World Footy News

The Carlton Football Club has lifted the suspension on Setanta O’hAilpin and he returned to training at Visy Park earlier today. “Setanta was invited to return to the club and resume training with his team-mates following further discussions with the coaching staff and the playing group and a clearance from our Sports Psychologist,” said Carlton CEO Greg Swann. O’hAilpin addressed the playing group prior to the training session at Visy Park this afternoon and he was welcomed back by everyone at the club. He will continue to undertake ongoing counseling from the Club’s Psychologist.

“There has been much said about what was an unacceptable incident and the matter has been dealt with by the AFL in regards to a suspension from playing,,” added Swann. O’hAilpin has been training with the Northern Bullants while he has been suspended from Carlton. Carlton’s next training session will be at Visy Park at 9:30am on Thursday.

When Australian Football was starting to ramp up again in South Africa in 2005 a talented young Rugby Union player was introduced to the foreign sport, suiting up for what was then the South African Buffaloes to play against the touring Convicts, a mixed bag of Australian footballers on tour for footy and fun.

The player in question was Duane Vermeulen, already a mountain of a young man. Although new to Aussie Rules he showed tremendous promise at fullback, winning the best player award in the Convicts versus Gauteng Province match. Vermeulen was in training for the 2005 International Cup but according to then coach Steve Harrison, he "broke his hand a couple of weeks before we named the final squad". Harrison had no doubt the young man had talent to burn. "I was spewing because he was a gun".

South African footy was keen to keep Vermeulen as a Buffalo (or under the new image today he would've become a Lion). But in a Rugby mad nation, particularly amongst the white population, and with the IC2005 opportunity gone, it was always likely that he would pursue greater opportunities in Rugby. And so it was that he quickly progressed to become a key player for the Cheetahs in the Rugby Super 14s, the peak southern hemisphere Union club competition that pits 5 clubs from South Africa against 5 from New Zealand and 4 from Australia.

Vermeulen, who plays as a No. 8, has now been head-hunted to Western Cape's Stormers, and has at times been talked about as possibly being called up to South Africa's national Rugby side in future. That would make him the Buffalo/Lion who became a Cheetah and a Springbok. But for AFL South Africa he's a case of the one that got away.

One of the best drivers for Australian football development across Oceania has been the use of AYAD positions. There are now an unprecedented 5 positions up for grabs across Australia's neighbours, with one spot in each of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and Indonesia.

The Tongan, Samoan and Indonesian positions are somewhat urgent, with June/July intakes are positions closing soon, and the others for September. AYAD is the Australian Government's Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development program. They provide great opportunities for Australians to visit other countries, expenses paid, earn a modest wage, help other communities, gain new skills and assist in spreading the great Australian game.

We believe all the listed countries have had AYADs at various stages, with the exception of Fiji. The new round of positions come with the added coordinated support of AFL Oceania. Most positions are for 12 months and are open to Australians 18 to 30 years.

More details can be found on the Tongan website and the AYAD website - however note not all positions are listed yet. The Indonesian position will work with the Jakarta Bintangs clubs and details are listed here. There is also now more information on the AFL website.

If the criteria fit, have a go yourself, or tell your mates about it. Expressions of interest can be emailed to afloceania@aflq.com.au.

Former players and staff from the Fremantle Football Club crossed the Indian Ocean early today for a week long AFL community camp in the North West Province of South Africa.

The club has called on past players Troy Cook, Justin Longmuir and Luke Webster to assist Fremantle’s Community Development staff in the further development of AFL football in Fremantle’s allocated province.

Cook, Longmuir and Webster will work with the club’s Community Development staff to teach young children in South Africa the necessary skills to compete in the South African Auskick-equivalent ‘FootyWild’.

The travelling party will also have the opportunity to review the development of the North West Province’s talented senior players during a training session on Saturday 14 February. Players will travel from all around the region to participate in this session.

AFL Oceania's Andrew Cadzow has put the call out for interested parties to contact him with a view to forming a steering committee to create AFL Fiji, "to be put in place to assist and guide the structure and growth of AFL in Fiji". Early thoughts include Auskick (or Fijikick), Recreational football, community and life skills programs and talent development, with a theme of "Let’s give everybody a go".

There has been plenty to recommend Fiji recently. There has been the athleticism of Fijian-Australian Nick Naitanui (drafted to West Coast at number 2 a few months ago), the ongoing success of David Rodan and Alipate Carlisle with Port Adelaide, and the International Scholarship listing of Inoke Ratu and Solomoni Loki by the Western Bulldogs following a recruitment camp in Suva and Labassa in Fiji.

There's also some history, with Fiji footy gets the ball rolling. Unfortunately that faded out (see Fiji suspends football development), in part due to in-country political problems. But there are good early signs for this new program, with Cadzow saying "Interest is at an all time high and opportunity exists to take the game to Fiji. Already school clinics, talent search and small game blocks have commenced irregularly throughout the Country".

AFL Oceania are looking for people in both Australia and Fiji to get involved, saying "The more the merrier. Exciting times ahead". Interested parties can contact Andrew Cadzow, however we're always reluctant to list email addresses due to "spambots" so we'll be deliberately obscure. The general contact for AFL Oceania is afloceania@aflq.com.au

Setanta o’hAilpin today officially accepted the prescribed four week penalty handed out to him by the AFL for the attack on team mate Cameron Cloke during last Friday’s intraclub match.

Carlton yesterday made the following statement "O'hAilpin's indefinite suspension imposed by the Club last Friday remains in place and this is a matter for discussion between O'hAilpin and the Carlton Football Club, including the player leadership group. These discussions will take place this week and a decision on this club suspension is expected to be known by Friday. During his suspension from the Club, O'hAilpin will not be involved in club activities, including tomorrow's Community Camp in Seymour, and will be required to train with the Northern Bullants. He is also undergoing an anger management course with the Club's Sports Psychologist."

But speaking from the camp today Brett Ratten told afl.com.au "The AFL has gone through its review process and handed out a sanction…we want to get Setanta back as quickly as possible and not leave him in the lurch and try and help him through this time and get back with the boys. We're just waiting for Mick Martin, our sports psych, to give us the all-clear there, but if it takes another three weeks or a month we'll work through that.” So it seems at this stage that we will see Setanta continue his career at some stage this year.

Just a warning to any of our readers that use Yahoo for their email. We've had some difficulty with Yahoo not passing on emails from worldfootynews.com, or delaying them by several days. If you have attempted to register with our website and did not receive your password then it is possible Yahoo did not release it to you - one would expect it to at least appear in a user's spam folder, but it seems Yahoo have a history of inexplicably locking out websites. So if you did not receive a response or think something was amiss, please contact us again, and perhaps try an email address other than Yahoo.

When the AFL announced that one of the teams partaking in the 2008 International Cup would be comprised of Israelis and Palestinians, a few voices in the international football community expressed skepticism. Whilst football competitions existed previously in Israel, there had been no major football news from the region in years. Some questioned whether the Peace Team's involvement in the tournament would lead to a football presence in Israel and Palestine afterwards or if it was simply an AFL publicity stunt. Positive news from The Peres Centre for Peace today, suggests that the AFL made the right decision.

The East Devonport Swans, who play in the Northern Tasmanian Football League, have scored an early coup in the lead-up to 2009’s NTFL season by signing two exciting players from Papua New Guinea.

Emmaus Wartovo and Willie Aisi were among the stars for the PNG Mosquitoes in last year's AFL International Cup grand final against New Zealand. The pair also played in Queensland last year on international scholarships, but returned home to PNG during the summer. According to an article by Martin Agatyn in local paper, The Advocate, “They are expected to arrive in Tasmania by mid- February, once details of their sporting visas are finalised. It is believed the signings will be the first time PNG nationals have played football for a Tasmanian club. Aisi is reported to be a speedy on-baller, while Wartovo is a handy forward who can kick goals.”

The Convicts concept sees teams of Australian footballers heading overseas for tours that involve football matches and sight seeing. We've followed their adventures closely, as they've travelled from South Africa to Europe to North America.

However 2009 is set to be a quiet one with no tours planned, after an initial look at China was scrapped. The Convicts' Anthony Nanfra told WFN that "I dont think it prudent to have a tour this year given the state of the economy", noting that players from Western Australia have been a big part of the tours and there are major employment worries from that group. Instead he is looking into some domestic opportunities and investigating options for 2010. We'll let you know when their plans solidify.

The Carlton Football Club has suspended Irishman Setanta O’hAilpin indefinitely following an incident where he was reported to have punched and kicked team-mate Cameron Cloke during today’s intra-club practice match at Visy Park. Setanta finished the 2008 season with an injury and questions over whether the club would take him into 2009, and his brother Aisake was de-listed. Setanta stayed on the Blues' list but now it appears he will face a significant period on the sidelines. The following is from a statement from the Carlton Football Club:

“Setanta’s actions were totally unacceptable, on or off the field, and we are bitterly disappointed in the incident with Cameron Cloke,” said Carlton CEO Greg Swann. O’hAilpin has been suspended from the Club until further notice pending an AFL investigation. He will not be involved in any club activities and will be required to train with the Northern Bullants while he is suspended. In addition he will undergo an anger management course with the Club Sports Psychologist.

Setanta is remorseful about the incident and has spoken with Cameron to apologise for his actions. He is aware that such an incident is completely unacceptable and, in particular, is a poor example to junior footballers. The Carlton leadership group was involved in the decision to suspend Setanta and have spoken to him in relation to the matter.

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