World Footy News

Kevin Sheedy, legendary AFL coach and future coach of the 18th AFL club, Greater Western Sydney, has put forward the idea of an 11-per-side tournament to replace the NAB Cup, the AFL's pre-season series. And he reckons it could have an international flavour:

"It might encourage other countries to find 15 young players in say USA, Japan, Great Britain, Ireland or South Africa. They could come out and have a crack at it".

Sheeds has said the Rugby 7s in Hong Kong was his inspiration, although he has been heavily exposed to international Australian football, where the concept of reduced numbers games has been regularly applied for many years, especially across the United States and Europe. His idea also is very similar to a proposal put forward by worldfootynews.com to the AFL and also partially published online. So certainly then some of us here think the concept has plenty of merit.

As foreshadowed recently on WFN, the AFL today announced the appointment of a full time AFL International Development Manager. Former Fitzroy, Collingwood and Hawthorn player, Tony Woods, takes on the role.

The 40 year old previously had extensive experience in his role with Austereo, as well as establishing the commercial base for the Gold Coast FC and more recently with Collingwood. From debut to retirement his AFL football career spanned 1989 to 2002.

The AFL's David Matthews stated that "This is a significant strategic appointment for the game. It is the first full-time dedicated international role at AFL Head Office".

"In recent years, with relatively modest budgets we have worked with international affiliates, AFL Clubs, Government and corporate partners to test the game's potential and identify priority international markets".

The European Australian Football Association has appointed the first-ever full-time regional manager for the sport of Australian rules football in Europe, with Peter Romaniw the successful candidate.

EAFA Chairman Gerard Murphy says four candidates were interviewed in a marathon session on March 2nd. "Peter has been working with the AFL in a development role with coaching, umpires, administration and volunteers. He has degrees in Sports Administration and Sports Science, has previously worked overseas and speaks fluent Ukrainian."

"With such a large emphasis at both the Zagreb and Frankfurt Conferences being placed on umpiring, coaching and junior development and accreditation, the Commission are sure that Peter will be a wonderful asset to Australian Football in Europe," Murphy says.

Romaniw brings to the position a broad range of experience in both Game Development and politics, having previously worked as a Multicultural Development Officer with the Richmond Football Club and AFL Victoria, as well as Community Liaison Officer to the Australian Federal Minister for Sport.

He is also involved in a volunteer capacity with the Ukrainian World Congress International Sports Council, and worked as an observer to the 2004 Ukrainian Presidential Elections.

Whilst Gerard Murphy says the details are still being finalised, Romaniw is expected to take up the position in the coming weeks. WFN wishes him well on his appointment.

In this age of growing footy throughout the world, the challenges facing the organisers of the largely amateur-status sport are many. Finance, player availability, available venues etc. One of the things you don't expect to come up against too often is Mother Nature.

One of the important but easily overlooked issues for the growth of international Aussie Rules is providing good coaching, and perhaps even more importantly, good umpiring. Whilst expat-Aussies often help kick start clubs and leagues, long term it is crucial to get locals involved in these important roles - and Australians often have a thing or two to learn about the laws of the game too.

Australian football in Canada recently received a boost with two weeks of official accreditation occurring across the country.

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".