World Footy News

The AFL today said it had written to all clubs seeking their feedback on a number proposals being considered by the AFL Player Movement Working Party, as part of the annual examination of the competition's draft and trading rules.

AFL General Manager Football Operations Adrian Anderson said clubs had been asked to respond on potential changes for the 2010-11 off-season, covering:
- Rookie List Rules.
- Attracting Elite Athletes from other sports to the AFL competition.
- Eligibility Rules around Rookie List, International, International Scholarship and Three-Year Non-Registered Players.
- Player movement from the Primary List to the Rookie List.
- Potential introduction of an Inactive List.

Last week both the New York Magpies and the Columbus Jackaroos received local media coverage. The Magpies got good press in the Wall St Journal which has worldwide reach while the coverage of Jackaroos young gun Robert Ward in the Columbus Local News was no less impressive and perhaps will be of greater value in bringing the sport to the adventurous sports lovers of Columbus (and bringing those locals down to the sport).

The AFL has launched a new Chinese website ahead of the first AFL match to be played in Shanghai between Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions in October. The Mandarin-speaking website, www.51afl.com ( translates to `I want AFL’) has already attracted more than 12,000 visitors in its first two weeks, with more than 10,000 visitors from mainland China.

The website will be used to help promote the Kaspersky Cup – AFL Shanghai Showdown between Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions at Jiangwan Stadium on October 17. Up to 10,000 people are expected to attend the match which coincides with World Expo.

The Denmark Vikings are going into the European Championships with a squad that includes young guns such as World XVIII representative Mathias Biron alongside long-time DAFL stalwarts of the calibre of Jesper Gjørup and Kristian Stetter.

Coach Jim Campion explains that the national team is still in a rebuilding phase and focussing on younger players, however unavailabilities led the DAFL to select a more experienced side than that named for the test against Great Britain earlier this year.

Among the talented youngsters out due to injury is 18-year old Morten Merhøj, whom Campion considers more than qualified to have played in the World XVIII and 19-year old International Cup veteran Joachim Secher.

"This made way for two players and they happen to be Gjørup - who has gotten over long term injury, and Kristian Stetter - who has returned from Australia," Campion says.

"We are still in a building phase, with an emphasis on the 17 to 25 age group. But with the older more experienced players back it can only improve our chances for success."

Here's a few photos from Round 1 of the NAB AFL Under 16 Championships, when the South Pacific side took on the World XVIII at Blacktown in Western Sydney. Thanks to Fiona Austen for the photos, and her earlier match report can be read here.

We'll also follow up with an article or two reviewing the international sides and their experience.

Brian Donnelly, the Adelaide Crows' first and only international recruit, has decided to return to Ireland despite having several months to run on his contract. Donnelly never made a senior appearance for the Crows and has decided to follow in the footsteps of Martin Clarke and Colm Begley by returning home. He has recently discovered that he requires a shoulder operation. With no hope of playing in the remainder for the year he has decided to cut his losses and head home.

worldfootynews.com has been developing an unofficial World Rankings scheme based on a suggestion by reader Cam Homes, which in turn was based on the IRB Rugby scheme. It may replace our existing rankings. One of the issues that has been discussed on this site is what games to include. In a series of articles we will discuss what we intend to use, although we are still open to suggestions/information that might lead to changes.

The two main questions addressed here are how far back to go and what games are eligible. We intend including data way back to 1994, starting with a match between Denmark and Great Britain in which the Bulldogs won 19.15 (129) to the Danes' 6.4 (40).

This week Toronto will host the latest chapter in the long running battle between the local Canadian Northwind team and the US Revolution from south of the border. The last match in the official 49th Parallel Cup series was won in 2009 by the American team (by 50 points) with the Canadians looking for revenge this year on home soil.

The schedule for the day can be found here.

The Finland Icebreakers are bringing a lot of new faces to the inaugural European Championships, with only five players still in the squad from their 2008 IC campaign. Despite having a number of rookies, the Icebreakers are confident they can hold their own against Europe's best.

This weekend saw Finland take on the Norway Trolls in Helsinki, and although the Icebreakers were defeated 36-34, they were not by any means disgraced, with the Norwegian team featuring a large Australian contingent.

Coach Grant Siermans says the Finns are good across the ground, but are strongest in the midfield. "Ville Koivunen, Jani Saarinen and EU Cup all-star Mika Kupila will get plenty of the football and are also very physical. Their job is made easier by our very mobile ruckman Ville Suominen. The defence will be held up by Jukka Reiman and Juha-Antti Koskinen and the main target up forward will be Juuso Timosaari."

"Selection was initially undertaken through invitations which was then going to lead to trails combined with form, but unfortunately it turned into who was available, who could afford it and if they could get the time off work. The team will be arriving for the first game with either eighteen or nineteen players, and more might join the squad during the week."

Five members of the team played in the IC in Australia two years ago, and many have also played in EU Cups. However, most of the squad have only one game's experience on a full ground, which may test them against the British and Danish teams. All four domestic clubs are featured in the squad, including the new Vaasa Wombats side who are currently in development. The team is very close to all-Finnish, with the only third-country representatives being Irishman Keith Byrne and Colombian Fernando Leon, both of whom are veterans of Finnish Aussie Rules.

The Australian Football League has been shortlisted for the International Beyond Sport Awards 2010, for recognition of its Multicultural Programs, with winners to be announced at the Beyond Sport Summit in Chicago in September.

The AFL’s Multicultural Program is one of three projects shortlisted under Sport Federation or Governing Body of the Year category, and was selected from over 350 entries from more than 115 countries which submitted applications to this year’s awards. The other two projects are from the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the USA and the Namibia Football Association.

Beyond Sport, is a global organisation that promotes, develops and funds the use of sport to drive positive social change across the world. The Beyond Sport Awards program provides support worth $1 million annually to projects across the world that use sport to address issues within their communities.

The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland has expanded from five teams to eight this season, and as a result the league is enjoying its most competitive season yet.

The Belfast Redbacks and the Clare Crows have returned, having previously been in the league, while the Galway-based Midwest Magpies are a brand new club.

Worldfootynews.com will be profiling all three new clubs in the coming days, beginning with Belfast.

The Croatian Knights have been an up-and-coming power of European footy in recent years, taking the silver on debut at the 9-a-side 2008 EU Cup in Hamburg, and then picking up the bronze at the 2009 event in front of a home crowd in Samobor, near the Croatian capital Zagreb.

This year sees the Knights step up to playing full-field footy for the first time, in the inaugural 16-a-side European Championships being held in Denmark and Sweden next month.

Croatian footy pioneer Kolja Koracak is managing the squad, which will consist of 20 players. "We selected from the pool of 32 players. At the end some got injured, some couldn't come because of work and other reasons, and so our list was easy to put together. We'll be taking 20 players to Sweden and Denmark, including 5 rookies." All three domestic clubs, the Zagreb Hawks, Agram Power and Velika Gorica Bombers, are represented in the national team.

Footy in Croatia has been helped along by the support of the AFL's Hawthorn Football Club, a fact reflected in the nation's first club being dubbed the Zagreb Hawks. The Hawthorn connection is also evident in Kolja's assessment of his team's stars, saying "Tomislav Cvetko is Buddy Franklin, Josip Kravar is Sam Mitchell, and Davor Deranja is Luke Hodge. 'nough said!"

At 44 years of age, Ante Loncar was set to be the squad's oldest member, but had to pull out. His 18 year old son Adam Loncar will be there however, being the youngest representative for the Knights in 2010. All squad members are Croatian citizens and grew up in Croatia, although Adam Loncar and Toni Grguric were born in Australia.

Koracak says the squad will be camping out in Denmark, with a lack of sponsors leaving a very tight travel budget. "The Croatian national team will sleep in tents in camp, because of lack of support from the country and beyond, even though this week we got so much press space after winning the tournament in Italy!"

With a reputation to uphold as a strong contender on the European stage, and a long history of Croatian champions in the AFL, the Knights will be eager to prove they can match it with all comers.