tournament taking place alongside the men’s event. This year, the women’s games are planned on the 12th, 14th, 16th of August, with the semi-finals and final happening on the 19th and 22nd of August. So far, teams expressing interest in entering include Canada, USA, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, PNG, Ireland and the European Crusaders.

In order to start the process of holding trials and selecting a team, AFL Europe’s Women’s Football Co-ordinator Gaelle Hazimeh is trying to get an idea of the number of players in each country who would like to attend the International Cup with the Crusaders team. If you are a player of European nationality, based in Europe, Australia or anywhere else, and you would like to take part, please email Hazimeh via gaelle.hazimeh@afleurope.org

The Wolverhampton Wolverines have used their off-season time wisely. Rather than wait for the season proper to start, Ian Mitchell, club president and coach, has been exploring a variety of ways to not only keep his team fit and ready, but also grow the game throughout the Wolverhampton districts and beyond.

Last weekend saw the inaugural International Rules game in Wolverhampton, England. It is a game that had been in the pipeline between the Wolverines and St Mary's GAA Wolverhampton for two or three years, but various obstacles had prevented it from taking place until now.

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Eight  teams are set to contest the 2014 International Cup women’s competition. The Australian Indigenous and Multicultural team that played in 2011 will not be renewed for the competition to be held in Melbourne in August.

New comers to the International Cup are Fiji, New Zealand, Tonga and a team formed by women across Europe to be known as the European Crusaders.

Twenty three teams are set to contest the 2014 International Cup men’s competition. Timor-Leste is the notable team missing for the initial acceptances for the tournament to be held in Melbourne in August.

New comers to the International Cup are Croatia, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Finland return to the International Cup after missing in 2011.

Others such as Spain, Germany, and Iceland look like missing yet again presumably to keep funds invested in their local development. And hopes that we would see our first South American team at the International Cup have faded as no teams have been nominated. It is not known if they had intended to play in the AFL 9’s section that was initially mooted.

On Presidents Day weekend here in the USA (17 February), I had the distinct opportunity to interview the first American female President of an USAFL club, the Boston Demons Andrea “Andi” Williams.  In the following interview, we discuss the road to becoming an trailblazer and pioneer, what drives her and talk about the US Revolution and Freedom teams as well as the 2014 season for the Demons.

Alex Benjamin: First of all, congratulations. Accordingly to my good friend and historian, Lisa Albergo, this is not only you being the first female president of a USAFL Eastern Regional team, but the first American female in USAFL history.

Andrea Williams:  Thank you very much. I am honored to have been elected to this position and excited to lead the Demons this season.

Townsville hosted its second NAB Challenge/Cup game in two years today, with the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns locking horns in the first Queensland derby for 2014. This follows on from their successful foray into the AFL’s pre-season competition in 2013 when the Gold Coast Suns played the North Melbourne Kangaroos.
 
It was Townsville’s turn to host one of the AFL’s “18 games in 18 days” NAB Challenge matches, with Tony Ireland Stadium, the Australian Rules showpiece in the tropical North Queensland city, on display again to a national audience. In 32 degree heat, and a relatively enjoyable 67 percent humidity, it was the Lions who escaped to a 33 point lead before the Suns could even register a score. Something of a surprise given Brisbane’s horrid thrashing from Hawthorn to start this carnival in the first game, and the Gold Coast pipped Essendon by a point after a five goal comeback.