World Footy News

There’s been a lot of publicity around the match winning goal of NRL (Rugby League to AFL) convert Karmichael Hunt on Saturday evening at Cairns' Cazaly stadium. Richmond fans no doubt are fed up with hearing about it. However, for all that Hunt has improved this season, and for all that he looks like he does or will warrant his selection from week to week – there’s another Rugby (Union) to AFL code conversion story that is playing out in a Sydney and it’s not Izzie Folau; and it's not at a bottom of the table team.

The AFL today announced the Grand Final of the 2012 FOXTEL Cup – the state-league based knockout competition that was introduced last season – would be played between Claremont and Werribee at Patersons Stadium in WA on Thursday August 2, at 7.35pm local time.

 

Claremont was runner-up in the inaugural competition in 2011, losing last year’s final to Williamstown, and won its way through to the grand final again with victories over West Adelaide, Mt Gravatt and Port Melbourne. Werribee, which qualified for inclusion in the competition for the first time this year, won its place in the final with successes against Burnie, West Perth and Morningside.

This week the AFL will celebrate the official AFL Women’s Round. The Round acknowledges the valuable contribution of women to Australia’s Game and focuses on recognising and developing female leadership across all levels of the Australian football industry, from community to the elite.

A range of activities will take place during the week, headlined by the AFL Women’s Industry Luncheon on Friday July 20 and culminating in several match day events across the weekend. Nominations for the Essendon Football Club Woman of the Year Award will also be named at the AFL Women’s lunch.

In case you missed this during the AFL's Mulitcultural Round, Australia Post and the AFL created this nifty presentation containing information about the origins of some of the AFL's Multicultural players.

The USAFL women’s team USA Freedom recently held their annual selection trials at a training camp in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There was a huge turnout to the event, including seasoned Freedom players returning from the 2011 International Cup and new players coming up through their local teams.

Following the success of the training camp, and the continued increase in the popularity of the sport across both the men’s and women’s camps, the USAFL has announced its decision to host men’s and women’s Development squads, alongside their top level national squads, at the 49th Parallel Cup which will be held in Dublin, Ohio on August the 4th.

The Under 16 Championships concluded today.  Yesterday Western Australia clinched the Division one title.  Today Queensland won to take home the Division two title.  In Division three the winner was WA North-West in a great sign of strength for that state and the opening up of further development in the remote communities in that part of Australia.

The international bragging rights were on the line in the final match of the championships and it was the South Pacific team coming out on top to win by 46 points.  Some consolation for the World XVIII however with Hugh Curnow (who plays with the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup) being awarded the inaugural Mark Browning Medal for the Division three best and fairest.

Full results below. 

South Pacific and World XVIII players joined GWS forward Israel Folau and the Sydney Swans Eugene Kreuger today at Luna Park in Sydney for a press opportunity. While the internationals playing in the Under 16 Championships posed for photos and appeared in news footage, the big issue in Sydney was centred around speculation that the NRL code crosser might be moving back to NRL. He calmly let the press know this was not the case.

The story from Fox Sports can be seen 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 16 INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE Friday 13 July  – Sunday 15 July.

Today's games in Round 2 were relocated to Blacktown after heavy rain in Sydney overnight.

Passionate individuals remain the driving force behind football in India.

The Welsh Australian Rules Football League (WARFL) can today claim to have some of the best non-Aussie 'Footy' players in Britain. This weekend saw the AFL England Brit Cup hosted in Reading, and the WARFL Red Devils took home the Gold against 5 other teams representing Aussie Rules Leagues in England.

The tournament was a 12-a-side round robin competition of 20 minute games, with a strict ruling of no Australians allowed. With the coaches of the Great Britain Bulldogs watching, every team had the cream of British talent on display in one of the toughest competitions of the year. The Devils were made up of players from teams in the WARFL as well as Welsh International Players.

Thanks to Josh Davey for this report.