World Footy News

The Annual Australian Rules Football British Tri-Nations Championship is coming to Cardiff this weekend, as Wales play host to the best British Aussie Rules players. The Welsh Australian Rules Football Leagues hosts the 9-a-side event which was first held last year in Worksop, England, and sees the Cymru Red Dragons, English Dragonslayers and Scottish Clansmen come together to play a series of 'Lightning' matches, of 15 minute halves.

The series is a warm up for all three teams as they prepare for the EuroCup, where the Red Dragons have finished 7th for the last two years.

The British Tri-Nations Championship will be held on September 8th at the Welsh Institute of Sport, behind the Swalec Stadium, with the first game kicking off at 12pm. The day will see 6 games in all as the three teams play each other twice in a round robin format, with the team top of the table at the end of the day, being declared winners.

Former UNF basketball Matt Sauey was one of the 26 athletes to take part in the AFL's US combine last week. In the video below he talks about his experience at the combine. 21 years old, Sauey at 6'7" and 92kg also played soccer in high school.

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This much hyped progression for AFL and the game in NZ appears very close to being confirmed.

Sydney has emerged at the top of Wellington City Council's wish-list to play St Kilda next season in what would be the AFL's first match for premiership points outside Australia.

AFL chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan yesterday said a deal to stage the Anzac Day clash at Westpac Stadium had yet to be clinched, but Wellington City Council sports and events portfolio leader John Morrison told The Saturday Age he expected the fine print, such as advertising and beer rights, to be settled within three weeks.

Morrison also revealed his preference was for the Swans to take on the Saints. ''It's up to the AFL, of course, but we certainly believe the Sydney Swans are the hot favourites,'' Morrison said. ''From our point of view, we would certainly like it because Sydney has good access to Wellington. From our bigger picture point of view, we hope we can get as many Australians as possible from St Kilda and the Sydney Swans and the AFL, and there are also many Australians that are in New Zealand, not just Wellington. We are aiming for a full house.''

This year’s tournament in Auckland will see Auckland, Christchurch, Waikato and wellington joined by Otago. This is the first time five of NZ’s provinces have been involved in the Championships and is a welcome progression for the sport.

Otago sent along representatives who played in the other Provinces’ sides last year and has a strong schoolboys program with many of their underage players selected already in NZ sides. Ben Miller is from Otago and is listed by Hawthorn as one of their International Rookies.

This tournament will confirm not only this year’s champion team but also provide players with the opportunity to be selected for the New Zealand Senior team to play against the Australian Institute of Sport, held in Wellington New Zealand on 26th January 2013

Northland, the picturesque region particularly known for the Bay of Islands, above the Auckland area in NZ is slowly opening up to the charms of AFL.

Now with a Regional Co-ordinator, Paul Hope, in the area there is hope for the game to get a foothold. Paul says hundreds of Northlanders have learned the game over the past two years through school programmes, after school programmes and secondary school introductions, with the sport offering part-time employment for up to 10 Northlanders. The fact that many people don't know the rules is part of the appeal, he says. "It doesn't matter, it's just all about having fun," he says. "It complements other winter sports and builds on their fitness and ball skills."

World footy followers will recall East Timor/Timor Leste contesting the 2011 International Cup, the new nation’s first foray into International Footy, and the fledging AFL nation not managing to record a win, although we should be reminded that two of their losses were by only one goal. Some could say ‘not a very auspicious start to World Footy’, though we can now report of a real success story with an East Timorese connection.

The Western Bulldogs youngster, Lin Jong, who made his AFL debut in round 20 against Richmond is the first AFL player of East Timorese and Taiwanese descent to do so. He is very likely to also be the first to receive a congratulatory letter from a Prime Minister, officially being recognized by the Prime Minister of Timor Leste, Xanana Gusmao.

Although born in Australia, Timor Leste is the homeland of Jong’s father, his mother being Taiwanese. His parents met in Taiwan and came to Australia 26 years ago to start a family and he is very appreciative of the interest in his background, it is also remarkable that Lin only began playing football 4 years ago.

Rove Magpies and Central Coast Eagles in SIAFL Grand Finale

Central Coast Eagles have found themselves in a SIAFL Grand Final showdown against the Rove Magpies; after edging out a very young but determined White River Demons side in the preliminary final clash last Thursday. The Eagles 12.7.79 to the Demons 9.6.60 for a 19 point win at King George field.

In a rapid three days the AFL Combine in Los Angeles for 26 American athletes has been completed. The AFL were impressed with the quality of the athletes from basketball and gridiron football recruited to the Combine by a network of agents and the USAFL.

Initially the plan was for two athletes to be invited to the National Draft Combine in Melbourne in October, but the quality of results in testing has seen the number increased to three. The full results are yet to come out but it has been revealed that six athletes clearly exceeded Nic Natanui's AFL Combine record for the vertical jump of 78cm and the a similar number of athletes tested at the elite level across the board. Derrel Acrey, jumped 90cm.

Emmanuel Moody 85cm, Cliff Ederaine 82cm, Scottie Farrington 82cm, Spencer Perrin 81cm and Quinn Porter 81cm also surpassed Naitanui's leap.   Acrey, Porter and Moody are the only athletes at the combine under 190cm.

So like Tadhg Kennelly says in the video below we can't wait to see all the results.

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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 – ROUND 23 INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE Friday 31 August  – Sunday 2 September.

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Gabel Stathis has just recently completed his stint in an AYAD role (Australian Youth Ambassador) in Samoa where he was busy working with AFL Samoa to help develop and promote Australian Football.

The following is an interview with Gabel.