World Footy News

In the rugby league heartlands of Sydney’s western suburbs, a football team called the Auburn Tigers has sprung up. The Auburn Tigers are from a variety of backgrounds, mostly Lebanese, and train to a backdrop of the Gallipoli Mosque towers. Against the odds, they were extremely successful, winning the premiership in their first season. However, the guys are not the only team that trains here- encouraged by the success of the men’s team, a women’s team has also started up.

Like the guys team, the Auburn Tigers women’s team are predominantly Muslim. There are also Fijian, Bosnian, Turkish, Afghan and some white girls there too. Though some girls may be from secular backgrounds, how on earth does a girl from a traditional Lebanese or Afghan Muslim family go out on the oval tackling, kicking and engaging in all the other physical aspects of football? The answer is simple- a specially designed kit, including full length skins, knee length shorts and a headscarf which the girls’ Captain, Amna Karra-Hassan, assures doesn’t slip off during the game. They also have a strategy in case a headscarf incident does occur, to make the girl feel comfortable and able to get it back on quickly.

Because of the cultural requirements of the women’s team, they ask the men to stay away from training on Wednesdays, but the greater problem to overcome is finding a coach. Experienced female coaches are thin on the ground even in the football heartlands of Victoria, and so far the girls have been unable to find a suitable one. To overcome this, their captain has learnt some drills and tactics from the guys team to help her coach the girls, and despite some of them never having seen a game of footy on the TV before, they are enjoying the game and their skills are improving.

Collingwood football club continues its love for the Arizona altitude this week as Dane Swan, Darren Jolly, Nathan Brown and Brent McCaffer headed back to the US on Monday and were shortly after joined by Dale Thomas.  The theory is that the two weeks at altitude will aid the recovery of these players struggling with injury and fatigue problems.

The Youtube video below interviews the players about the trip and has some footage of the clubs preseason trip to Arizona.

Division 1

Victoria 18.5(113) vs Queensland 0.3(3)
Western Australia 11.11(77) vs South Australia 3.8(26)

Division 2

New South Wales 14.8(92) vs Northern Territory 1.1(7)
ACT 15.10(100) vs Tasmania 2.3(15)

Teams progressing into the finals from Division 1 are Victoria and Western Australia. Teams progressing into the finals from Division 2 are New South Wales and ACT. Both finals matches will be played tomorrow, Saturday June, 11 at Gliderol Stadium in Glenelg.

Division One Final 11.40 am Victoria v Western Australia and Division Two Final 9.30 am  New South Wales v ACT.

The Vale Warriors made an impressive comeback in their Welsh Australian Rules Football League Round 2 clash against the experienced Cardiff Double Blues. The Barry-based Warriors were unable to put out a team in last week's Round 1 clash against Swansea Magpies but this week pulled off an impressive victory in the capital.

Despite a strong performance from the Double Blues' Tristan Lewis in midfield, Ethan Dicks & rookie Gareth Booker were standouts for Vale as the Warriors won 18.20.128 - 11.15.81 with Stuart Morgan prolific in front of the uprights.

Elsewhere, South Cardiff Panthers continued their impressive start to the season with a 15.23.113 - 2.11.23 victory at home to the Bridgend Eagles whilst the Bristol Dockers recorded their first win of the season, 16.23.119 - 7.13.55 at home to the Swansea Magpies.

Division 1

WA 8.10 (58) vs QLD 4.4 (28)
Vic 10.10 (70) vs SA 2.2 (14)

Division 2

NT 2.0 (12) vs ACT 17.10 (112)
NSW 16.14 (110) vs Tas 1.0 (6)

More information on the fixtures and the results can be found on the Women's Nationals official website here

AFL club Hawthorn recently played host to International Scholarship holder Rhys Panui-Leth and his parents Luke and Marion, as the youngster undertook testing and skills training with the Hawks. In other recent news Kurt Heatherley, another Hawthorn Scholarship holder, has been starring in Victoria and Shaun Johnson who has previously played AFL in NZ has debuted for the NRL’s Warriors.

Panui-Leth chronicles his training trip with Hawthorn here.

The Hawks' third scholarship player from New Zealand - Shem Tatupu from Auckland - will also be at Waverley Park to train with the Hawks in coming months.

Looking at other junior AFL talent from NZ football we can compare Kurt Heatherley, who was recently named best on ground for the top of the table Caulfield Grammarians in their win against Wesley College, with Shaun Johnson. Johnson has just debuted for the Warriors in the NRL and according to Rugby League legend Andrew Johns ''He's one of those players who don't come around too often. Johnson was a Junior Kiwi last year and a New Zealand representative in Aussie Rules." At the very least it acknowledges that AFL is a contributing factor to players making the top grade in other sports even if they don’t stick with footy.

For more on Shaun Johnson, see this article.

The largest youth Australian football program in the United States, Saturday Morning Footy, begins its 6^th year on June 18.  The program started in 2006 with 22 boys and girls participating in two sessions.  In 2010, over 100 boys and girls participated in six sessions throughout the year, including one with AFL Coaching Director Peter Schwab.  In 2011, we are hoping to run five sessions in the summer with over 150 participants.  The program is free to participants and operates through the generous donation of time and money by parents and volunteers, as well as support from the Baltimore Washington Eagles ARFC and the Australian Embassy Social Club.

Tuesday June 7th saw the AFL Women's National Championships kick off in Adelaide, with four matches on the day.

Division 1

Western Australia 4.2(26) vs Victoria 8.10(58)
Queensland 3.7(25) vs South Australia 2.7(19)

Division 2

New South Wales 8.7(55) vs Australian Capital Territory 3.2(20)
Northern Territory 5.6(36) vs Tasmania 12.6(78)

The video below from the Brisbane Lions website sees Jamie Charman interviewing PNG young gun Donald Barry about his life in Brisbane and reflects on AFL visits to PNG and the realities of life there. Barry was a star for PNG at the 2008 International Cup and a genuine case of a young player who started off playing the game overseas but has come right to the cusp of AFL selection. If the embedded video does not work try this link.

One of the big surprises of season 2010 was the inclusion of not just one, but two International squads in the NAB AFL Under 16 National Championships. With the 2011 tournament a month away (beginning in Sydney on July 10), it’s been good to see that both squads will have a 2011 incarnation. Whilst the World XVIII squad is still to be finalised; below is the recently released South Pacific list.

AFL Asia Pacific Development Manager Andrew Cadzow describes the formation of the squad, “After holding two Oceania Cups of which the standard of the second in Tonga had improved vastly, we are confident that the South Pacific Squad will be a better team than last year's very successful first attempt. More Countries involved; improved programs and more games of footy augers well. With 11 players returning from last year, we are well balanced with 15 top age (18s) and 14 younger (16/17) making up the squad.”

The South Pacific defeated the World XVIII last time and pushed Queensland to 15 points, so will be looking for an Australian scalp this time around. While the squad is dominated by PNG players, there are also representatives from NZ, Tonga, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa and the Solomon Islands. The full squad is listed below.

The 2011 Australian Women’s Nationals, to be held in Adelaide, South Australia, are almost upon us! As the days count down, the four division 2 teams, NT Thunder, ACT, New South Wales and Tasmania, have finally announced their line-up.

The event will run from June 7th to 11th, and will include a rest day on the 9th. An opening ceremony will be held on the 7th at the City Mazda Stadium, Richmond. The Grand Finals will take place at Gliderol Stadium, Glenelg, on the 11th. More information can be found in the event’s programme, downloadable here.

With the fourth International Cup now just a couple of months away we thought it time to look back at some of the matches from 2008. First up the thrilling Grand Final between the reigning champs New Zealand against the challenger and regular runner up Papua New Guinea. Each quarter is included below. It demonstrates the high standard reached at the top of the competition, with a strong and structurally sound Kiwi team versus the frenetic pace of the PNG players.