World Footy News

Do you remember your first Aussie Rules footy match? I remember mine like it was last week. I was running out onto the ground in my Clayton footy jumper. I was so proud. The club wore Collingwood colours (and being an Essendon supporter, I still have involuntary tremors…even today). It was 1972, I felt ten feet tall and….

Hold on a moment! That statement is not correct. Not even close. Why? Because my selection to wear the purple and gold of the Clayton South Primary School footy team pre-dated club football in black and white by a good twelve months. In fact, I still remember my dad suggesting that if I did well enough in the school team, he would let me play in the local league the following year.

I’m quite sure that many readers of this article might also look back into their pasts and find a connection to school footy at some point. The more I think of it, my school days were responsible for some of my greatest footy moments. My first recorded “speccy” attempt was one. I missed the ball and slid quite gracelessly off the back of my opponent step ladder, winding myself. But it was possibly the highest I ever flew. The captain of my high school team in the late seventies was a certain Chris Mew, who would later become an integral part of one of the greatest Hawthorn squads in history through the 80’s and 90’s. In the same team, however, was one kid who went on to play reserves for Essendon and South Melbourne, and another whose older brother was a part of the inaugural Sydney Swans team in 1982. Through school footy I managed to meet some pretty fine players. Actually, in some ways, school footy in my Victorian upbringing was a bit like a “best of” team, with a cross section of some of the finest local talent attending the same school.
 

Nearly 3 years ago we reported on a story that first appeared on Channel 9's The Footy Show which said that a Turkish-Australian was developing the concept of the Essendon versus Collingwood ANZAC Day blockbuster being staged in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2015 for the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings in World War One.

The Age is reporting that the concept is not dead, in fact the man driving it, Ismail Ozsoy, claims to have secured written support from the Turkish government and succeeded in getting major sponsors on board.  Ozsoy is quoted as saying that:

''I don't want to get everyone too excited because if they [AFL] are not excited, there is no point.

''But they [Turkish government and businesses] have said 90 per cent. When it comes through the channels it has come from, and they have given it to me in writing as well, it doesn't matter whether the government goes by 2015, because it has been approved, it has to happen. But, of course, it takes two to tango.''

Supporters of international footy have closely followed the journey of Shae McNamara, the big American basketballer who pitched his wares to AFL clubs and won a trial with the Collingwood Football Club back in late 2009.  Next he made the rookie list and impressed with his athleticism and seemed to be picking up the skills quite quickly, leading the ruck at VFL level by 2010.  "American Pie", as he was often called, even played a NAB Cup game in 2011 and looked on track for an AFL debut by 2012.

Somewhere along the road Shae's journey lost momentum and at the end of 2012 he was cut from the Pies' list.  A trial with Hawthorn didn't lead to rookie listing and the trailblazer from the United States has headed home to re-start his pro basketball career.  Shae previously played four seasons of NCAA Division I collegiate basketball in the US for Marist College in New York before playing one season of professional basketball in Germany.  worldfootynews.com caught up with the American Pie to discuss why things didn't quite work out and how he hopes the future will unfold.

We started off asking if he felt he'd been given a full shot at the game and if not where things went astray.

With the end of 2012 worldfootynews.com has its annual reflection on the year gone by.  In many ways non-International Cup years are much quieter than their triennial counterparts.  Typically there are far fewer international matches played as nations and players count the cost of travel and have less pressing need to hone their squads.  But still, happily, there has been plenty to report from across the world, in fact too much for us to do justice to (even with over 400 articles published), so apologies to all those that feel they had a worthy story that didn't get the attention it deserved.

Undoubtedly the biggest ongoing success story in 2012 was the South Pacific.  When once it was only New Zealand and Papua New Guinea that gained much attention, now there has been a steady stream of good news from Fiji, Nauru, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Tonga.  But NZ and PNG also had big news stories, especially with the AFL announcing the first ever overseas match for premiership points will be played on ANZAC Day 2013 in Wellington (NZ), and Gideon Simon (PNG, pictured) becoming the first player who learnt the game outside of Australia to make it onto an AFL list.

Despite less press the Irish also dominated the international side of Aussie Rules, with numerous players now successfully making careers in the AFL, whilst back home the men's and women's sides took out the Euro Cup double.

Here's a skim through of some of the highlights from this author's perspective.

After a few years of hard work to get Footy rolling in different parts of the country, finally AFL India successfully hosted the inaugural Aussie Rules tournament in India earlier this month, at Kozhikode, a southern Indian coastal city in the state of Kerala. The tournament saw five teams - the Mahim Cats and Matunga Tigers from Mumbai, North Kozhikode Bombers and South Kozhikode Giants from Kozhikode and Madurai Kangaroos from Madurai, playing each other in a round robin format to qualify for the Grand Final.

A fantatsic show of skills and sportsmanship were on display as the players from different sporting and economic backgrounds and different age groups faced each other, all aiming to lift the first ever AFL India – OGM Cup, sponsored by Perth based mining company OGM, along with its Indian counterpart RP Group of Companies. Eventually it was an all Kozhikode Grand Final, where the Giants were beaten in a close contest by the Bombers, who clinched the trophy.

The tournament was organised by Australian Football Association of Kerala at Malabar Christian College grounds in Kozhikode, Kerala on 2nd December 2012, and was inaugurated by Dr. Muneer, honourable Minister of Social Welfare and Panchayat, Government of Kerala, who handed over the match ball to the umpires.

There is a fairly widely held knowledge that Australian Rules football can be traced back to as early as the 1860’s in the south east corner of Queensland, most particularly Brisbane. It has taken far longer, however, for the game to break into many northern markets.

Even though there were sporadic outbreaks in places like the Atherton Tablelands and Thursday Island, they were generally linked to the stationing of servicemen in those areas and rarely survived beyond the war years, unless absorbed into other competitions. It was not until the 1950’s that competitions began in Townsville (1955), Cairns (1956) and Mount Isa (1957).

But in 1969 there was much correspondence sent between Mackay and Victoria. In a situation which must almost echo the storyline of the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, where Tim Robbins’s character writes to the authorities so often that they give in and send him money for library books, the Australian National Football Council (precursor to the AFL Commission) gave in and sent fifty dollars to Mackay to help pay for stationary to allow the paperwork to go ahead for the creation of another centre of Australian Rules football in North Queensland. Fifty bucks to get started!

AFL South Africa has had an interesting journey over the last 4 years.  In 2008 it was widely considered the darling of the AFL, receiving more funding than other nations, regular AFL-organised tours and leaping to 3rd in the International Cup with a controversial win over Ireland.  Player numbers were booming, partnerships were being signed with mining companies, plans were tentatively in motion to set up footy development for Africa via a university program based in South Africa and an AFL exhibition match was scheduled for Cape Town in early 2009.

Then came the Global Financial Crisis, the postponement (after 4 years let's call it cancelling) of the exhibition match, and a decision to "consolidate" the recent growth.  There was a slide to 5th at the 2011 International Cup and accompanying internal rumblings, the hoped for surge in AFL scholarships and rookies didn't eventuate, the South Pacific began to grab the international footy headlines and at the same time any good news from South Africa became exceedingly hard to extract.

It was starting to look a bit grim for footy in Africa and this author was "sharpening" his keyboard to write an obituary, not for the game as such, but for the shiny vision of AFL SA leading the international charge.  Happily there have been stirrings of better news and assurances that the future is bright.  As first evidence of this we report on a recent string of grounds being converted to allow Australian football to be played on them.  We hope to follow this up with further positive proof of the game's health in the Rainbow Nation.

USAFL have recently announced that Eileen Geogheegan will be taking over from Judith Stein to become the new Freedom captain for 2013.

Geogheegan, representing home club Baltimore-Washington Eagles, starting playing Aussie Rules in 2009 but quickly adapted to the new sport and was chosen as a member of the USA Freedom squad which took part in the inaugural women’s International Cup in 2011. She also represented the Freedom in the IC Draft Combine.

Geogheegan was also named DFAT Player of the Nation for the USA, which she claims is the highlight of her Australian football career so far.

In addition to a new captain, the Freedom also welcome in new coaching staff, including Minnesota Freeze’s Dale Willimas and ex-AFL player and founder of the Santa Cruz/Golden Gate Roos John Ironmonger.

More information on Geogheehan’s rise though USAFL women’s football, including her remarkable transition from soccer to AFL, can be read on the original article on the USAFL website here.

In a story which may have gone under the radar for many international footy fans late this year, the last weekend in September not only saw the Swans defeat the Hawks in the AFL Grand Final, but also the first match played by a Belgian footy side for over five years.

The Belgians travelled to the Netherlands for a 3-team tournament against Dutch sides the Amsterdam Devils and The Hague Storks, the comp dubbed the Benelux Cup. Although the Belgians went down against both Dutch clubs, the scorelines were quite respectable, losing to The Hague by only 5 points.

Belgium was previously home to the Brussels Saints, who back in 2005 won the EU Cup, but the Saints have long since folded and no footy was played in Belgium in the interim. WFN will be eagerly watching developments of Europe's newest side in 2013.

For more on the nascent Belgian footy club, visit the AFL Belgium website or their Facebook page.

The city of Townsville, located 1300 kilometres north of the Queensland state capital of Brisbane, is not generally considered to be a major player in Australian Rules football. In fact, this city of approximately 190,000 people has other features and pursuits which have forced the national game into the background.

Ask most people who are familiar with the northern city what they know of the place and the list is likely to include the Lavarack Military Barracks and RAAF Base, James Cook University, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Castle Hill, Magnetic Island or the North Queensland Cowboys national Rugby League team. Australian Rules football still remains a small niche market, supported by some, but largely anonymous to the remainder of the population.

But 2013 could see that profile change radically as Townsville will become one of the key hubs of Australian Rules football in the country, if only for a short time.

Townsville’s Festival of Footy will run from February to April, featuring some of the best local, state, national and international Aussie Rules in the country at that time.

A little over six months ago a small Australian Rules football club in northern Australia had an idea.

In a deliberate bid to turn around negative perceptions of their club, they looked at social media, specifically Facebook, to begin contacting clubs as possible “friends”. But like anything enjoyable, one or two friends became nine or ten. Before long, the club had hatched an idea of having a group of “Brother Clubs”.

So the term “Brother Club” was bandied about, but many people did not really know what it meant. Some clubs jumped at the chance and became “brothers”. Other clubs, being a little more sceptical, held off in case it was some brand new “scheme” which would ultimately result in a risk to money or image. Both fair points given what is out there on “the net”.

But the “Brother Club” idea is not new and is not a threat. For the simplest comparison, consider the world wide concept of sister cities, where cities around the world come together for geographical, cultural, social or economic reasons to be friends for the small price of a lovely plaque and maybe a small civic event to celebrate it. From there, those cities decide whether they do anything else.

Canterbury Cobras reeled in their third consecutive Championship on the weekend to commemorate a weekend of firsts.

Day One saw the Otago Riot participate in their first ever Senior Championship on the back of their appearance at the March 2012 Under 20 NPC in Canterbury.

The inclusion of a fifth team is the first addition to the programme since 2004 when the Waikato Thunder joined the competition adding to the traditional involvement of Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland.

This growth at the top level in terms of representative teams is a huge plus for what AFLNZ have been doing with their High Performance programs. Without a doubt the Board of Governance must ensure that the elite level achievements in terms of growth are underpinned by healthy local competitions in Wellington, Waikato and now Otago, whether of traditional 18 a side football or of a AFL 9’s nature. The dropping away of the competition in Wellington is of particular concern and one that those with any sense of history should address immediately.