World Footy News

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.

Article written by Leiha Shrubsall

Laura Corrigan (Co. Cavan, Ireland.) played in her 4^th VWFL grand final with Diamond Creek last weekend. She is the only Irish player in the premier division of the VWFL and now has made Irish history again by being the first to secure a VWFL Grand Final medal. Laura was also a key player in the winning Irish Banshees International Cup side and also made the ‘World Team’ of the competition. Laura has also represented the Victorian Country team.

Now finally she has the VFWL Premiership Cup aka ‘the holy grail’ in her hands too.

Although it was not televised, it was streamed on you tube so a few of us were able to get up early on Saturday morning to watch it!

I was lucky enough to get an EXCLUSIVE interview with her, well done to her and the ‘Creekers’ on a historic Grand Final win:

In a historic victory, the Creekers overcame the Falcons 5.10 (40) to 5.5 (35) to win the 2012 Premiers Division Grand Final and take home the Sue Alberti Cup. It was the Creekers first time to take the Premier Division flag, and the team’s first time to beat the mighty Falcons, who were previously coached to six consecutive premiership flags by former coach Peta Searle, now at VFL club Port Melbourne.

The game was played at Box Hill City Oval, home of VFL team Box Hill Hawks, in front of a crowd of several thousand, a huge leap up from previous years.

Collingwood Football Club today announced that they have delisted Shae McNamara. The American has been at the club for three years and despite many good VFL games for the club he was unable to crack the senior list. McNamara also played in NAB Cup matches for the club in 2011 and 2012.

Ironically his delisting comes as the AFL are running a Combine in Los Angeles to assess US athletes for potential transition to Australian football. McNamara was used in the video to promote the Combine as an athlete who had transitioned from college basketball.

His own entrance to the game however famously came after he sent video footage of himself to AFL clubs and attracted Collingwood’s attention. He had previously been playing basketball in Germany.

The Cardiff Panthers made history as they won the Welsh Australian Rules Football League for the 4th year in a row.

Having finished second the table at the end of the Home & Away season, the Panthers were forced to travel to the home of the Minor Premiership winners, the Bristol Dockers, for a repeat of last year's Grand Final. The Cardiff Panthers took on the Bristol Dockers at Dings RFC.

Thanks to Josh Davey from the WARFL for this report.

AFL International Development Manager Tony Woods spoke to SEN Radio's Kevin Bartlett last week about the camp that starts today (US time) in Los Angeles.  Audio below:

The USAFL today released the names of the 26 athletes that will take part in the inaugural Australian Football US Combine.

The Combine will test 21 student athletes with basketball backgrounds, four with football backgrounds and one USAFL player Tyler Mounce from the Orange County Bombers.

The Combine will be held in Redondo Beach, Los Angeles over the next three days from Monday the 27th of August. The pilot program will mirror the Australian Football League’s (AFL) Combine testing. Similar to the NFL Combine, AFL Combine testing includes standing and vertical jumps, sprinting, agility and endurance.

Attending from the AFL will be Tony Woods, Tadhg Kennelly, Mick Ablett, James Hepner and Amy Hattam.   Attending from the USAFL will be Doren James (Operations Manager), Andy Vanica (President), Matt Bishop (Revolution Head Coach) and Dan Sarbacker  (Development Team Head Coach).  Sports clothing and accessories company Under Armour will be providing the testing gear for the athletes.

The full list of athletes is as follows:

 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 22 INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE Friday 24 August  – Sunday 26 August.