World Footy News

  Tash Gunawardana previews the 2020 AFLW season, including interviews with AFLW players. Today’s feature is on 2019 AFLW leading goalkicker from the Adelaide Crows Stevie-Lee Thompson.

       Image Source: Matt Turner/AFL Media/Getty Images AsiaPac

 

 The first in a series of interviews by Tash Gunawardana ahead of AFLW season 4. 

The Jharkhand Crows have taken out the AFL India 2020 ARFAI National Championship in Murshidabad, West Bengal. The city is to the north of Kolkata near the Bangladesh border. The Crows downed the host team, the West Bengal Tigers in a "fantastic game of footy" by 10 points. The final scores was the Jharkhand Crows 32 down the West Bengal Tigers 22.

The 8th National Championships this year featured the two finalists as well as the Kerala Bombers, Bihar Bulldogs, Odisha Swans, Maharashtra Giants, Tamil Nadu Kangaroos, Telangana Saints and the Andhra Magpies - the team for the 10th Indian state to take up the game.

The following video clip gives a small sample of one of the games played over the two days of the event.

[youtube:lkEVVhO-Ncc]

Some local electrical issues brought an early end to the NTFL Premier League match between the Nightcliff Tigers and the Darwin Buffaloes. Around 17 minutes into the third quarter of the match, a nearby electrical substation ‘had blown’, which in turn saw power lost at TIO Stadium.

League rules state that if a delay extends beyond 30 minutes, the result at the time will stand. In this case it saw the Nightcliff Tigers leading 12 8 80 to the Darwin Buffaloes 7 5 47. This became the final score when power was not restored.

The win consolidated the Tigers’ spot at the top of the ladder. The Buffaloes now sit in fifth place.

 

Marc McGowan from the www.afl.com.au website reports on Gaelic jet, cathal McShane who may become the 18th Irish player on AFL men’s teams lists for the 2020 season. The original story can be viewed at: https://www.afl.com.au/news/365057/irish-star-set-for-trial-at-adelaide

ONE OF Gaelic football's breakout stars is seriously contemplating a move to the AFL to join rebuilding Adelaide.

Powerful forward Cathal McShane hails from the same county, Tyrone, as Essendon speedster Conor McKenna, who's become one of the Bombers' most important players.

McShane caught AFL recruiters' attention with his transformation last season from a run-of-the-mill half-forward and midfielder into Tyrone's focal point and the competition's leading scorer.

He subsequently received All-Star honours and was a genuine contender for Player of the Year, with one scout telling AFL.com.au he could play at centre half-forward in the AFL.

The NTFL Premier League kicked back into action last weekend after the Christmas/New Year break. By the end of the round, the most compelling detail is that, barring some sort of minor miracle, the top five teams may already be decided.

At the end of Round 12, three and a half games and a significant percentage separate the Tiwi Bombers in fifth place from Wanderers in sixth with just six rounds remaining. It isn’t impossible for one of the bottom three teams to finish the season undefeated, or the Bombers lose all games from here, but it is highly unlikely.

The weekend’s matches saw St Mary’s down Wanderers by 63 points to secure second place, whilst the Nightcliff Tigers hammered Waratah by 138 points and the Tiwi Bombers took down the Palmerston Magpies by 61 points.

Maybe there is a club out there somewhere that is considering an exotic location for a pre-season match. Similarly, clubs may look at options for end of season trips. Either way, the Hawaii Eagles Australian Rules Football Club has an offer.

Whilst they cannot pay a club to visit them, they have booked their local footy grounds and base for dates across 2020, and extend an invitation for clubs to consider visiting Hawaii to play against them.

According to their own Facebook page:

We're looking to host 2020 opponents!

Michael Gallus has mobilised the Footys4all Foundation to try and raise funds, aimed primarily at kids across East Gippsland who have lost everything – including sporting equipment – during the dreadful bushfire disaster across Australia.

Footys4all has been working for many years to gain sponsorship and donations to send footballs and other equipment to kids across Australia and the world. Wherever kids face hardships through socio-economic, geographic, political or health reasons, Footys4all has stepped in to try and bring just a little joy to a child with a donated footy, or similar.

Michael Gallus has seen the devastation of the current fires across most Australian states and realised that kids will have lost everything and a ball might just help bring a smile to a face.

Following on from the recent announcement that the USAFL Nationals will be held in Ontario, California in 2020, the USAFL has now announced the dates and venues for the various lead-up tournaments across the nation. (See: USAFL Nationals To California)

According to the USAFL, “The Regionals, International Cup, and Nationals are set for 2020. And, we have so much in store, including the Revos tour of Croatia, the Rob Dollar Cup, 80/35, Stumptown Throwdown, not to mention the regular season schedule throughout the year. We'll have more info after the new year.”

The big-ticket items will be the International Cup in Maroochydore, Queensland, from July 25th to August 8th, with national teams from the United States (USA Revolution men’s tea m and USA Freedom women’s team) and Canada headed down under. This will be followed by the USAFL Nationals on October 10th & 11th.

As the year 2019 comes to a close, there is a chance to look back at some of the highlights of the Australian Football stories. One of these was the series of 'Don't Believe I n Never" video clips telling inspirational stories of people from grass roots to the highest level and their journeys. The following is part of that series tracing the journey of Collingwood big man, Mason Cox, and his journey fro Texas to the AFL.

[youtube:XBRqqd5Vh_c]

Time will almost certainly prove that the selection of the Maroochydore Multi Sports Complex on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland for the 2020 International Cup will be an inspired choice. Take it from me, a coach who steered his teams to two spectacular losses at the venue in 2017.

This venue has the capacity to not only host the IC20 but also take the tournament into a future of even greater growth.

Since 2002, the six editions of the International Cup have been hosted by Melbourne – not unreasonably, as the city is the spiritual home of Australian Football and a magnet for followers of the game. Royal Park and a number of suburban and country venues showcased the international teams over the years, as did iconic venues such as the MCG. Games have been played in Sydney also.

At the mid-way point of the second National University League season, the University of Birmingham teams have placed themselves well for a tilt at the title. After a bye in the opening round, the Birmingham men’s team recorded two wins in their home fixture whilst the women’s team won one of their games and were unlucky to lose narrowly.

University of Cambridge still hold top spot in the men’s draw, a game ahead of Birmingham. The women’s draw has seen a huge performance from the South Wales Universities team, winning three of their four matches to date. With Cardiff the venue for the third round matches, the South Wales women’s team is in a great position to get more wins and set up a genuine crack at the title.