World Footy News

The Sydney Swans confirm that overnight Tadhg Kennelly informed the Club of his decision to return to Australia and accept a two-year contract. Kennelly arrived at the Swans in 1999, made his debut in 2001, played in the 2005 premiership, earned Life Membership and played 158 games before returning to Ireland at the start of this season to fulfil a lifelong dream to win an All-Ireland premiership.

The All-Ireland premiership was achieved for Kennelly and his side Kerry in September and the 28 year-old was then left weighing up the possibility of resuming an AFL career. After spending a considerable time making that decision, Kennelly will return to Australia next week to officially launch his autobiography ‘Unfinished Business’ and at that time, commence training with the Swans.

An interesting development has happened recently which has bucked the recent trend of Irish players being signed up by AFL clubs. Four players have decided to turn their backs on lucrative contracts and return to Ireland to play for their GAA counties in the amateur game. In the past, if an Irish player left the Australian game this was mainly because their contracts were not renewed, but a player like Martin Clarke obviously still had a big future with the Pies and many were surprised that he chose to return to County Down.

It has only taken two matches for the new boys of AFL Middle East, the Bahrain Blues, to join the winners list. They defeated last year’s Grand Finalists, the Muscat Magpies 12.14 (86) to 11.9 (75) in front of a home crowd.

Although we've previewed some of this already, Wednesday 11th November will be remembered in AFL New Zealand circles as hugely momentous and not just for the commemoration of the end of the First World War.

AFL New Zealand and the Hawthorn Football Club officially launched the HANZ Up programme for player development within the country. ‘HANZ (an acronym of Hawthorn and New Zealand) Up’ is a programme instigated between the two bodies which is truly multi-faceted and simply one of the greatest events thus far in the promotion and development of football outside Australia.

Hawthorn President and former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett will be hosting the evening alongside Geoff Dickson (Chairman AFLNZ) and Dean Warren (AFL Oceania GM). Three Hawks players in Trent Croad, Brent Renouf (Premiership players of 2008) and Shane Savage (all born and bred NZ) will attend. Renouf’s family is well known in Wellington with the foyer of the Town Hall, the Renouf Tennis Centre and Renouf Stadium linked to his father’s uncle, Sir Francis Renouf.

‘Hanz Up’ fits in beautifully with New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key’s direction that he wants more Kiwis to be active and therefore is to be included among the sports promoted through KiwiSport.

The first ever ‘Bute International Test Series’ between Wales and Scotland has ended, with the Cyrmu Red Dragons (Wales) lifting the Crichton-Stuart Cup.

The Red Dragons and the Scottish Puffins played two matches, held in Glasgow and Cardiff, with the Welsh awarded the series on aggregate score after both sides claimed victory in their respective home matches.

Played 12-a-side, the first leg in Glasgow was the first ever international for the all-Welsh Red Dragons against a team other than England, whilst for the Scots, it was the first test match played by an all-Scottish national team.

Both camps have plans for domestic expansion in the 2010 season, as well as plans for more test matches against other European nations.

Thanks to the Welsh Australian Rules Football League's Ben Coak for this report and photos.

Newly appointed Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy (pictured with New Zealand captain Andrew Congalton during the 2008 International Cup) has laid out the welcome mat for international talent.

As the new AFL club began to take shape there were small signs here and there that the AFL intended to focus heavily on the many immigrants that make up western Sydney. This made a stronger international connection a natural match, especially at a time when both non-AFL driven and AFL driven international growth has seen the first products of a new wave of non-Australian footy players begin to emerge. The introduction of international rookie lists, the AFL-AIS side touring and the upcoming Oceania tournament, along with some countries having a youth focus at the International Cup and the introduction of a World XVIII at the 2010 AFL Under 16s, have all pointed the way forward.

Newly signed Collingwood International rookie Seamus McNamara can be seen in action in this latest Youtube video. The video covers some of his trialling with Collingwood previous to the signing announced today - please be advised the Shae's stomach contents will appear during the film. The footage is just a small part of the upcoming Yellow Magic documentary.

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The Collingwood Football Club today announced it has signed American Seamus McNamara to a two-year international rookie contract. The 24-year-old, who hails from Milwaukee in the US state of Wisconsin, is a powerful athlete who stands 204 centimetres and weighs 104 kilograms.

McNamara trialled with the Magpies in Melbourne back in September, and returned on the weekend to commence pre-season training with the team, after accepting the club’s contract offer. Collingwood’s national recruiting manager Derek Hine told http://collingwoodfc.com.au that McNamara could develop into a ruck or key forward option.

Last Saturday November 7th saw Germany's Frankfurt Redbacks travel south of the Alps, to the town of Lainate, near Milan, to take on the Italian national team. The game, won by the Redbacks by a solitary point, was the official match of the Italian National Aussie Rules team on home soil.

Thanks to Armando Colombo from the AFL Italia for this report. Full story includes a link to match highlights on YouTube.

Will international footy change the way the game is played in Australia, from the MCG to Subiaco, from Football Park to the Gabba and on large and small grounds around the country?

This article explores the possibilities.

The Ottawa Swans Australian Football Club is seeking applications for the position of Head Coach for the 2010 season. The Head Coach requires strong leadership qualities and is counted on to develop an excellent on-field product and to inspire team members to perform at a consistently high level .

The following are the minimum expectations of the Swans Head Coach in 2010:
- A strong commitment to develop Australian football in Canada's National Capital Region ;
- A focus on the development of first and second year players ;
- A full commitment to the position for the entire 2010 Ontario Australian Football League season, including pre-season planning, training, the regular season, and playoffs ;
- Knowledge and understanding of Australian football;
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English (communication skills in French would be considered a strong asset ); and
- An ability to write detailed match reports.

Four-time AFL premiership coach and Australian Football Hall of Fame member Kevin Sheedy (and great friend and spruiker of the international aspects of our game) was today announced as Head Coach of Team GWS.

In announcing Sheedy’s move to Western Sydney, AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou said the appointment of the coaching legend, who had coached Essendon for 27 years and four flags was the most significant appointment in the campaign for the 18th AFL licence to bring a team to Greater Western Sydney by 2012.

Mr Demetriou said the Team GWS had a significant challenge to meet the criteria as set by the AFL Commission and that Sheedy would have a role in both the development of the on-field and off-field structure of Team GWS. “This is a generational decision and the success of AFL in Greater Western Sydney won’t be known for 25 or 30 years but with a population of two million people, the AFL is serious about this venture and today’s appointment of one of the biggest names in AFL demonstrates our commitment to this region,” Mr Demetriou said.