World Footy News

Saturday 21st August saw the second leg of the 2010 Bute Series between Scotland and Wales take place at Victoria Park in Glasgow. The weather conditions for the game were good with sunshine and a slight breeze.

As in the first match both teams were up for it straight from the first bounce with some tasty tackles going in from the outset. The first quarter was again a very tight battle with the Welsh having the best of the early play. The game at this stage was evenly balanced and after Wales had taken an early lead Scotland managed to peg a couple of goals back to go into the quarter time break only 5 points behind.

This story slipped under the radar from early August, and alas, the video link seems defunct (Ed. it worked for me). From August 2nd, the Australia Network News reported AFL dream for Nauru footy players.

Over in Perth, the WAFL Grand Final on the weekend just gone was one for the ages. A classic game of Australian Football. It also helped the WAFL record a second successive record season for attendances.

Andrew Krakouer provided further momentum to his case for a recall to AFL ranks with a 40 possession 4 goal BOG performance in the WAFL Grand Final.

As his club prepares for the biggest day of the year, Collingwood's Shae McNamara will be an excited onlooker. He has successfully negotiated his way through the 2010 VFL season and will be looking to break into the AFL in 2011. The video below shows some of what he has been up to during the year and he discusses his thoughts on being an American in Melbourne.

[Note that these details are for the first game, not the replayed match.]

The Grand Final combatants are now set. Whether you are a Collingwood fan looking for them to improve on their dismal Grand Final winning record, a Saints fan looking for them to break their long drought or a neutral just wanting to watch the big game, finding somewhere to watch it when you are overseas is not always an easy task. Once again World Footy News is proud to present you with a wide list of venues to watch the 2010 AFL Grand Final around the world. Feel free to add any venues that are not listed below in the comments section and we will add them to the main list.

Please note: The information is entered here in good faith. worldfootynews.com is not responsible for any incorrect information posted to this story. Wherever possible attempt to check ahead to make sure the party you are planning on attending is still going ahead and has room for you. There have been cases of sell outs and late changes e.g. when a venue could not secure a telecast.

Collingwood Coach, Mick Malthouse was tonight announced as the AFLCA’s Etihad Airways Senior Coach of the Year in front of over 500 guests at the AFLCA’s Awards Night at Crown. Voted by his coaching peers, Mick won the AFLCA Award in his 27th year as a Senior Coach. Mick was the AFL’s inaugural Coach of the Year in 1991 and will lead his team into this Saturday’s Grand Final.

Collingwood midfielder Dane Swan, won his first AFLCA “Championship Moves Champion Player of the Year Award, breaking the stranglehold of Geelong star Gary Ablett who had won it on the 3 previous occasions. Swan finished in front of Luke Hodge with Joel Selwood in third position. Each Senior Coach voted on a 5,4,3,2,1 basis after each home and away game this Season. Police Minister Bob Cameron made the Presentation to Swan.

Carlton captain Chris Judd was tonight awarded the 2010 Brownlow Medal for the Fairest and Best player in the AFL. This is the second time Judd has won the award having previously won the medal when playing for the West Coast Eagles in the 2004 season.

Last Sunday night the Australian 60 Minutes featured a piece by Australian TV stalwart Ray Martin on the rise of Aussie Rules globally. The primary focus of the story was the AFL's efforts to recruit players from South Africa, Ireland and the (Australian) Tiwi Islands. Although nothing particularly new was revealed, it is a high profile television show so gives good publicity to the game's spread.

Video here

Transcript here

Online chat with Sheedy here

Preview story (text) by Ray Martin here

The ARFLI grand final takes place this Saturday between the last years beaten finalist the South Dublin Swans and the Belfast Redbacks. Both sides came through from the eastern conference with the Redbacks enjoying a magnificent semi-final victory against perennial finalist the Leeside Lions. The Swans booked their place in the final after the Clare Crows forfeited their semi.

This weekend at Portobello Rugby Club, Edinburgh, the Scottish Australian Rules Football League (SARFL) Grand Final will be contested between 6 times winners Edinburgh Old Town Bloods and the Glasgow Sharks. The following courtesy of the SARFl's Douglas Hunter. This promises to be a hard fought contest between two evenly matched teams. Edinburgh have been the stand out team in the league this season and go into the final with no defeats and are slight favourites having been unbeaten during the league season. Glasgow have been improving with every game and are the league’s top point scorers with two high scoring and impressive wins over the Aberdeen Dingoes. The match will begin at 2.30pm on Saturday the 18th. Prior to the match there will be an exhibition match at 12.30pm between the Aberdeen Dingoes and a SARFL select team. This match is an opportunity for Scottish players to push for a place in the national team for the Aussie Rules Euro Cup in October and a two test series against England, also in October, which should add to the intensity of the match. This promises to be the most exciting Grand Final yet, so come along and join in the fun and excitement of Aussie Rules, Scottish style.

In a recent article WFN profiled Graeme “the kid” Wilson and his work with footy in the Solomon Islands. This included a brief overview of the RAMSI organisation (Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands). We just touched upon young Freddie Una, the ‘rising star’ of the Solomons footy program who flew the flag in the South Pacific team in the recent U16 Nationals. Here we feature an article that goes into greater depth on Freddie.

Dion Nash is considering a return to cricket nearly a decade after giving the game away. The 38-year-old former New Zealand allrounder and Black Caps selector retired after the 2001-02 season but is hungry to play again, this time for Grafton United in the premier Auckland competition.

Nash said "I've only really played a bit of Aussie Rules for the Mt Roskill Saints since I retired. I've been beaten up doing that and broke my thumb at one stage." Further prodding revealed he also won a premiership with the Saints.