World Footy News

In this installment, we check in with the Beijing Bombers, the China Reds' tour to Thailand for the ANZAC clash, a new club starting up in Qingdao, and Jiaming Pi's blog on the SBS Chinese language website, promoting footy to the Australian Chinese community.

The following is a media release from the AFLPA.

AFL Players are supporting the families of deceased and wounded Australian soldiers by donating 17 jumpers – signed by stars such as Gary Ablett Jr, Adam Goodes, Matthew Pavlich and Nick Riewoldt – to be raffled on Anzac Day in Afghanistan. Each team jumper has been signed by the club captain (except Brisbane Skipper Jonathan Brown, who was in hospital at the time) and contains a message of support for the Australian Mentoring Task Force 2 (MTF-2), based in Uruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan.

Each jumper is being raffled, with half the proceeds going to Legacy and half going to the MTF-2 Benevolent Fund, which directly supports the families of soldiers from the Task Force who have been killed or injured in the line of duty. Organisers hope the raffle will raise more than $20,000, with $10,000 already raised over the space of a few days. Team captains from all National Rugby League teams have also donated jumpers for the raffle.

A series of newspaper articles in the last few weeks have speculated that the AFL will stage several matches outside of Australia in the next 2 years.

A match in Wellington or Auckland, New Zealand is on the cards, perhaps between the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn, and possibly not until 2012 - see Western Bulldogs plan to play home match in New Zealand within two years

The GWS Giants have put their hand up to play a match in London, possibly late 2011 - see Sheedy taunts Folau critics as Giants size up London match.

Essendon versus Richmond in Mubai, India has again been raised - see Bombers, Tigers in Mumbai, with Austrade's Senior Trade Commissioner in New Delhi, Peter Linford, said to be finalising a detailed bid to stage a match early next year which will not only promote the AFL but also trade links between the countries.

The above article also mentions the much delayed Collingwood versus West Coast in Cape Town, South Africa, as still a chance, and a return to Shanghai for Melbourne and Brisbane.

Of course there has been a lull in such matches attributed to the global financial crisis, and none of the above are locked in, but hopefully some or all will eventuate.

The Shanghai AFL has returned for 2011, with two rounds being played in April so far. A number of new faces have been signed up to all three teams, including a number of young Chinese students, as well as recently retired North Melbourne player, Shannon Watt.

So far the Dockers, who have still yet to win a title in their two seasons, have looked the goods and are favourites to claim the Spring Season cup.

Read on for full scores and photos of the action from the Shanghai AFL's first two rounds for 2011.

"His improvement's been extraordinary. I look at him six months ago and I would have thought he was miles away from being able to play AFL footy, but his improvement was so rapid that we gave him an opportunity in the NAB Cup and he performed quite well in there. If he continues to improve at that rate then he'll be a pretty handy AFL player," Scott said.

See more in North Melbourne coach Brad Scott rules out Majak Daw debut against Richmond.

Abu Dhabi have won their first-ever AFL Middle East Premiership; finishing the regular season undefeated and then defeating Doha in the final in front of approximately 400 fans.

The AFL wishes to advise that PlayStation®3(PS3™) owners will be able to take to the field in the winter months from the comfort of their living room.

Published by Tru Blu Games, AFL Live will be available in stores across Australia from Thursday April 21.  

Available on PlayStation®3 for the first time, AFL Live is the latest game instalment, and undoubtedly the best so far.

The Vietnam Swans will this weekend host the Hong Kong Dragons in Vung Tau for the second ANZAC Friendship Match.

The venue for the match is the Vung Tau Greyhound Racing Track, which was used as the venue for footy matches by Australian soldiers during the Vietnam War.

Former AFL star Richard "Ossie" Osborne, who played with Footscray, Fitzroy, Sydney and Collingwood during a career spanning 17 seasons, will be a special guest taking part in the match.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Thailand Tigers are taking on the China Reds in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, near Hellfire Pass on the site of the infamous Burma Railway, where numerous Australian POWs lost their lives in the Second World War.

In Indonesia, the Borneo Bears are hosting the Jakarta Bintangs and Bali Geckos, in what will be their 3rd annual ANZAC Day Cup in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

The Irish Warriors take on the British Bulldogs in the second and final clash in London on the 23rd April. The first match, played in Dublin, saw the Irish narrowly defeat the Bulldogs as they battled from 30 points in arrears in the first quarter to take the win by a thrilling 5 points. We are all looking forward to what should be another intense game between these two teams next weekend.

WFN had the opportunity to interview the President of the Australian Rules Football League of Ireland / Assistant Coach to Warriors, Ciaran O’Hara, and here’s what he had to say about the upcoming match;

What do you think ‘made’ your comeback in the first match?

I think the guys weren’t prepared for the intensity of the first quarter the last day and made some costly early mistakes. What really made the comeback was hard work, patience and unity of purpose, things that were probably missing in the first quarter.

After four rounds of the South China AFL for 2011, the Hong Kong Red remain undefeated at the top of the ladder, with four wins from four starts. Round 4 saw the first Hong Kong local derby held, with the Reds overcoming Hong Kong Blue by just 3 points.

In the other match in the round, the Macau Lightning broke through for their first win, accounting for the Guangzhou Scorpions by 49 points.

Thanks to John Hopper for the following updates.

The AFL NSW Under 16 state championships are underway. And, whilst the presence of both sides from the Sydney Swans Academy and the GWS Giants might be newsworthy enough to generate interest outside of NSW; there’s also the small matter of the Oceania Squad making their debut in the tournament. That the Oceania lads have kicked off Day 1 with a solid 16 point win over the NSW Northern Coast side.

Oceania 7.16 (58) defeated Northern Coast 6.6 (42)
Goals : Lucas Sili (Sol Is.) 2, Villiami Langi (Tonga) 2, Aleki Palaiti (Tonga) 2 and Thomas (Junior) Joel (Sol Is.) 1.

23 scoring shots to 12 is pretty conclusive. This should be noted as an Oceania side, and NOT a South Pacific side. While there ARE players from New Zealand for example, there are no players from PNG (who are instead eligible for Queensland). This is the important distinction between Oceania and South Pacific rep teams.

The Great Britain Bulldogs will name their squad for the 2011 International Cup after the European Legion vs AIS-AFL Academy match at Dulwich College, London, this Saturday April 24th.

As a curtain-raiser to the Legion vs AIS-AFL match, Ireland will be taking on the GB Bulldogs, with both leagues using the match to test out their squads before making their final selections for the IC11. The game is sure to be a tightly-fought contest, with the Bulldogs going down to the Irish by just 5 points in Dublin last month.

The GB Bulldogs also achieved a 1-point victory over the Australian-expat dominated Wimbledon Hawks last Sunday, with Chris James from the South Cardiff Panthers leading the way, kicking 3 goals.

GB squad for this weekend's game listed below.

In WFN's unofficial World Rankings, Ireland are currently ranked 4th and Great Britain 10th. A win to Ireland will see no change to the rankings, but if the Bulldogs can pull off a victory, they will rise to 9th above Samoa, and the Irish will drop to 6th below Nauru and the USA.