World Footy News

A 16-year-old French exchange student by the name of Lou Quidu-Tronscorff received some coverage in the local newspaper of the Queensland town of Mackay yesterday. Lou has taken up playing junior footy with the North Mackay Saints since arriving in Australia last month.

Coming from a background of playing rugby and judo back in France, he has adapted quickly to the physicality of Aussie Rules. "I'm not a great kicker of the football, but I like to tackle," he said. "I find that part of the game easy because of my rugby background."

Queensland AFL spokesman Darryl Griffiths said his performances in his first two matches with the Saints have been encouraging. "Lou definitely wants to learn more about the game and for someone new to the sport he is picking up it up really well," he said. "He is very tough, attacks the ball well and continues to develop his skills. A big challenge for him apart from communicating at times in English, has been to continually learn the positions and rules of Aussie rules so he knows what to do on the field."

For the full story, read this article in the Mackay Daily Mercury.

Bangkok airport will be overrun by flying Sherrins and Aussie Rules banter this coming weekend as nine nations descend on the land of smiles to fight out the fourteenth annual Asian Australian Football Championships. It will be the fourth time the Thailand Tigers host the largely ex-pat dominated tournament affectionately known as the ‘Asian Champs’. In a change from previous years, Pattaya has been selected as the host city over traditional venue Bangkok.

The most up-to-date list of competing teams is as follows: Bali Geckos, Jakarta Bintangs, Hong Kong Dragons, Singapore Wombats, Laos Elephants, Malaysian Warriors, Thailand Tigers, Phillipine Eagles, and Vietnam Swans.

The AFL Europe has announced that a European All-Stars match will be held as the curtain-raiser to the November 3rd clash between the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide in London.

The match will pit a team drawn from across the European continent against a team representing the islands of Great Britain, Ireland and Iceland. The official team names will be released later in the year, with squads to be named following the 2012 Euro Cup in Glasgow.

The Bulldogs vs Port clash will this year be played as a twilight match at the KIA Oval, with tickets on sale via kiaoval.com at £5 for kids and from £20 for adults.

For more information, visit afleurope.org.

WAFL powerhouse Claremont has claimed the 2012 Foxtel Cup, going one better than their runners-up finish in 2011.

The match was played in Perth at Patersons Stadium on Thursday night and Claremont jumped VFL side Werribee to take a good early lead before the visitors fought back to trail by just 9 points at the first break.  The third quarter proved decisive with the home side booting four goals to none and never looked back, running out easy 44 point victors.

 

Last time the US and Canada met it was at the International Cup in the opening round in Sydney under a reduced match length format. The US won by just three points. Two years ago the US travelled to Canada and won by thirty four points. So given their history the Americans were strong favourites for this years clash on home soil for the 49th Parallel Cup.

The match was played in hot humid conditions in Dublin, Ohio.  While the Americans perhaps did dominate the match and with some straight kicking might have run away with it, the Northwind were right in the match well into the last quarter. The final score USA Revolution 7.12 (54) defeated Canada Northwind 5.1 (31).

USA Freedom have overcome their biggest rivals, the Canadian Northern Lights to win the 49th Parallel Cup 6.7(43) to 5.8(38). After having been narrowly defeated at their last major international meeting in Australia for the International Cup, this year the Americans were out to prove something and played strongly throughout the match.

The Canadians came back several times in what proved to be a very close and low scoring game, hard fought out in midfield, and by the end of the third quarter, things weren’t looking good for the Americans as the Canadians started edging ahead. But the talented Freedom players pushed hard in the final quarter to turn the game around, and after three consecutive goals from Eileen Geogheegan and Lindsay Kastanek, they sealed victory for the USA Freedom.

15 year old Jasmine Fitzgerald recently started playing football for the Lalor Stars Youth Girls team and after playing 6 games she claims she is hooked on it, proudly singing out her team’s song with her arms round her team mates when they win.

 However, unlike her team mates, Jasmine only has one leg, the other having been amputated as a child after she contracted meningitis. Despite this, you would barely notice the difference as she runs around the field enthusiastically with the help of a surprisingly ordinary looking prosthetic.

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The US Revolution and Canada Northwind teams will play today (Saturday) in Ohio and the event will be covered with audio and video available online.   

To see streaming video of the event from around 9:45am EDT at  http://www.justin.tv/nashvillekangaroos and audio commentary of the matches will be available from 10am EDT at  http://www.ohiosportsradio.caster.fm.

Women's and men's development teams will be up in the first two games, followed by women's US Freedom vs Canada Northern Lights and finally men's US Revolution vs Canada Northwind.

Six pioneering women have been selected as finalists for the 2012 Football Woman of the Year (FWOTY) award. The winner will be announced at the Grand Final Comedy Debate on Thursday 27 September at Crown Palladium.

The finalists are:

Cheryl Cates - President of the South Australian Women’s Football League (SAWFL)
Jo Del Prete – Advisory role to the West Australian Football Commission
Belinda Duarte - AFL’s SportsReady Indigenous Program and Director of Korin Gamadji Institute
Peta Searle - Port Melbourne Football Club Assistant Coach
Suki Hobson - Strength Scientist at the Essendon Football Club
Diana Taylor – First woman on the VFL Tribunal and President of the Western Region Football League.

NAB AFL Auskick coach Michael Greenham recently held a once-off Auskick session in the Turkish capital Ankara, while en route for a cycling tour for charity. Assisted by some local PE teachers and staff from the Australian embassy, Greenham took over 200 local kids through some Aussie rules skill sessions.

While we've had contacts interested in starting footy in Turkey before, it's never quite gotten off the ground. However, you never know when the next impromptu session will be the one that gets things underway.

The full article from the AFL website can be read below.

 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 19 INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE Friday 3 August  – Sunday 5 August.

The US Revolution and Canada Northwind teams have been named ahead of the 49th Parallel Cup this weekend. 

 

Full team list below.