World Footy News

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.

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: