World Footy News

AFL Samoa selected local rising star Joseph Falesa to attend the AFL training camp in New Zealand held in recent days.

Joseph, a 16 year old from Lepa/Lotofaga College, was selected to participate in the training camp because of his 'outstanding performance during the inaugural Aaron Edwards Cup' held in March.

Irrespective of outcome - attending the training camp would provide Joseph and many young footballers from the Pacific region the chance to experience training at an elite level; also an exposure to AFL overseas.

Across late last week and the weekend, many of the best young footy talent in the Pacific region converged on New Zealand. A 4 day camp was conducted to trial the players. The partial squad selected as a result is to be the basis of the full squad that will jet to Sydney for the AFL National Under 16 titles.
 

 

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 5 INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE Wednesday 25 April – Sunday 29 April

 

The late Jim Stynes was a Brownlow Medallist way back in 1991, whilst Tadhg Kennelly proudly owns a premiership medal but is recently retired.  And a host of Irish AFL players have been delisted in recent seasons.  Yet despite those sobering facts for the current state of the "Irish experiment", this year we might just be seeing the best overall batch yet.

AFL lists currently reveal 5 Irish primary list players and 5 Irish players as rookies (although John Heslin has returned home).  Two in particular catch the eye.

 

 

 

The Greater Western Sydney GIANTS are pleased to announce their first AFL match in Canberra against the Western Bulldogs this Saturday will be played for the Prime Minister’s Cup.

GIANTS Chief Executive David Matthews said the GIANTS’ first match in Canberra each year would be played for the Prime Minister’s Cup and celebrate the contribution of Australian football to the nation’s capital.

“The GIANTS are delighted to be part of something we hope will become an iconic event for Canberra and I want to sincerely thank the Prime Minister Julia Gillard for supporting this concept,” Matthews said.

An annual Anzac Day Match is an important event held near the start of the Philippine AFL season.  The match has been held on or around Anzac Day since 2007,  and is contested for "The PAFL ANZAC Day Match Sands Of Gallipoli Trophy" which was donated by the Defence Attache to the Philippines. The Defence Attache also donates and awards the 'Anzac Medal' each year to the player who best typifies the Anzac spirit - courage, tenacity, initiative and teamwork.

This year the official season kicks off on 5th May 2012 with matches now played at the Nomad Sports Club in Manila.

 

SARFL HAGGIS CUP 2012

In Association with Malones Irish Bar and MacBackpakers Hostels and tours
 
This weekend sees 12 teams from 4 different countries compete for the 8th Haggis cup at Peffermill Playing fields Edinburgh. This year there will be a men’s section and a ladies section, with ten competing men’s teams and two for the women.

Mens

Glasgow Sharks (Scotland) - defending champions
Milano Eagles (Italy)
Edinburgh Bloods (Scotland)
Dublin Demons (Ireland)
Aberdeen Eagles (Scotland)
Wimbledon Hawks (England)
Manchester Mossquitos (England)
Huddersfield Rams (England)
Southampton Titans (England)
Wimbledon Hawks B (England)

Ladies

Dublin Angels (Ireland)
Kilrea Kukaburaas (Ireland)
 

Melbourne Football Club Media Release

This Sunday, the Melbourne Football Club and The Reach Foundation will together celebrate Jim’s life at the MCG,leading into the Demons’ Round 4 clash against the Western Bulldogs.

 

The Jim Stynes Tribute Game provides a chance for all Victorians to gather in celebration of his contributions to football, the Reach Foundation and the greater community.

For the first time since its inception, four provinces attended the tournament held in Christchurch during March. A fantastic development was Otago fielding its first ever regional team. 2009 winners Auckland, 2010 winners Canterbury and Wellington were the other provinces present. Importantly the province of Northland provided some players to the Auckland team as Otago did during their development phase to Wellington.

2011 winners, New Zealand Under 16's were in attendance but are no longer eligible to compete for the NPC Championship. They instead played two representative matches against a South Island combination (Otago and Canterbury) on Saturday and a North Island combination (Auckland and Wellington ) on the Sunday.

New Zealand Hawks Under 16 players also represented their respective provinces in normal NPC matches. Their involvement was monitored on a restricted basis to ensure adequate rest time for the individuals concerned.

 

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 4 INTERNATIONAL BROADCAST SCHEDULE Friday 20 April – Sunday 22 April

 

GAME	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH	VENUE	STATE	LOCAL TIME	EST	CST	WST	GMT	NETWORK	SD/HD
1	Friday 20 April	Night (N)	St Kilda vs. Fremantle	Etihad Stadium	VIC	19:50	19:50	19:20	17:50	9:50	SEVEN	SD
2	Saturday 21 April	Day (D)	Carlton vs. Essendon	MCG	VIC	13:45	13:45	13:15	11:45	3:45	SEVEN	SD
3	Saturday 21 April	Day (D)	Collingwood vs. Port Adelaide	Etihad Stadium	VIC	14:10	14:10	13:40	12:10	4:10	FOX	HD
4	Saturday 21 April	Twilight (T)	Adelaide Crows vs. GWS GIANTS	AAMI Stadium	SA	16:10	16:40	16:10	14:40	6:40	FOX	HD
5	Saturday 21 April	Night (N)	West Coast Eagles vs. Hawthorn	Patersons Stadium	WA	17:40	19:40	19:10	17:40	9:40	SEVEN	SD
6	Saturday 21 April	Night (N)	Brisbane Lions vs. Gold Coast SUNS	Gabba	QLD	19:40	19:40	19:10	17:40	9:40	FOX	HD
7	Sunday 22 April	Early (E)	Geelong Cats vs. Richmond	Simonds Stadium	VIC	13:10	13:10	12:40	11:10	3:10	FOX	HD
8	Sunday 22 April	Day (D)	Sydney Swans vs. North Melbourne	SCG	NSW	15:15	15:15	14:45	13:15	5:15	SEVEN	SD
9	Sunday 22 April	Twilight (T)	Melbourne vs. Western Bulldogs	MCG	VIC	16:40	16:40	16:10	14:40	6:40	FOX	HD

 

Reader submitted story from Ireland's Australian Rules Football League season 2012 Round 1 contest between Leeside Lions and Midwest Magpies.

In their first game of the season, the Leeside Lions continued their excellent league form from last year, beating the Midwest Magpies by a score of 9.12 (65) to 4.9 (33).

The Leesiders brought up 12 men, and were missing a number of key players for a variety of reasons. Crucially though, the three Lions who represented the European Titans a mere days previous in Paris made the long trip back to the West in time. The match was the highlight of the week, contested between two teams with genuine Premiership title hopes for the coming year. After a narrow loss in the Grand Final last year, the Lions were out to set the record straight with a number of new recruits in their ranks, who played a major role in the win.

The Pies chose to avail of the stiff breeze coming in off the Atlantic, and took an early lead, pinning the Lions into their own half but unable to convert the full six on many occasions. Good defensive work and pressure from the Southern side gave the home team no inch, and although down 15 points, the gap was attainable in the strong wind.

As reported in the local Dominion Post newspaper , Wellington is in the boxseat to host the first AFL competition game outside Australia, perhaps as soon as next year, as St Kilda search for a home away from home.

This has been previously reported on WFN arousing much debate about the merits of playing a game for Premiership points internationally but it seems what was once a pipe dream now seems as Elvis would say "On the edge of reality".