World Footy News

At the selection table yesterday Collingwood selected Marley Williams (pictured) to debut this weekend. He was formally elevated off Collingwood's rookie list to the senior list on Thursday, making the 18-year-old eligible for AFL selection. He replaced veteran Luke Ball, who has been put on the long-term injury list. Williams, who stands 181 centimetres, was drafted by the Magpies from WAFL club Claremont in the 2011 Rookie Draft with the 35th overall pick. He was working as a fencer when told he had been picked up by Collingwood.

From Albany in Western Australia, Williams, whose father is Maori, played his junior football for North Albany, before moving to Perth to play for Claremont Colts. He managed a couple of senior WAFL appearances for Claremont last year, and also represented WA in the under 18 national championships.

State league representative matches will be played this Saturday, May 26 in Adelaide, Hobart and Brisbane.

It is the first time state leagues throughout Australia have a fixtured bye allowing for the representative matches to be played at the same time. Matches between the state teams will be rotated over a six-year period.

AFL General Manager National and International Development Andrew Dillon said he is anticipating a high standard of football.

“For the first time state league players have the chance to play in a structured representative format.

After an earlier relationship may have seen the USAFL club Chicago Swans and the AFL's Sydney Swans drift away from each other, they have found each other once again.

The Sydney Swans website reports that: Long-time friend of the Chicago Swans and Sydney reserves coach Jared Crouch said the new affiliation was a relationship that benefitted both clubs. “For them, they want a little bit of support and for us it’s about getting our name and our brand out there and offering any help we can,” he told sydneyswans.com.au.

“(Australian Rules) football is actually pretty big in the US. Other clubs already have affiliations. There are the New York Magpies, the Nashville Kangaroos and Boston play in Melbourne’s colours, so it’s about getting our name and brand on that scene.” As part of the new affiliation, 'Windy City' native and Chicago Swans player Jason Wilhelm visited the Swans headquarters at the SCG last week, and was treated to a guided tour with Crouch.

 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 9 INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE Friday 25 May – Sunday 27 May

 

AFL Samoa in conjunction with the Samoa International Cricket Association will be holding a combined sports day on Saturday June 2nd at the Faleata Cricket grounds. RAN ship HMAS Darwin will be in port and the AFL Samoa seniors will take on the Darwin crew from 2pm on the ‘bottom oval’.

2012 marks the 50th anniversary Independence Celebrations throughout the Pacific island nation of Samoa. Originally known as Western Samoa; since July 1997 as Samoa. Independence was achieved on January 1st, 1962, although the push for independence dated back to around 1908 with the establishment the Mau movement.

Tocumwal is located 257kms from Melbourne on the New South Wales border (the Murray River). The football club there like in many small country towns is struggling for numbers as the population has declined over the years and many young men move away from the town for employment in larger centres.

In a unique move to maximise player attendance at football training (which ensures they have numbers on the field come Saturday) the club is paying players to attend training Tuesday and Thursday nights, but they must also meet a few other requirements to assist the club.

The article on this novel approach in The Weekly Times can be read here

 

Hot off the presses is the official media release from the AFL promoting the South Pacific Under 16s squad for the 2012 NAB AFL Under-16 Championships between July 7-14.

With the continued expansion of AFL into NZ apay to view channel has picked up further AFL content for its Auckland audience.

Rather than it being replays of prior games the program will focus on local football from Victoria. Now in its fifteenth year promoting Victorian Australian Rules football, The Local Footy Show features stories from more than 280 clubs from across 16 leagues, with 11 leagues featuring in its full match-of-the-day coverage in 2011 alone.

It is highly likely ratings will not be enormous but nonetheless it shows a raised level of interest in our code.

For more plese see:- http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1204...v-slot.htm

Good Morning America's viewers were today treated to Jeremy Howe's spectacular mark against Sydney on the weekend as their "Play of the Day".

 

The USAFL's Nolan Ellis was last night featured on Denver's local news following his selection in the World XVIII squad.

The AFL tells us that the full team will be announced in the next couple of weeks, after final acceptances of invitations from internationally based players.

Australian based players are reportedly progressing well in the selection process with a large number of nominations received, including some players still involved in State trials.