World Footy News

This Saturday's AFL Grand Final will feature a team that has "flown under the radar" for almost all of the season with a player that also befits that description despite having a remarkable story to tell, the story of Mike Pyke and the Sydney Swans.

28 years ago Michael Pyke was born in Victoria, B.C. Canada.  He played basketball, soccer and ice hockey before moving onto rugby where he played for the Canadian national side and a top French side.  Pyke achieved international fame in 2007 for running the length of the field and scoring an intercept try against the New Zealand All Blacks in a RUWC game.

However, injuries prompted Pyke to look for a career change. "In Canada, everyone knows what Aussie rules is but they don't know much about it," Pyke later would say. Together with a friend, Matt Woodland, Pyke put together a DVD showcasing his rugby highlights which Woodland then sent onto AFL player agent Michael Quinlan.  Quinlan, convinced of the possibilities, began dialogue with the Sydney Swan's Stewart Maxfield, as the Swans were known for their success with international premiership player Tadhg Kennelly and their use of “sabermetrics” (Moneyball).
 

Aussie Rules in Canada has enjoyed a purple patch of late. Mike Pyke’s rise to fame and imminent AFL Grand Final appearance with the Sydney Swans has coincided with solid growth on his home soil. Most of the Canadian leagues - spread across four of the thirteen provinces and territories - have expanded their number of teams in recent years, some even adding women’s divisions and second tier competitions.

That purple patch is set to continue with the exciting new formation of the Halifax Dockers; a team looking to break new ground and promote Aussie Rules on a completely new frontier: the province of Nova Scotia.

Sydney Coach, John Longmire was tonight announced as the AFLCA’s Allan Jeans Etihad Airways Senior Coach of the Year in front of over 600 guests at the 2012 Momentum Energy AFL Coaches Association Awards Night at Crown. Voted by his coaching peers, Longmire won the AFLCA Award in only his 2nd year as a Senior Coach. The Award has been named in honour of coaching icon Allan Jeans who passed away last year.

Richmond midfielder Trent Cotchin, won the AFLCA “Wingman Player of the Year Award. Cotchin finished in front of Collingwood’s Dayne Beams with Gary Ablett and Patrick Dangerfield tied in third position. Each Senior Coach voted on a 5,4,3,2,1 basis after each home and away game this Season. Government Minister Andrew McIntosh made the Presentation to Cotchin, with Trent’s partner and parents in attendance.

Chen Shao Liang was described by Kevin Sheehan as a "medium defender type with brilliant leg power. His vertical jump is in the rare category. A standing jump of 86cm and a running jump of 99cm at the China Combine in July were reflective of his background in volleyball and basketball. An exciting athlete that has excelled at school in short distance track events and displays a real desire to learn the game and improve. Is the first player to be selected from the AFL China Academy program in Guangzhou, Southern China

 

You can see him for yourself in the video news story below from Austalian TV Network Channel 9.

Goal umpire Chelsea Roffey will this Saturday become the first woman to officiate at an AFL grand final. Many in the international footy community may remember Chelsea from the 2008 International Cup where she provided media coverage for the AFL site working for Media Giants.

Roffey and Luke Walker were named as the goal umpires for this week's Hawthorn v Sydney season-decider.

The field umpires will be Simon Meredith, Brett Rosebury, and Matt Stevic, while the boundary umpires will be Ian Burrows, Jonathan Creasey, Robert Haala, and Mark Foster

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news...z27R0N3ZQu

The AFL and The Reach Foundation announced on Monday Richmond midfielder Daniel Jackson as the winner of the inaugural Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award.

Daniel Jackson was presented the award by Brian Stynes, brother of Jim, last night at the 2012 Brownlow Medal Ceremony.

The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award honours the former Melbourne Football Club President and champion player who passed away in March this year, following a lengthy battle with cancer.

Essendon's Jobe Watson tonight took out the Brownlow Medal with a season tally of 30 votes. Despite Essendon's poor second half of the year Watson left others in his wake with Trent Cotchin from Richmond and Sam Mitchell from Hawthorn tied for second with 26 votes and Dane Swan and Scott Thompson both polling 25.

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.

[youtube:YnyPyFtvF58]