World Footy News

Tuesday was day 2 of the AFL South Pacific Cup tournament at Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville (QLD); pitting PNG, NZ and the Oceania Squads against each other. The game on Tuesday saw PNG play Oceania in an extremely close encounter that finished in a draw. The polish of the PNG side was evident all day but the spirited work ethic of the Oceania side pressured PNG into mistakes and Oceania were good enough to capitalize. Observers rating this as the game of the carnival so far.

Players representing the South Pacific in the curtain raiser against the NZ Hawks will participate in an AFL Combine on Wednesday 23rd April. AFL Combines are underpinned by an exciting testing format that provides participants with the opportunity to compete in a number of skills and athletic testing.

Each of the events within the programme has a focus on fun and looks to provide those involved with motivation to improve themselves in varying facets of skill and fitness.

A variety of talent scouts will watch carefully as the South Pacific players are put through their paces.

The first ever AFL New Zealand High Performance awards will be held on April 24th at Macs Function Centre in Wellington on the eve of the ANZAC Day Clash between the Sydney Swans and St Kilda.

The awards night is an annual celebration of the performance and efforts of those involved in New Zealand representative teams as well as recognizing the success of those with New Zealand heritage in the sport of AFL.

With the new AFL South Pacific and Oceania junior talent pathway structure now seeing first the Oceania tournament held last December (for Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomons, Fiji and Nauru) ; and the next step being the South Pacific Cup where the Oceania combine takes on the regional powers of PNG and NZ; it is a watershed moment now that the inaugural South Pacific Cup has kicked off on Monday at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville

Monday (April 8): Day 1 started today with 3 terrific games of football between PNG, NZ & Oceania (Tonga, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Nauru). PNG were in control of both of their games and look like the team to beat!

The AFL Europe have posted highlight videos from each quarter of the match between the European Legion and the AIS-AFL Academy squad. Read on to see each clip.

The AFL Europe have released their official match report from the AIS-AFL Academy vs European Legion match played in England on Saturday.

The Europeans held with the Australians fairly well in the first quarter, kicking 2 goals and only being 14 points down at the first change. From there, the AIS-AFL pulled away, running out 86-point victors. Given that the majority of the AIS-AFL squad will go onto play in the AFL, the large margin in unsurprising, though international footy fans will note that the Europeans have gotten a little closer each year.

In the curtain-raiser, the GB Bulldogs had a strong victory over the Irish Warriors.

Read on for the official report, courtesy of AFL Europe.

The New Zealand Hawks senior team will take part in a two match series against a South Pacific selection.  The first game will be the curtain raiser to the AFL match at Westpac Stadium and commence at 4.30pm.

The NZ Hawks team last played in January at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium against the Australian AFL AIS Academy team. The New Zealanders performed well against the elite youth of Australia but were defeated by 41 points.

The South Pacific team will feature several International Scholarship recipients that no doubt have the talent but will need to overcome the seasoned experience of the New Zealand Hawks contingent.
 
The second game will be at the Wellington AFL’s home ground of Hutt Park at 12.00pm on April 28th.  This will be a great opportunity for locals to view the game up close and from the boundary line.

The Papua New Guinea U16 Binatangs arrived in Cairns for two footy matches this weekend en route to their appointment this week in Townsville for the South Pacific Cup, and if the show they put on today is any indication, the New Zealand and Oceania teams will be in for a torrid time.

Their visit to Cairns started on Saturday 6th April with a scratch match against the North Cairns Tigers U18 team. Binatangs coach, Murray Bird, admitted “We didn’t really keep score…but I’m told it was about 17 goals to 3.” The Tigers are no mugs, but they got a taste of what this PNG side has to offer.

The AIS-AFL Academy, the cream of Australia's young football talent, has defeated the open-age (but focussed on roughly under 23) European Legion side 15.14 (104) to 3.0 (18) at Surrey Sportspark, England.  Hopefully more details to follow later.

Tadgh Kennelly discusses the AFL Europe squad's progress before today's match against the AFL-AIS Australian team at Surrey Sport's Park.

The following media release from the AFLNT details their partnership with beyondblue to tackle depression and anxiety in the Northern Territory.

AFLNT HAS THE ‘BALLS’ TO TACKLE DEPRESSION & ANXIETY

AFL Northern Territory will join forces with beyondblue in tackling depression and anxiety in the Northern Territory for a further three years following an extension of the partnership agreed this week.

“We as the lead sport in the NT have a duty and a responsibility to assist organizations such as beyondblue in order to combat the many issues that we face in day to day life,” said AFLNT CEO Tony Frawley.

On Monday 8th April the northern city of Townsville will again become a major hub of football action as it hosts the 2013 indigenous Kickstart Championships.

As stated by Kathleen Newman, Townsville regional Manager for AFL Queensland, “These championships, held from 8-12 April, [will] bring together around 150 of the most talented indigenous players from around the country and is sure to showcase some very exciting football. There is every chance spectators will see the next Cyril Rioli, Lewis Jetta, or Chris Yarran, running around.”

The matches will take place at Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, and is yet another feather in the cap for Australian football in the city as it vies to become a major destination of choice for the AFL. As Kathleen says, “This is a big event for Townsville and is the third part of our already successful ‘Festival of Football’.