World Footy News

The journey of Hawthorn's rookie listed Kiwi, Kurt Heatherley, is explored in depth in an interesting article in the Sydney Morning Herald this week. He has already travelled extensively in the Pacific and Europe as a player so new to the game.

For more, read Taking the Long Road.

Mike Pyke, the Canadian ruckman who helped lead the Sydney Swans to a Premiership in 2012 is remembered in New Zealand for different reasons. Before his amazing code swap to AFL he was a rugby union international for Canada. In a country as obsessed with rugby as the Kiwis are with their All Blacks the sight of a player the size of Pyke scoring a runaway try down the wing against the pride of New Zealand leaves a memory etched in the minds of many.

Pyke has been the centre of a TV3 news story and is also a focus within the print media with the great article Ex-All-Black-foe Pyke becomes AFL star.

The AFL are predicting a crowd of around 20,000 and there is no doubt a connection to Pyke may lead to further interest.

AFL New Zealand's website has become a great resource for all the latest footy news in New Zealand.  Here's a pointer to more positive news.

As a result of the the Hawks Cup initiative developed jointly by the Hawthorn Football Club and AFL NZ many talented athletes are being drawn to participating in footy throughout more and more of NZ.

Some of the most talented young athletes from Northland to Otago have been identified through the Hawks Cup Secondary School competitions as well as testing combines conducted through out the country and will participate in two days of fixtures at the picturesque Hutt park.

Those who compete have the opportunity to progress in the AFL talent pathway.

From this tournament an initial Under 18 New Zealand Hawks squad will be selected in preparation for fixtures against Victoria to be played in Auckland in October 2013.

Representatives from several AFL Clubs will be on hand in the hope of signing talented individuals on an International Scholarship that could lead to a professional AFL career.

For more see:- http://www.aflnz.co.nz/under-18-national-championships

AFLNZ are seeking to maximise the impact of the St Kilda/Sydney game in Wellington. Leveraging on the Anzac Day game for AFL development provides a huge opportunity to initiate or further develop interest in participation.

As such “Have a Go” days are organised at Wellington’s picturesque Test cricket oval of The Basin Reserve on Friday 26th April and then again at the home of Wellington footy at Hutt Park in the nearby Hutt Valley on Sunday 28th April.

Hopefully this can boost numbers in the Wellington region so that a formal AFL competition can be held in 2013 after the competition never got started in 2012. There will be roles available locally for every interest level from committee, to umpiring all the way through to players!!

For more information on attending please view Play AFL "Have A Go" Days at Basin Reserve & Hutt Park.

After 4 years at the North Melbourne FC, 22-year old Sudanese-Australian Majak Daw has finally been selected to make his debut for the Kangaroos against the Brisbane Lions this Sunday.

Daw has created plenty of media attention over the past few years, for both the right and wrong reasons. His freakish athletic ability saw videos of him in action in the VFL go viral, although initially his raw ability needed polishing to get up to AFL standard. Some off-field issues also saw his commitment to playing AFL football questioned by the club.

Kangaroos coach Brad Scott told The Age newspaper yesterday that it is the esteem in which those same teammates now hold him that indicates he is ready for the big stage.

''He's earned the respect of his teammates through his hard work,'' Scott said on Thursday.

''And to be completely honest with you, and Majak will be the first to tell you, his teammates probably didn't have the greatest respect for him because, initially, he didn't know how to work. This pre-season, all the boys have an enormous respect for what Maj has done.''

World Footy News wish Majak well for Sunday, and look forward to emulating some of the success in the AFL that Sudanese basketballers have already achieved in Australia and the US.

More at Daw finally works it out and earns debut.

The 2nd official AFL US Combine been completed in Los Angeles. Three athletes, David Grzesiak (pictured below)  from the University of Wisconsin, Matt Sauey from the University of North Florida, and Cliff Ederine from the University of Eastern Washington, broke the standing vertical jump record of 85cm with 86cm leaps to become the best ever performers in 18 years of testing.

As we mentioned last year these athletes are much older than the athletes usually tested at AFL Combines. The overall performances of the group really impressed the six AFL club representatives in attendance.

 

The 2013 AFL season moves on to Round 4 this week.   The international broadcast schedule can be seen below. All times are correct at the time of publishing and WFN takes no responsibility for changes to the schedule.

There are some reports on forums that Sommet Sports that was scheduled to deliver Free to Air coverage of the AFL in NZ was due to launch today but have not.  We would appreciate any confirmation of this. 

Irish convert to Australian Football Setanta O’hAilpin has been named in the Greater Western Sydney GIANTS 25 man squad to play Melbourne at the MCG this Sunday. O'hAilpin, who has not played for nearly 12 months since undergoing a knee reconstruction, is one of eight inclusions for the GIANTS. Some thought the injury might be the end of his AFL career. But the Giants have stuck by him, and he's back.

O’hAilpin has been named at full forward in place of Jon Patton, who’ll miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

GIANTS Head Coach Kevin Sheedy says O’hAilpin deserves his spot back in the team. “He (O’hAilpin) kicked five goals last week and has been in very good form in the NEAFL,” Sheedy said. “It’s a shame we lose (Jon) Patton but I’ve got faith that Setanta can do the job for us up forward.”

The GIANTS final 22 will be named tomorrow.

Of course, the above title should finish “…the more they stay the same.” Yet, oddly, in the case of Australian Rules footy in Ireland, that whole saying could be reversed. The more the game seems to be staying much as it was last year, it is in fact changing by degrees…and for the better.

Cian Quigley, president of ARFLI (Australian Rules Football League Ireland), points out that the league has the same teams as last year. Cian explains that “We have the same number of teams as always but the Midwest Magpies have rebranded to the Galway Magpies. Playing numbers in the Irish league are slowly increasing and the competition between teams is very close. The reigning premiers the Belfast Redbacks lost their opening game to a team [North Leinster Giants] that didn't make finals last year!”

But bubbling beneath the surface, change is occurring. This is best seen through the arrival of the UCC Bombers in Cork. Whilst they are some way away from playing in the national league on equal terms, the fact they now exist, and are actively playing games, means an eighth Irish team is potentially near.

At the beginning of April, and almost buried amid the rash of local, state and national representative carnivals played over the recent school holidays, was the trip undertaken by the Cairns Lions U17 representative team. This annual pilgrimage to Victoria sees these boys try out their skills and talents against southern representative teams.

The games are a part of the Victoria Challenge program, designed to expose players from leagues far removed from the epicentre of the game to the increased standard and tempo of more developed competitions. AFL Cairns has supported the project for a number of years, in the past having played against the Essendon District League and Geelong College.

This year the team from the north played against the Ballarat Football League team and also the Riddell District team.

One Sunday I headed to the MCG. In the interests of full disclosure I am a Hawthorn fan. But today I went along to see what Marty Clarke's game was like. The Irishman made the quickest transition from Gaelic football to Australian football of any of the Irish to come to play at senior level in the AFL.

Of course he went home to play Gaelic football after successful seasons in Australia, before returning last season to the AFL.

This is how I saw Marty's day pan out.

With the snow on distant hills still thawing and the sun enthusiastically beating down on Moscow, the 2013 Gagarin Cup was played this weekend in Russia.

The Gagarin Cup takes its name from the Russian Cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, who became the first human into space when he completed an orbit of the Earth in a Vostok spaceship on April 12th 1961, hence the choice of date for this weekend’s footy carnival. Cosmonautics Day, or Den Kosmonavtiki in Russian, is a national holiday in Russia.

In an enormous show of strength for the Australian Rules football code in Russia, and a shot in the arm for those who have been working so hard for years to establish the game in the country, there were 5 teams consisting of 9 per side, ranking this as one of the best days in Russian football.