World Footy News

Recently we reported that David Matthews (pictured), the AFL's General Manager, National & International Development, was shifting from Melbourne to Sydney to take on the role of General Manager, Market Development - see Game Development head shifts to Sydney. We had a quick chat to Matthews to see how this might impact the AFL's burgeoning involvement in international development of the sport.

First up we asked if other Game Development staff such as Josh Vanderloo, who has worked closely with international leagues, will also be shifting. The answer appears to be no, and in fact there could be an expanded international section. "(We're) about to appoint a full-time International Manager based at the AFL in Melbourne reporting to me as part of (the) Department".

A growing international flavour is likely to help give credibility to the game in emerging markets like western Sydney - something we've argued the case for at WFN since we first began. So with Matthews' move to the Sydney area, will that accelerate? Matthews confirmed that the "(international) profile will keep increasing".

And finally a bit of speculation as to whether his shift could suggest that the 2011 International Cup might move to New South Wales as part of the Greater Western Sydney drive. But Matthews but that theory to bed. "My move is irrelevant as far as venue concerned".

Clubs from around England and Wales descended on Cardiff last Saturday for WARFL's British "Clwb" Challenge, now in its third year. It was a perfect day for footy with a sunny Saturday afternoon in the Welsh capital setting the scene for a great day of fast paced action which would be the first competitive football in Wales for 2010.

The clubs this year fighting it out for the cup included last year’s winners Nottingham Scorpions, and the South Cardiff Panthers who were also the first ever Welsh club to enter a team into this tournament. They were joined by newcomers Birmingham Bears, Portsmouth Pirates and European powerhouse West London Wildcats.

The Wildcats went into the tournament as certain favourites, with a squad of 16 that included only one non-Australian, which coincidentally enough was Welsh international Tom Cleary.

This report courtesy of the WARFL.

The Bali Geckos will this June be hosting the 2010 Bali Masters 9s Australian Rules Football Championship. Held at the Canggu Club, Bali, the event is looking set to be Asia’s biggest ever Aussie Rules event. 11 teams have already registered for the tournament, including teams from across Australia, as well as East Timor and Dubai. A number of other teams are keen to join, with a projected 16 teams from six countries expected to play in this year’s tournament.

The event sees teams play following specially modified 9-a-side rules, with the inclusion that all players must be over 35 years of age. The event is endorsed by AFL Masters, who are the governing body for Masters rules football in Australia. With the large number of teams attending games will be played over two days, with the grand final being played under lights.

The Bali Geckos have a history of setting the standard in Asian football. The club’s uniquely conceived Bali 9s increased the professionalism of Aussie Rules tournaments in Asia. At the time the Bali 9s were the biggest footy events on the continent, even attracting the then Australian Prime Minister John Howard to attend.

The 2010 Bali Masters 9s Australian Rules Football Championship will be held at the Canggu Club Friday June 11 and Saturday June 12. More information can be found at www.baligeckos.org or by emailing ted@balinines.com.

In another sign of the fast growing numbers of footballers in Germany, the inaugural season of the three team Bavaria League (BL - Bayernliga in German) kicked off on April 1st.

The weather provided the April Fool’s joke, as intermittent snowfalls throughout the day and sub-zero temperatures greeted the players and officials in Munich’s Hirschgarten. However, neither the cold nor the discovery that day of a 500 kilogram World War Two bomb a couple of torpedo punts away could dampen the spirit and enthusiasm of the two competing teams, the Sendling Blues and the Pasing Hawks.

The new league, Germany's first regional league, has been set up by the Munich Kangaroos Football Club, which was founded in 1994 and has had some success in the national competition, the Australian Football League Germany (AFLG).

A quick scan of the AFLQ teams this week will show up a number of names that WFN readers will recognise. The most significant being the amazing lineup in the Brisbane Lions reserves team.

The Lions will play Broadbeach this weekend. From the backline - we see Niall McKeever the Irishman at fullback, Donald Barry from PNG at half back flank, Tiernan Carbry from PNG in a foward pocket, Pierce Hanley from Ireland and the Japanese born Sean Yoshiura both playing on the ball and PNG's Amua Pirika and John James on the extended bench.

At Labrador they have PNG's Emmaus Wartovo and Stanis Susuve lining up and making his senior debut this weekend for the Western Magpies is American Bryan Dragus.

Bryan Dragus came to the Westen Magpies (in AFL Queensland's top league) this year after big wraps had been put on his game in the few limited chances he had to show his talent in the Golden Gate league last year. After two good performances he has been named in the Mapgies' side on the forward flank for their round three clash against Redland tomorrow.

It's early days for Dragus, but he looks like he could be a big weapon for the Revolution at IC11 should he be available. The AFLQ site featured Dragus in an article ahead of his debut this week, we have reproduced the article below.

Two young South African footballers and an aspiring coach will come to Australia to hone their skills in AFL as part of the Geminder footyWILD Future Stars awards. The awards have been funded by the South African Honorary Consul in Victoria and will provide for two young players to fly to Australia to train as well as also spend time in an Australian school. A young coach will also be flown to Australia to further develop coaching tuition skills to be able to guide the very popular game in South Africa.

Mr Geminder said "These awards will provide talented young South Africans with intensive AFL training, match practice, schooling and an idea of what can be achieved if they work and study hard. It is a great opportunity for me to team with the AFL and make a real difference in South Africa; football is uniquely Australian, uniquely Melbourne. It is a perfect fit for me as Honorary Consul for South Africa in Victoria, with football very close to my heart, to support these kids, and further develop alliances between Australia and South Africa".

Collingwood and Essendon captains Nick Maxwell and Jobe Watson are among the 88 AFL footballers playing on Anzac Day who have signed personal and heartfelt messages of support on their guernseys for the more than three thousand Australian Defence Force personnel serving on 13 overseas operations and in support of Australia’s Border Protection.

The gesture is part of the Anzac Day Message to the Troops service, which is hoping to generate an unprecedented 10,000 messages of support for Australian troops. Victoria Cross recipient and Young Australian of the Year, Trooper Mark Donaldson VC said that troops overseas will receive a real boost after reading messages of support from Aussies back home.

“AFL football has become a great Anzac Day tradition and the Message to the Troops campaign is an ideal platform for AFL fans to show their respect and pay tribute to the many service men and women who are currently serving overseas.

We don't normally have commentary on Australia's National Rugby League (NRL), but current events are worth a mention. Despite the rising presence of a third code, soccer, the NRL is still clearly the AFL's biggest rival in terms of sponsorship dollars, media coverage and television ratings.

So it came as quite a shock to the sporting landscape today as the NRL announced its Victorian beach head, the Melbourne Storm, had been caught cheating the salary cap and had been penalised in an unprecedented way. Let me emphasise, this is Rugby League, not Australian (Rules) Football. For the Storm having been found to have systematically rorted the system for 5 years, the NRL has:

• stripped them of the 2007 and 2009 premiership titles
• stripped them of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 minor premierships
• wiped their 2010 premiership points
• banned them from earning any points this season
• fined them $500,000 and demanded they repay $1.1 million in prize money

The ramifications are enormous. The premierships will now be officially considered not awarded in 2007 and 2009. In an AFL context, it would be like Geelong being stripped of their titles from the past 3 years. Or if Sydney or Brisbane, AFL footholds in traditionally less strong Aussie Rules markets, were stripped of their titles and consigned to almost certainly spend time at the bottom of the ladder. Questions as yet unanswered:

The Fremantle Dockers have added a new partner club in Europe, with an agreement between the Dockers and the AFL Italia's Genova Football Club.

Mr Marco Mari (pictured at left with Fremantle FC COO Mr Gary Walton) from the Italian Chamber of Commerce Perth accepted on behalf of the Genova Dockers the Club Jumpers and other items being donated by Fremantle.

The partnership between the Fremantle Dockers and the AFL Italia Genova Football Club, now the Genova Dockers, is the first official AFL partnership to be established in Italy, with further partnerships between AFL and Italian clubs being negotiated.

Australian football's international growth has been most impressive over the past decade, aided by several threads such as the internet, television coverage, the growing Aussie Diaspora, and increasing enthusiasm from the AFL.

Of course there are always challenges along the way. The more common ones include finding ovals to play on, explaining to locals that it isn't Rugby Union, Rugby League or soccer and then convincing them to play, and travelling long distances to find opposing teams.

But recently two more unusual roadblocks have popped up - one very human and the other very much Nature.

In China, AFL Development Officer Andrew Sawitsch has been tasked with getting Auskick-style clinics running in Shanghai, and has had some recent success in five schools already. However his efforts were for a time curtailed by Chinese customs officials who were obviously suspicious of this new game and impounded 500 footballs, Auskick backpacks and hats. Fortunately the items were set free, but not before a month had passed.

An even bigger headache goes by the name of Eyjafjallajökull. On April 17th Great Britain was due to play Denmark in Farum, Copenhagen. As always it was a big effort to arrange a large travelling squad from across the Kingdom to travel and play a full scale international. But as the weekend drew near it became obvious they had an insurmountable problem - Iceland's erupting volcano was shutting down airports across northern and western Europe. Ultimately there was no choice - the match was cancelled. Hopefully the situation will be all clear in August when nations converge on Denmark and Sweden for the inaugural European Championships.

USFootyNews.com is counting down the 2010 Preseason Top 10. At Number 9 is the San Diego Lions.

2009 was certainly not the best season in the Lions' history. They finished under 500 (to non-Americans that's a win-loss ratio under 50%) after a disappointing Nationals campaign. However, it is not always about the Ws. According to Lions Head Coach Simon Schenk, "As is the case in footy, the barometer for success is not always wins and losses. Last year was a very rewarding season at the Lions. For all our games about 80% of our players were Americans, and in one of our 4 quarter games we fielded an entirely American side. In most of our games 15-16 out the 18 on the field were Americans. This is a great testament to the club in their efforts to not rely on Australians, and to really foster the American influence. Our board is also comprised entirely of Americans. So great stuff."

Photo: The Lions in the Yellow and Maroon take on arch rivals the OC Bombers.