World Footy News

The last week of September in Melbourne in particular saw most footy attention aimed squarely at the knee of Stevie J and the groin, or rather abductor, of Darren Jolly. In fairness, the partnering of the AFL and Federal Govt in launching a PNG AFL taskforce to expand Australian football in the region isn’t really core news for the regular AFL media.

During the week, with the gradual building up of expectation for the fortunes of Geelong and Collingwood at the ‘G on the first Saturday in October, it’s little wonder then that the simultaneous announcements of the AFL and MP the Hon Richard Marles failed to raise much of a profile.

The Volunteers, the Specialists, the Honchos, WFN and other Media…

The International Cup is a major logistical as well as football exercise. It featured several hundred players and officials playing at three main sites, Blacktown International Sportspark, at Royal Park and the MCG as well as one day of matches spread around Sydney. Local volunteers are crucial for a tournament with over 500 players and two weeks of matches. While the AFL provided organisational support – and, crucially, insurance for the international teams – the key people are the volunteers. It is a given that the players arrive with the support of coaches, managers and in some cases trainers, the international volunteers, but the local volunteers are equally important.

Thanks to Leiha Shrubsall for the bulk of this article.

Last year the first ever European women's international match took place at the Euro Cup: Ireland defeated Italy by 10 points. Now the AFL Finals are out the way, it is time again for the Euro Cup. This time Belfast is the city hosting the competition. Being the Banshees' first international home game, they want to win on home soil. The squad list is out, and the majority of the squad is made up of IC11 players and a few new players added.

‘We have just returned victorious from the biggest competition on the International stage, we know now where we sit on an International playing level and want to keep that level up. We've never met the Swiss team before so we don't know what they will throw at us but we'll be playing the Banshees’ brand of footy regardless.’
 

The Essendon Women’s Network has awarded Sydney Swans’ Lesley McGrath the Football Woman of the Year (FWOTY) Award for her long term contribution to the game and for being a female ambassador to the football community as Sydney Swans’ Finance manger.

On congratulating McGrath, Sydney Swans CEO Andrew Ireland said how she had worked tirelessly in various finance roles, mostly as the club’s Finance Manager, and was a much loved staff member and team mentor. From her commencement in 1986 during one of the club’s more turbulent times, she has worked for the Swans for 25 years, making her the longest serving female employee of any AFL club.

The FWOTY Award is an annual award recognising women in football who have made a significant contribution to the game. The 2011 award is the 14th year the award has been presented by the Essendon Women’s Network to a prominent woman in the world of football. The award is open to any woman in football regardless of club or profession, but the recipient must demonstrate seven criteria:

In the second set of previews for the 2011 Euro Cup, we profile the Austrian Avalanche, German Black Eagles and Italy Azzurri - as well as last year's gold medallists Croatia and the runners up Netherlands.

Can the Knights and the Dutchmen repeat their stellar performance this year, or will the hosts Ireland bring them back to Earth?

The Germans have seen lots of growth at home and won a few internationals this year - can they take the next step and stamp their mark as up-and-comers in European footy? The Italians impressed with their development in 2010, taking out 6th place despite being one of Europe's newer leagues.

The Austrians have had some setbacks domestically with the Vienna Kangaroos going into recess, but with the Styrian DownUnderDogs playing a season in the Croatian domestic league they too will be eager to show they're on the way up.

Rugby League's Auckland Warriors’ Shaun Johnson was nearly lost to AFL when he attracted the interest of scouts in 2006. Having been tagged as the next Benji Marshall he is obviously seen as a huge talent in the 13 a side game.

Now 21, the then 16 year old was playing Australian football for the NZ U 16 side at the Barassi Cup in Canberra. Not only did he play but he received the award as NZ’s best at the international tournament. After the carnival in Canberra, Johnson toured the set-up at the Sydney Swans, who had lost that year's AFL grand final to the West Coast by one point under coach Paul Roos.

With the 9-a-side 2011 Euro Cup hosted by the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland just around the corner, WFN spoke to the team managers for some background on the teams, their preparations and their ambitions for this year's tournament.

We're starting with the Irish Warriors, England Dragonslayers, Denmark Vikings, France Coqs and Cymru Red Dragons (Wales) - five sides whose respective leagues have recently mounted campaigns at the 2011 International Cup.

Whilst the English, French and Welsh sides will include a number of IC players, the Irish and Danes will bring completely new sides to the tournament.

The following release from the USAFL today details the 2011 Nationals Divisions to be played in Austin, TX next week.

The USAFL is pleased to announce the 2011 Nationals Divisions have been set.  The National Tournament Committee has finalized the pools for Divisions I, II, III and Women’s. Division IV still requires some final revisions and Region Vice Presidents will be following up with clubs (listed below) to confirm player numbers and pairings in the coming days.

We are pleased to note that a record number of teams are playing at Nationals this year.  Unfortunately, this makes our task even more difficult, and will inevitably lead to some disappointment.

This article courtesy of Kate O'Halloran

It was the grand final that almost didn’t happen. Two months before the game was due to be played, members of the Australian Football League Germany (AFLG) were told that the ground they had booked and were contracted for was unavailable. Three weeks before the game, no resolution had been made, with the game likely to be moved to Berlin.

Later, the ground was again theirs, much to the relief of members of the opposing clubs. Such is the life of the AFLG footballer: their passion for and the importance of a game most locals have never heard of is not always understood.

None of this drama was evident at the start of the game on Saturday. It was an unexpectedly sunny, 25-degree September day in Stuttgart. While most of the locals were out at the regional Folk Festival, an eclectic mix of onlookers gathered in the heat to watch the Rheinland Lions and Berlin Crocodiles battle it out for the AFLG premiership.

The Rheinland Lions are no strangers to the last Saturday in September, having now contested the last 6 grand finals in a row. For the Crocodiles, on the other hand, it was their maiden grand final after a mostly successful season which saw them bolt to the top of the ladder before tapering off mid-way through the season.

Perhaps the next biggest event in Australian football behind the AFL Grand Final is Brownlow Medal night, when the AFL's best players gather for the awarding of the medal of "fairest and best", based on the umpires' votes.  The evening is telecast live across Australia and this year featured an international flavour.

A segment paid tribute to the efforts of Australian football clubs in helping their communities in times of disaster, and highlighted four examples.  Country Victoria was hit by floods earlier this year, especially the Loddon Valley.  Recognising the efforts of Newbridge FC, they were represented by Ron Trimble, their club President.  And from Queensland's Lockyer Valley, where flooding cost lives, came Tony and Donna Bowers, founders of the area's only Aussie Rules local footy side.

But the surprise international aspect came through New Zealand and Japan.

Adding to the success of the Seniors at the Women’s Nationals in June, on Saturday 24th September in the Gold Coast, the Victorian defeated Western Australia by 7.4(46) to 5.6(36) to win their second Youth Girls National Championships title. Victoria also won the inaugural Youth Girls Nationals in 2010.

The Grand Final was held at Southport Sharks AFC on the Gold Coast. Victorian player Ellie Blackburn (Berwick Hawks) was named Best on Ground and was awarded the Game ball. This future female star was also named Player of the Carnival, was joint winner of the Golden Boot with Western Australia’s Sabrina Traub, and was awarded a well deserved place on the All-Stars team.