World Footy News

Jason Lassey of Bigfooty Media interviews the USAFL's new President Denis Ryan.

The 19 year old Kenyan born Sudanese youth drafted by the Sydney Swans last night may need to have a globe (or perhaps Google Earth) handy when he tells his grandchildren his life story. He was born in Kenya (1994) in a refugee camp after his family fled war ravaged Sudan.  The family came to Australia in 2003. 

We first heard of Aliir Aliir in 2010 when he was selected in the World XVIII team - he was living in Queensland and was identified as a talented footy youngster with a good leap and great skills.  He was regularly found on the lists of goal kickers and best players in junior footy for Apsley Hornets in Qld.

Unless you were watching closely you might wonder "What happened to Tommy Walsh this year?". In the following video the Sydney Swans website reviews the Irish import's season.

The Calgary Kangaroos have wrapped up their 2013 season almost snatching the US National championship title along the way (going down to the Austin Crows by one point).  The following video contains some captured highlights of their season.

Sean Hurley is on trial with the Fremantle Football Club and trying to win an International Rookie spot on the Docker's list for the 2014 season. He speaks of his first day of training in the Aussie sun.

Hurley attended the 2012 National Draft Combine in Melbourne.

Hawthorn and AFLNZ have again been running talent scouting camps in NZ continuing to grow on the work done in the past few years.

Checkout this highlights package from the Ottawa Swans 2013 season with the men's and women's teams in action.

The following story looks at the Australian Rules football scene in Russia. It has been given to World Footy news to reproduce as a way of highlighting the tremendous work by Roger Scott and his crew to build the game from scratch in a country not usually associated with the sport.

Roger Scott began learning Russian while still in Australia. He works in commercial real estate in Moscow, and on Sundays teaches all those interested how to play Australian football, a game little known in Russia.

Moscow. One of the first warm days in August. At a small stadium in Lefortovo park, there are two dozen immigrant workers from Central Asia playing football (soccer), and several more people playing frisbee on the edge of the field. At five in the afternoon they are replaced by strongly built guys, about eight of them, carrying an oval ball.

"Whenever you come here, somebody is always playing football (soccer): in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. Were there more of us, we would have just occupied this field and that's it," one of them says with a slight accent. The playing field in Lefortovo is free, therefore clashes of certain "subcultures" are inevitable. 

The guy with an accent is called Roger Scott. "Like the rabbit," he says, when we are introduced. Roger is from Australia, but has been living in Russia for eight years already. 

He has a double-headed eagle tattooed on his right shoulder. "It helps in difficult situations with the police. Although I don't have to show it that often these days, Moscow has become more civilised," he says, with a faint nostalgia in his tone. 

The following article is courtesy of Zain Nabi.  It follows the first match by the squad being assembled in Melbourne to represent Pakistan at the 2014 International Cup.  This truly is a case of the first tentative steps towards international competition for a new footy nation. 

Lo and behold! Perfect kicks, meticulous interceptions, scintillating mark, commendable team work, and, of course, crowd support were the highlights of the game as Shaheens took on their first actual opponents, Just Play – a local football team, and defeated them 44-26 under the overcast conditions at Princes Park Carlton.

It was the first real test of the relentless training sessions that the players had been through during the past couple of months. The Shaheens carried their skills from the training on to the playing field to display what Coach Andrew termed ‘an outstanding performance’.

“It is fantastic to see them performing like that,” he said during the post-game interview. “Honestly, I had not expected to see such professional approach from the players, but they surprised me.”

The Vietnam Swans have won a fourth consecutive Indochina Cup, overcoming the Thailand Tigers, Lao Elephants and Cambodian Eagles in Phnom Penh in the seventh instalment of the event.

The round robin tournament was played in the 18-a-side format, with the Swans finishing undefeated on top with an impressive percentage of 282%.

The Eagles finished second with two wins and one loss, the Tigers finished third with only a win over the Elephants, and the Elephants finished fourth without a win.

This is the second consecutive year that Cambodia have had to settle for second position, despite some keys players coming back from injury.

I recall the 1981 VFL season so well. After six rounds, Essendon sat with a solitary win and faced the prospect of a lean year. Things changed, however, and they won their next 15 matches in succession to reach the finals. It was certainly strong evidence that much can change as a season progresses, and a positive attitude can turn things around.

However, after six rounds, certain patterns can be seen which give an indication of what is to come and the Northern Territory Football League is at that stage now. One third of the season played and already there are some strong themes emerging. Following is a brief on each of the Premier League sides so far this season in current ladder position which can be mulled over at leisure.

Jason Lassey of Bigfooty Media interviews AFL Asia's President Phil Johns.