World Footy News

Melbourne Football Club president Jim Stynes has held a press conference to announce that he is battling cancer and will have to step away from his duties, although not his position, for the rest of 2009. Arguably the greatest success story in the so-called Irish experiment of recruitng Gaelic players to Australian football, Stynes is still remembered for his remarkable robustness, playing 244 consecutive games despite numerous injuries. He also won the 1991 Brownlow Medal as the best player in the AFL that year.

Stynes, 43, has been a passionate advocate for the charity Reach, which he founded in 1994 to assist youth suffering from depression. In more recent times he has also dedicated himself to rescuing the Mebourne Demons from their financial problems, taking on the role of President and bringing former players and supporters back to the club.

“Three weeks ago I found out that I had a lump in my back. The guys thought we should take it out and have a look at it. I found out that it was cancerous and so I was sent in to do a whole lot of follow up tests, scans and so on,” he said. “I thought it might be located in the one area but it’s not. It has spread quite a bit and I have a journey to go on. I need to understand it and work with it.”

The best wishes of all football supporters will be with him. More details in Stynes prepares for fight of his life.

The Gold Coast's Papua New Guinean recruit, Amua Pirika (pictured), has made his presence felt at the 2009 NAB Under 18 Championships, which concluded in Melbourne today. Due to the creation of the Gold Coast Football Club, to enter the AFL in 2011, Queensland's Under 18 side has effectively been the Gold Coast TAC Cup Under 18 side. Coach Guy McKenna has rotated many players through the team, using the experience as a development process.

Since the excitement of being listed by the Gold Coast, Pirika and fellow PNG youngster Stanis Susuve have been starved of opportunities due to various circumstances that will be discussed in a future story when certain information is no longer embargoed. But Pirika played for Queensland against Tasmania and in today's game against the Northern Territory the 18 year old was unleashed with great effect, kicking 3 goals and being named his team's third best player in their 1 point loss. Hopefully the breakout game will boost his confidence and if worst came to worst and the Coasters did not persist with him all the way to 2011, then shining in front of all the AFL club talent managers will have been a good career move.

Given the dearth of available talent being predicted over the coming years, it is ironic that the Gold Coast, with an array of draft picks, has been the first club to take any kind of punt on players developed as Aussie Rules players outside of Australia.

Nick Naitanui has started his career with two exciting games that have the AFL community buzzing. With his stunning performances interest in talent from the Fijian-Australian's ancestral home must be at an all-time high. This makes the establishment of AFL Fiji all the more timely. The initial meetings will be held in Suva on July 10th and 11th.

The first meeting is open for all interested people to discuss AFL Fiji. AFL Oceania Development Manager Andrew Cadzow has said that they will advertise this through all papers and media.

The second meeting will be the first formal meeting of the steering committee of AFL Fiji. Cadzow says, "Very important we get as many as possible to the first meeting to ensure we add to the quality of our steering committee. At the second meeting we will be outlining and planning for the commencement of AFL Fiji including Junior Development, Talent Pathway, Auskick (Fiji Kick), Competitions, Finances, Resources, Academy, Volunteers/Staffing/AYAD, Formalising Advisory board".

The meetings will be hosted by Cadzow and steering committee chairman Damian Ames.

"We are looking at an 8-10 person Committee with representatives from all regions, Nadi, Labasa etc. As well as Australia".

Last weekend, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, hosted the first annual Canadian National Championships for Women and Youth.

Forty-seven women from Calgary and Edmonton travelled from Alberta to contest the Nationals, which were played in a round-robin format against the Vancouver-based West Coast Wildcats. It is believed to be the first matches of 18-a-side women's club football played in North America.

The AFL has announced that as an interim solution to the loss of Setanta Sports coverage, as reported earlier on WFN, UK fans will be able to watch all eight matches live at no cost (other than their own ISP costs) this weekend via the AFL website, at bigpondtv.com/aflliveuk and there are further links here. The AFL also announced that coverage should be unaffected in other regions, and AFL chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan stated that the AFL was in discussions about selling its UK broadcast rights to an alternative television network for the remainder of the 2009 season.

Full details can be read on the AFL website at AFL's broadband offer for UK fans.

worldfootynews.com has begun sending headlines to its Twitter page. At this stage it is a case of testing the water, so may not become a permanent fixture, and we only envisage running the same information as appears on our website. But for now, check us out at www.twitter.com/worldfooty

A beautiful sunny day on Saturday 20th June in Rio de Janeiro, with a backdrop of Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer and a few curious local onlookers, saw the first ever Australian football match in Brazil.

Up against the Santiago Saints from Chile was the region's newest team, the Brazil Carnaval. At stake was the inaugural Copa Cabana with the winner entitled to claim South American supremacy.

In bad news for AFL coverage in Great Britain, the British component of Setanta Sports has shut down. Readers tell us that coverage has ceased. At this stage we hope it will not be affecting coverage in North America or Ireland. worldfootynews.com has contacted the AFL for more information. The following is a statement from the Setanta Sports website.

Setanta Sports Customers from England, Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands, please be advised that it is with great regret that Setanta GB is no longer trading.

Setanta Sports is still operating in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland only. Customers from ROI and NI should go to www.setanta.com/ie for more information.

Setanta Sport Limited Setanta Transmissions (UK) Limited
Setanta Sports S.a.r.l
(All In Administration)
(together "the Companies")

On 23 June 2009, Neville Kahn, Lee Manning and Nick Edwards were appointed Joint Administrators of the Companies and now manage the affairs, business and property of Setanta Sport Limited and Setanta Transmissions (UK) Limited and Setanta Sports S.a.r.l..

Attempts are currently being made to establish a football team in Jordan's capital, Amman. So far the most that has been achieved is the occasional "kick-to-kick", but Nick Gibson, the man behind the idea, remains hopeful of securing the numbers required for a club. If successful, this club would be a potential starter in the next AFL Middle East season.

Unfortunately for Gibson, whilst he's, "been putting the word out to expats," there are limited Aussies in the country, "and the majority are rugby fans." In his own words, "it's tough to find anyone, let alone get a team together."

If you wish to get involved or can be of assistance to Nick email him at n_m_gibson [at] hotmail [dot] com

Tim Grose, the brother of former Port Adelaide player Gavin Grose, will next week travel to Tonga where he will spend twelve months as an AFL Volunteer, working with AFL Tonga to develop the country's football program. Grose recently completed a week in Canberra and two days at AFL Queensland in preparation for the the role.

AFL Oceania Development Manager Andrew Cadzow said, "the progressive AFL Tonga committee, who already has full time JDO (Junior Development Officer) in place and expanding and working through the schools, will find Tim a fantastic boost for the next 12 months. His priorities are to assist and develop the Auskick and schools programs and to develop their talent program to include a team in the November Under 16 Oceania Cup and a competitive squad in the 2011 International Cup."

During this year's Grand Final week, the AFL will be holding a Multicultural Academy Camp for male students in Year 7 and 8. The camp is one of many initiatives the league is taking to ensure that Australians of all backgrounds are exposed to Australian Football. The camp, which is free, will be held in Melbourne and span five days and four nights. It will include AFL-run training sessions, clinics with AFL players, fitness and skill testing and guest speakers.

To be eligible, students must be male (a female camp will be held in 2010), verified by their school principal as actively attending Year 7 or 8 and be of a multicultural background. This is defined as having at least one parent born overseas. Participants will then be selected on athletic talent, potential, leadership qualities and willingness to develop as a footballer.

See the below flyer for further details.

Update: Note that the program is primarily open to Victorian boys - if there were kids from interstate (possibly overseas) that wanted to apply it's understood they would be considered but costs such as airfares and accommodation would not be covered.

Those at the International Cup last year or following the Peace Team on their journey there may have noticed the cameras (and microphones) accompanying the team. That footage has come together in “Tackling Peace” the inspirational story of Israeli and Palestinian youths who unite over the game of Australian football. Along with the players and team staff the program also features Kevin Sheehan, Ron Barassi and Robert ‘Dipper’ DiPierdomenico.

The documentary narrated by Hugo Weaving premieres on Saturday 4 July 2009 on Network Ten - 1.00pm Sydney & Adelaide, 2.00pm Melbourne & Brisbane, 4.00pm Perth with replays to follow on the ONE digital channel. The film is also featuring as the Opening night Film at the 2009 AICE Australian Film Festival in Jerusalem.