World Footy News

Footy in GB

Although small in geography Great Britain has a relatively large population of 60 million and slowly but surely Australian football is marking its mark all over the isles. Footy in Britain exploded from its early years as purely London-based, to now being played in all corners of England, Wales and Scotland. Some regional cities can boast clubs that have now begun to show longevity, being established for 5 to 10 years. As well as promoting the growth of the sport, this has also given rise to a much larger pool of players for the Bulldogs' coaches to choose from - and made for a lot more travel around the country to do so!

Competition for squad spots has increased and from a coaching point of view, it's been great to see the dedication that players have shown to improve their game in pursuit of this opportunity to represent their country. The growth of the game around the country and the increased number of juniors beginning to get exposure to the sport should support its continued development and provide a pipeline of new players in years to come.
Perhaps the most remarkable statistic is that Great Britain has only one returning player from the 2008 Cup campaign, something that suggests a fresh new group but will also come with challenges in terms of experience.

Stephen Alomes is an Associate Professor at Deakin University, with particular interest in sport and culture.  Below is an article published in J. Senyard & P. Burke eds, Behind the Game, Maribyrnong Press, 2008.  It looks at the role women have played in Australian football since its inception, both on and off the field.  Although a weighty academic article it is a thorough lead in to an upcoming article by Tobietta Rhyman about the future of women's footy.

Since Australian Football’s beginnings women have always been involved in the game. This gender difference distinguishes it from other forms of football:  the traditional all-male crowds at many English and European soccer matches, and the massive male predominance at rugby league and rugby union matches. At the same time, women have been on the margins, outside the sacred turf found inside the boundary line, or not allowed into the inner sanctum of the male clubrooms. 

Three women in Edmonton tried out Aussie Rules at their local club, the Edmonton Emus. Two of them are now competing in this year’s International Cup Women’s Division with the Canadian Northern Lights.

Karyn Huxley was more familiar with Canadian football - she was a member of the Edmonton Eskimos cheer team for three years. But after marrying her Aussie husband, Cameron, she was introduced to a new kind of football. After becoming bored with dancing, Huxley wanted to try something different and gave footy a go. She accepts that as a contact sport Aussie rules has a physical aspect, but for her footy is fun game, more about stamina and running. There’s also the social and community aspect of football, and she really likes the family vibe at the Emus.

Also playing with Edmonton are Neda Dalili and Lucy Nolan. Nolan was born in Australia but was unfamiliar with the rules and had never played the game before moving to Canada. She started playing out of curiosity after meeting coach Tristan Waldock having a kick about in her local park, and soon found the game addictive. Unlike non-contact sports which she found frustrating, Nolan found the perfect sport in Aussie Rules, and likes how everyone gets to kick, catch, pass and tackle.

The GWS Giants have arrived in Prague with master coach Kevin “Sheeds” Sheedy and CEO Dale Holmes landing on Sunday 17th July for 3 days. Kevin is making this special trip thanks to GWS Giants co major partner Skoda whose head office is based in Prague.

“It’s important to the future of this partnership that we can meet with the heads of Skoda and show them the passion and vision we have for the game and importantly the GIANTS and our hopes of turning this partnership into the best and most successful in the AFL” Sheedy said.

Importantly Sheedy feels trips such as this give him an opportunity to share his love for the growth and wider development of the game, particularly in new markets. “I’m excited to see first-hand the brilliant work being done by the local AFL Czech group and the support of AFL Europe” Sheedy continued.

AFL Europe General Manager, Ben MacCormack views the visit as a growing recognition of the opportunities that Europe presents both AFL clubs such as the Giants and the AFL itself. “Commercially Europe offers the AFL brand many opportunities and AFL Europe are continually on the lookout for partners to help promote the growth of the game in Europe” MacCormack said.

The trip will consist of a training night with the AFL Czech Lions, Skoda based events, Czech Ice Hockey training visit with an eye open on finding the first big thing out of the Czech Republic for the AFL.

There was a good article on Adelaide Now regarding Port Adelaide's Fijian players mentoring an up and coming player of Fijian descent.  In particular Port fullback Alipate Carlisle has been encouraging Aseri Raikiwasa as the 18 year old strives to make the AFL.  Much to the youngster's surprise Carlisle contacted Aseri via Facebook and has been in contact with him ever since.  Aseri was born in South Australia and grew up on the Eyre Peninsula, but has strong Fijian roots and in 2004 returned to visit his family.  He is now playing with Port Magpies reserves in the SANFL and was SA's vice captain at the U18 champs.

See the following for more:

Raikiwasa raring to rip up the AFL and  Aseri making his mark

The following is a press release from the Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs are pleased to announce Integrated as our new Multicultural Partner in the lead up to this weekend’s inaugural AFL Multicultural Round.  The first of its kind in the AFL, this new partnership confirms the Western Bulldogs as the ‘Community Club’ of the league.

Two community focused organisations, the Western Bulldogs and Integrated share a commitment and a passion to provide opportunities for people from a diverse range of backgrounds to be included in our community.  The new association will support the Bulldogs to build on the Club’s ground breaking work with multicultural communities in Melbourne’s West.

“The Western Bulldogs Football Club is passionate about community development and view AFL Football as a tool we can use to help improve the lives of thousands of children and adults throughout the Western Region of Melbourne,” Simon Garlick Western Bulldog’s Chief Executive said today.

worldfootynews.com is pleased to announce a friendly tipping competition for the 2011 AFL International Cup.

It will be coordinated by one of our readers, John Hamilton. The aim will be to tip the winners for each IC11 match, with margins in the finals used to separate players who tie for the top spots.

For a bit of extra incentive we've organised a couple of great prizes from Burley Sekem. Top spot will receive a Premier football (pictured left, recommended retail price AUD$109.95) and second spot gets a Match football (pictured below, RRP AUD$39.95).

The competition will be open to everyone that is a member of our site (including WFN staff, but they are ineligible to win the prizes). Not signed up? It's free, we don't spam you with adverts, and it allows you to post comments (purely used to stop spammers). Sign up here.

One difficulty will be the short turn around times for each round, between knowing what the draw is and when tips will have to be submitted.

Read on for the details of how to enter.

The World XVIII has finished the 2011 NAB AFL Under 16 Championships with a hard fought win over international rivals the South Pacific.

World XVIII 11.7 (73) defeated South Pacific 10.5 (65)

Goals:
World XVIII - Abdallah 4, Dau 2, Gamakhulu 2, Aneet, Aliir, Molelle
South Pacific - Beno 3, Collins 2, Malbak, Siuta, Vesikara, Johnson, Pauli

Best:
World XVIII - A. Saad, Masaki, Anett, Abdallah, M. Saad, Jalloh
South Pacific - Gavuri, Beno, Heatherley, Stegman, Nao
 

NAB AFL Most Valuable Players:
Tasmania: Thor Boscott
Queensland: Isaac Conway
Northern Territory: David Richardson
NSW/ACT: Lloyd Perris
World XVIII: Adam Saad
South Pacific: Brendan Beno

Queensland’s Jordon Bourke was named the Alan McLean Medallist.

Queensland won the Division Two NAB AFL Under 16 Championship Cup.
 

South Australia has won the Division One NAB AFL Under 16 Championship Cup back-to-back with a hard fought 20-point win in the final game against Western Australia. Captain Luke Dunstan accepted the Championship cup. Coach of the South Australian side is Darel Hart.

Results from the 2011 NAB AFL Under 16 Championships Round Three Division One matches played today at Blacktown International Sportspark in Sydney. 

 South Australia 10.12 (72) defeated Western Australia 7.10 (52)

 Goals:

 South Australia: Aish 2, Northeast 2, Evans, Dijksman, Reynolds, Wilkie, Scharenberg, Simister

Western Australia: Humphries 2, Sokol 2, Martin, Hodgson, Abbott

 Best:

South Australia: Aish, Davidson, Neal-Bullen, Combe, Northeast, Scharenberg

Western Australia: Sheed, Loo, Hogan, Martin

[Note this draw has had several minor amendments by the AFL.  Latest version is July 27th.]

The AFL have released (assuming no unfortunate late withdrawals) the final copy of the 2011 AFL International Cup draw, for both the Men's and Women's competitions.

The main amendment is that the women's competition will now play 5 rounds (4 matches each) of qualifying matches (including back to back days on the first Wednesday and Thursday), which means each team plays the other once (the much dreamed of "even draw" that eludes the elite AFL competition). The top 2 ranked sides will then play off in the Grand Final, and there will be a 3rd/4th playoff whilst 5th will probably be glad for the day off.

You can download the full draw here or read on for an inline version (this will only be added some time on Friday).

AFL ‘Multicultural Round’ 17 celebrates the community engagement of Australian Football on a backdrop of the diverse cultures that make up Australia, as well as the many players from multicultural backgrounds in the AFL.

The highlight of Multucultural Round will be Sunday’s game at Etihad Stadium where North Melbourne will take on the Western Bulldogs. The day kicks off at 2:00 pm with an exhibition game at North Melbourne’s Aegis Park (Arden Street oval) between the Multicultural Academy and the Inidgenous Academy.

There are a number of ties between top level Rugby and top level Aussie rules. Coming up to the Rugby World Cup in NZ this year, former Hawthorn player Mick Byrne continues his long involvement with Rugby as a kicking/skills coach with with the All Blacks (and Japan). He has also had stints with the Wallabies as kicking and catching coach when they won the 1999 World Cup and he's also worked with the Brumbies (1998-2001), Springboks (2001-02), Scotland (2002-03) and Saracens prior to his appointment with the NZRU in 2005.

Rugby fans will also be very familiar with England fly half/inside centre Jonny Wilkinson and his elite place kicking and drop goal record. The video below where he answers fan questions reveals that he has connections with Geelong and is a Cats fan. He also has practiced with an Aussie rules footy for some time to hone his kicking skills.