World Footy News

AFL Fiji is still relatively young, but, the mainstream coverage in the Fiji Times – “Great Talent” continues.

In October 2009, AFL FIJI held a Schools Carnival at Corpus Christi, Suva. Four secondary colleges competed in the 15-a-side competition. Laucala Bay defeated Suva Grammar and received the David Rodan Cup. The carnival also served as a selection process for the the Oceania Cup training squad.

Andrew Cadzow, AFL South Pacific Manager, has been in Fiji again helping to arrange the 2010 instalment of the David Rodan Secondary School AFL competition. It will again be held in October.

The chief executive of the AFL Andrew Demetriou made the announcement in Melbourne. In a first for Australian sport, the Shanghai Media Group (SMG) will televise one AFL match every week live into China on International Channel Shanghai (ICS). The agreement will include the 2010 Toyota AFL finals series, including the Toyota AFL Grand Final, and the Kaspersky Cup – AFL Shanghai Showdown between Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions in Shanghai on October 17.

It will extend into the 2011 Toyota AFL Premiership season to include one AFL match each week. The agreement was made possible after the ABC and SMG recently signed a co-operation agreement between their international channels, Australia Network and ICS. As part of the agreement, ICS will produce a pre-match program to precede the broadcast of each match to give viewers information about AFL.

Collingwood will continue to gamble on Irish talent with the news that they have signed Caolan Mooney and Paul Cribben on two year international rookie deals. Like former Collingwood player Martin Clarke, Mooney hails from County Down but he will not join up with the Pies until the end of 2011 as he in still to finish school. The 17- year old had a month’s trial with the Magpies in June and impressed enough to be offer a full time deal.

Round 22 is here and Canadian Mike Pyke is in the thick of it for the Swans. With Shane Mumford struggling with a strained knee and possibly in doubt even for the first week of finals - Mike Pyke looms as the ruck key for the Swans in a battle for a home final.

Carlton's International rookie Zac Tuohy, has been spending most of the 2010 season learning the game with the Northern Bullants in the VFL alongside PNG's Peter Labi. This video is a post match interview with the Irishman after the club's Round 15 match.

So much continues to happen in PNG, with this article focusing on Junior Footy in Port Moresby, AFL International Manager Tony Woods' recent visit and the interest of the Gold Coast Suns in PNG footy.

List changes today announced by AFL Football Operations Manager Adrian Anderson today are set to allow more opportunities for internationals to be added to AFL club lists. The AFL Commission has approved these changes to the AFL Player Rules to widen the ability of clubs to be able to attract and develop talent during the expansion period while Gold Coast and Team GWS join the national competition.

Mr Anderson said the Commission’s meeting in Melbourne today had approved recommendations from the AFL Player Movement Working Party, as part of the annual examination of the competition's draft and trading rules. He said the changes would come into immediate effect for the 2010-11 off-season, covering:
- Rookie List Rules.
- The ability for clubs to attract Athletes from other sports to the AFL competition.
- Eligibility Rules around Rookie List, International, International Scholarship and Three-Year Non-Registered Players.
- The introduction of an Inactive List, allowing players to take a 12-month leave of absence for exceptional and compelling circumstances, without taking up a list spot.

The Australian Government's major overseas aid program is AusAID, which is described on its website as "the Australian Government agency responsible for managing Australia's overseas aid program. The objective of the aid program is to assist developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with Australia's national interest".

For many years the program has funded, amongst many other positions, Australian football development roles in selected countries such as South Africa and Australian Youth Ambassadors to Tonga and elsewhere. In recent months this funding has attracted criticism from media in Sydney, notably by writers with strong leanings to other football codes.

So are taxpayers getting value for the money spent? Are recipient countries having valuable aid wasted on football?

Saturday 7th August saw the first leg of the 2010 Bute Series between Wales and Scotland take place in Cardiff, with the newly renamed Scottish Clansmen defeating the Welshmen of the Cymru Red Dragons.

This Bute Series between Wales and Scotland began in 2009, with the Welsh taking out the inaugural championship. This year's two match series is a 12-a-side competition with 4 players on the bench for rotating during the game.

Played under ideal weather conditions, the first quarter was a close affair with both sides finding their feet. Scotland did have the advantage of a slight breeze blowing towards their goal but the Welsh defence repelled their attacks on several occasions. Wales too had a few forays into the attacking zone as well and only 1 goal separated both teams at quarter time.

This report courtesy of Doug Hunter.

St Louis Blues' Dan Sarbacker (seen here around the 2 minute 50 second mark in possibly his most famous US Footy moment) is having a stint in Victoria's GVFL with Mansfield. Mansfield have received good coverage recently centred around their coach Craig Kelly, who is also a player agent and former Collingwood premiership player.

But Sarbacker is generating his own press with coverage today in Melbourne's The Age newspaper. Paul Daffey who writes for The Age and is one of the founders of The Footy Almanac penned this latest piece following Dan's senior debut for Mansfield last week.

Sarbacker also featured in The Age last month in Adam McNicol's article Rural footy lures US player.

The Putney Magpies will take on the Wandsworth Demons for the 2010 AFL London Premiership at Barn Elms this Saturday August 21st, after the Magpies defeated long-time British footy goliaths the West London Wildcats last weekend.

The 95-66 win over the Wildcats will see Putney make their first-ever Grand Final appearance, as well as marking the first year since 2001 that West London have not competed in the season's main event.

After winning the past six London Premierships on the trot, the Wildcats will have to be content with third place in the premiership conference, however their seconds (Shepherds Bush) and thirds (Ealing) will be playing for the cup in their respective divisions.

The day's footy at Barn Elms Reserve commences with Ealing vs South London for the Social Division GF at 11am, Shepherds Bush vs Clapham for the Conference GF at 1pm, and the Premiership Division at 3pm.

The following preview courtesy of Mark Pitura.

The AFL is currently allowing fans to vote on possible rule changes for season 2011. The voting is not binding, meaning the AFL may go against the votes, but a strong response is likely to sway them.

You can take part in the voting at: AFL rules - your say. The poll started last week but only remains open until this Wednesday, so hurry if you have a strong opinion.