World Footy News

One of the red hot favourites going into tomorrow's Euro Cup in Edinburgh are the England Dragonslayers. After coming in third last year, the English will be eager to regain their past glory as European 9-a-side champions.

The Dragonslayers will this year again be coached by Robert Fielder, with Mark Williams as Manager and Ian Mitchell as captain.

Tony Woods speaks to Radio Australia following the announcement of the international athletes invited to next months Draft Combine in Melbourne.

 

One of Europe's oldest footy nations, the Danes are consistently in the top flight of teams alongside the Irish and British.

This year's DAFL Premier League had 5 teams competing - the Jutland Shinboners, Farum Cats, North Copenhagen Barracudas from Denmark, and the Helsingborg Saints and Malmø Maulers from southern Sweden. The competition was played with each team playing each other twice, and a final 4 - finals system.

Last weekend saw the Farum Cats take on the North Copenhagen Barracudas 2012 DAFL Premier League Grand Final. Farum went into the game as favorites, without fielding any Australians at all in their lineup. And Farum did impress, beating the Barracudas 60-35. This extraordinary feat was the first time in DAFL history (and possibly in the history of international football) that an ALL-local team, even coached by a local, won a GF again a side that included expat Australians.

With the GF and season at a close, Jens Djernes spoke to WFN about the national team's preparations for the Euro Cup.

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 Please note that these details are correct at the time of publishing. WFN accepts no responsibility for any changes to these times by broadcasters. Please check local guides or afl.com.au. 

2012 TOYOTA AFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – AFL Preliminary Finals INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE Friday 21 September  – Saturday 22 September.

GAME	DATE	DAY/NIGHT	MATCH	VENUE	STATE	LOCAL TIME	EST	CST	WST	GMT	NETWORK
Prelim 1	Friday 21 September	Night (N)	Sydney Swans vs. Collingwood	ANZ Stadium	NSW	19:50	19:50	19:20	17:50	9:50	Channel 7
Prelim 2	Saturday 22 September	Twilight (T)	Hawthorn vs. Adelaide Crows	MCG	VIC	17:15	17:15	16:45	15:15	7:15	Channel 7

For most of the year there has been specualtion about Ciarán Kilkenny of Dublin making the cross from GAA football to the AFL club Carlton. The gifted footballer has fielded questions many times about whether he would be staying in Ireland or heading down to Melbourne to play with the oval ball.

But the Irish Herald.ie website today revealed that Kilkenny, who has just returned from an Australian trial had visited with the Hawthorn Football Club and that they were keen to sign him (although Hawthorn have not commented). Irish players are basically open to whoever is the first to sign them so the battle seems to be on for his signature between the Hawks and Carlton.

Picture:Sporstfile.

Read this great little story in The West Australian of the 13 year old Iraqi boy Zain Uafim determined to take footy back to Iraq with him.  Article here. 

Some snippets from the article:

Zain arrived in Perth when his father, Naji, took up a scholarship at the University of WA to study animal science.

Mr Uafim's speciality is chickens and by year end he will take new-found knowledge and a master's degree back to Iraq, where he works for the Babylon Agricultural Department.

Zain is taking home football.

"I'm going to make a footy club when I go home," Zain said. "I already have eight footies and a full set of rules.

"One day we will bring an Iraqi team to Australia."

An Eagles supporter who comes in at 148cm, Zain knows how to take a hit and knows how to mix it with bigger lads (he plays at Northern Cobras Junior Football Club).

"We're a real multicultural team and he slotted into it really well," said coach Jamie Ryder, whose players include indigenous kids, an African, an Indonesian and two from the Middle East.

Making their debut at this year's Euro Cup will be Norway, and with a few years worth of domestic growth under their belt, hopes are high that the Norwegians can take the next step and join the ranks of Europe's established footy nations.

National team coach Adam Pearce is bringing an all-local squad to Scotland for the tournament, and took some time out of his schedule to speak to WFN about his squad's preparations.

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The AFL today historically announced the seventh group of players, its International prospects, who will attend the NAB AFL Draft Combine to be held at Etihad Stadium from October 2-5, as part of its talent identification process in the lead up to the 2012 NAB AFL Draft.

 AFL National and International Talent Manager Kevin Sheehan said this is an exciting time for the game with potential AFL talent from six countries outside of Australia attending our NAB AFL Draft Combine for the first time - including players from the USA, PNG, New Zealand, Ireland, Nauru and China.

“Over the last few years the AFL has been preparing for this with AFL International Combines being held in the USA, South Pacific, China and Europe, in search of potential talent.”

The AFL announced this week that the inter-conference Championship match of the 2012 North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) would be played between Queanbeyan and the Brisbane Lions at Manuka Oval in Canberra on this Saturday September 22, at 11:30am local time.

After winning only four matches in 2011, Queanbeyan topped the Eastern Conference table in 2012 and defeated the Sydney Swans Reserves by 30-points to claim the Eastern Conference premiership.

The Brisbane Lions Reserves went from last in 2011 to finish first on the NEAFL Northern Conference ladder in 2012.  They won the 2012 NEAFL Northern Conference Grand Final with a 60-point win over reining NEAFL Champions the NT Thunder.