World Footy News

AFL Canada are seeking clubs to enter their first ever North American/Canadian National Australian Football Club Championships. The tournament will be held in Toronto, Ontario in Canada on the 16th and 17th of May. Divisions will consist of eight teams divided into two pools. Teams from across Canada and the USA are invited to participate and the number of divisions will depend on the number of teams entered.

As for the game format, all games will consist of two 20 minute halves with no time on and teams will be 18 aside, with six players on the bench. The 24 players dressed will consist of no more than eight non-Canadian/American players. Canadian/American players are those considered eligible for selection to their respective national teams. There will be no more than six non-Canadian/American players on the field at any time during the course of the game. Entry to the tournament will be CDN$30 per player.

2009 will see the launch of Germany's sixth Australian Football club, with the Stuttgart Emus set to take the field in the league's brand-new second division.

As with the ARFLI, the Australian Football League Germany has seen a growth in numbers and playing standard over the past few years among the strong clubs.

While this is an important indicator of good progress on the level of individual clubs, the gap between the top and bottom of the table can make it hard for new teams to enter the league.

In Germany, the Berlin Crocodiles in particular have been on the wrong end of a few large scorelines, and the Strasbourg Roos, known in their sole AFLG season as the Black Devils, found the going very tough.

The AFLG now look set to follow a similar model to the Irish in 2009, launching a second division to cater for both newcomers and the reserve teams from the stronger clubs. The Premier Division will see Frankfurt, Hamburg, Rheinland and Munich battle it out for the title, while the Second Division will see Berlin and Stuttgart field their senior teams, along with Rheinland and Munich's reserves.

The AFL and Oceania AFL have played their part in creating initiatives for younger players to increase their involvement in the game. AFL Oceania is organising an Under 15 tournament which could feature teams from New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Nauru and Fiji in November this year.

Andrew Cadzow, responsible for much of the junior driven development in PNG, is now certainly making his mark across the wider region with his responsibility for AFL Oceania. In preparation, the NZAFL will hold under 15 school based tournaments in Auckland, Canterbury, Waikato and Wellington in June 2009 all geared towards selecting a New Zealand team to compete in the Oceania tournament.

The selection of Amua Pirika by the fledgling Gold Coast Football Club, proposed for the AFL competition, has certainly raised awareness of the talent available in other countries. AFLPNG have continued their close relationship with AFL Queensland and the Suncoast Lions are the beneficiaries of four more talented New Guineans for this season, signing up 4 under 18s in Emmanuel Tupia, John Vogae, Peter Labi and Gary Kiele. Interestingly the Lions have also attracted a smattering of talented players from a variety of other sports, something those of us who are involved in international sport base our whole recruitment strategy around!

Read more on this topic at Power draw talent from afar.

After a series of articles the final worldfootynews.com unofficial World Rankings for 2008 have been compiled. The list is a result of voting from six of our writers and taking into account discussion in the articles leading up to the vote. We're well aware that no system can be perfect, especially given arguments on issues such as whether to consider professional players (Australian, Irish), where to rank entities not necessarily widely acknowledged as countries (Catalonia versus Spain, the Peace Team), and whether to consider the best side a nation might put forward or just who was available, not to mention the lack of international matches and vagaries of the IC08 pool system. Nevertheless, it would seem to be a worthwhile outcome to be able to look back on the most recently completely year and to be able to point fans, players and people new to international footy at a table that is a reasonable attempt to rank the world's Australian football playing nations. Here is that list:

The folowing is contributed by Chris McNeil.

The Southern California Australian Football League (SCAFL) is hosting a charity exhibition match this Sunday, February 22, in Santa Monica CA, in aid of victims of the recent bushfires in Victoria.The SCAFL is the organizing body of Australian Rules Football in the greater Los Angeles area, which is made up of 4 clubs that compete in a local 9-a-side competition. Those clubs; Riverside Raiders, LA Swans, Beachside Sharks and the OC Jets, combine to form the Orange County Bombers in National 18-a-side matches. SCAFL president, Corey Irwin, who originally proposed the idea, has since worked tirelessly to make the event happen.

”The game is free to attend, but you are asked to make a donation.” Irwin said. “All monetary contributions given at the event will help those whose lives have been torn apart by the recent tragedy. Given the current economic climate, we realize not everyone is in a financial position to donate money. With that in mind, the SCAFL will also be accepting donations of used clothing to help those in need.” SCAFL players will be on hand to help out with everything from manning the donation booth, to conducting a kids clinic, to playing in the match itself.

Many clubs in Asia have close affiliations with football clubs in Victoria and many have been moved by the tragic events of the past few weeks. The Bali Geckos Australian Rules Football Club have responded to the recent horrific bushfires that wreaked havoc on the state of Victoria by donating to an Australian Rules football league in the heart of the affected areas. The Geckos will donate US$500 to the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League, which includes the townships of Kinglake and Marysville, both of which were basically wiped out by the fires.

While Mike Pyke may not be a flag bearer for the Canadian Northwind, he is nevertheless a key example - should he succeed - of the potential for slightly mature-age prospects to 'convert' to Australian football and make the AFL. From the International Cup, we've seen comments, especially from members of the US Revolution indicating they wondered how good they may have been with an earlier uptake of the game. Should Pyke succeed, does that open the door - just a fraction - to a more serious look at talented 21-23 year olds? The answer - perhaps, but only if they play Union (a vaguely similar sport), can run, jump, aren't too bulked up, and kick the ball better than average.

AFL London are staging their first All Star game on Clapham Common this Saturday 21st February in support of those affected by the bushfires in Victoria and to raise money to assist the Red Cross response. Ben Gellie of the London Swans and Coach of the North All-Star team said, "Many of the league's players, former players and supporters are personally affected by the disaster, we really see this as a great way to come together as a community a long way away from home to share our emotions, and hopefully at the end of the day to be able to make a difference." The league’s traditional rivalries will be on hold with the Swans, Lions and Wildcats banding together to make up the Northern team and Putney, Wimbledon and Wandsworth making up the Southern push. Despite the winter weather and the possibility that some may be slightly underdone, the game promises to be a very interesting showcase of the undoubted amount of talent that is present in London football.

In January the Kingdom of Tonga's first ever Australia Day Challenge took place with Tongatapu (the largest island) defeating Vava'u in a tough match at Teufaiva Stadium in Nuku'alofa, the nation's capital. The following is based on information courtesy of Michael O'Shannassy.

The Australian High Commissioner H.E. Dr. Bruce Hunt watched the entire game enthusiastically along with a crowd of about 100. He greeted the players beforehand with a handshake and afterwards as well as posing for photos with the Vava'u team. His speech recalled how Aussie Rules was founded 151 years ago and it was between two teams just like today. He also said he hoped it would be the start of many more games, especially on Australia Day.

The game was played in tough conditions - the ground was hard, grass uncut and a very strong wind blowing to one end. In the end Tongatapu won out (61-55), however Vava'u probably kicked themselves out of the game in the last quarter with many missed opportunities. The game was played in great spirit with plenty of the famous "Tongan Sidestep" to keep the players honest.

The AFL Commission had their first 2009 meeting yesterday and on the agenda was expansion, in particular the proposed licences for the Gold Coast (17th, nominally 2011) and Western Sydney (18th, nominally 2012) and a strong push from Tasmania, led by their state government, for inclusion in the AFL.

With dire economic times there are various reports that the AFL are increasingly cautious about expansion, however CEO Andrew Demetriou remained publically upbeat, saying "We are very confident in what we have seen, and 2011 and 2012 (for western Sydney), for us, are still on track for our expansion".

Saturday week ago, several parts of Victoria recorded their hottest temperature on record, including 46.4 degrees Celsius in Melbourne, the highest temperature recorded in an Australian capital city. Several bushfires broke out in the state with major blazes in the Churchill, Kinglake and Marysville areas. So bad were conditions (not just the heat but strong, unpredictable winds) that as of today 200 people are dead, hundreds of properties have been destroyed, thousands of residents displaced and hundreds of thousands of acres of land scorched. And sadly those figures are set to rise. In terms of lives lost, it is Australia's worst bushfires, surpassing major fires on Ash Wednesday (1983) and Black Friday (1939). Several of Saturday's fires (although now controlled) still continue some ten days on.

Numerous fundraising efforts have been launched to assist those who have lost everything. Companies have chipped in up to two million dollars each, everyday Australians touched by the stories of loss are giving generously out of their own pockets and several sporting bodies have held matches to raise money for the Bushfire vicitms. The AFL shifted the preseason match between Essendon and Western Bulldogs (two Victorian teams) from Darwin to Melbourne in one such example, with all money donated to the Victorian Government’s Bushfire Appeal Fund.

More than 35,000 fans turned up for the event which managed to raise more than 1.2 million dollars. The two teams had promised an exciting contest and didn't disappoint, with Essendon winning by the slimmest of margins.

Essendon 1.8.13 (70)
Western Bulldogs 1.8.12 (69)
Preseason competition includes the nine-point "supergoal" for goals scored outside the fifty-metre arc, on top of goals and behinds.

Click here to donate to the Red Cross' Bush Fire Appeal.