World Footy News

2008 has come to an end and it must surely be regarded as the most successful yet for the growth of Australian Football.

The stand-out event was the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. 16 full sides plus an appearance by Tonga in the Multicultural Challenge meant there was easily a record number of teams and players. The Israel-Palestine Peace Team grabbed most of the headlines and it was terrific to see so much attention, but in purely football terms perhaps the arrival of China and India was the biggest news. The semi-finals being played under lights in Warrnambool were a huge success (though better lighting and an extra 10 degrees warmth would've been appreciated), with the football an excellent standard, only to be bettered in the Grand Final which saw sentimental favourite PNG win after two previous grand final losses, with New Zealand gallant in narrow defeat. The event also saw an International Forum between the AFL and many countries.

Many of the highlights were things we'd previewed in the 2007 review (see 2008 set to outshine a stellar 2007 - part one and part two). It's amazing just how many good news football stories there were across 2008. All countries probably have positive news to report so selecting just a few is fraught with danger, but here is a summary with a few stand-outs.

Ben Graham and Sav Rocca moved into week two of the NFL playoffs after their teams both came up trumps. Graham’s Cardinals yesterday defeated the Atlanta Falcons 30 - 24 as Graham punted six times for a net average of 34.7 yards including four inside 20 and three of those inside the 10 yard line.

Rocca’s Philadelphia Eagles today defeated the Minnesota Vikings 26 – 14, with Rocca punting four times for a net average of 44 yards and a longest punt of 58 yards. All Rocca’s punts were inside the 20 yard line.

The accuracy of the drop punt has really come to the fore with both punters using it effectively. If both were to be on winning teams next week they would find themselves going head to head in the NFC Championship match with the winner of that game headed into the Superbowl.

In our continuing series of debates towards creating a defacto World Ranking we now ask the question whether the 2008 International Cup finishing order was a fair assessment of the countries that competed and thus whether they should be used as the initial basis for our World Rankings.

Well known Jakarta Bintang, Rob Ballard, has become the oldest winner of the prestigious Bay Sheffield professional foot race at Glenelg in Adelaide, narrowly edging out South Australian favourite Todd Bateman on the line.

The former Olympian was second at the race in 1998 and finally took out the prize on Sunday evening, after several attempts during a 20-year athletics career.

The Bay Sheffield is run over 120 metres (with handicaps) and is one of the major events on the Australian professional foot-running calendar, this year being the 122nd consecutive running, reportedly making it the oldest continually run race in Australia. It has seen many outstanding winners, the last notable footballer being Darren Kappler who began his league career with South Adelaide (82 games) before playing 187 games for Fitzroy, Sydney and Hawthorn from 1987 to 1998. To our knowledge, no Asian-based AFL player has ever competed, pace not being a pre-requisite for most players in the region.

At the generous odds of 20-1 in the AUD 20,000 event obviously bookmakers were unaware of his Indonesian form, and it is expected Rob celebrated long and hard after his triumph.

In October 08 the Western Bulldogs became the first AFL club to make use of the International Scholarship List, which allows clubs to effectively quarantine young international talent by signing them to $1000 per year contracts. This gives the club the opportunity to develop the player overseas (or for $20k they can look to move them to Australia).

The two young men are Inoke Ratu and Solomoni Loki, both from Fiji and recruited during a scouting mission by the Western Bulldogs that included well publicised local trials in Labassa (on Vanua Levu) and Suva (on Viti Levu, the Main Island). Several articles have appeared about the potential players, and worldfootynews.com also spoke with the Bulldogs about their plans as well as getting some thoughts on Fiji's footy future from the AFL Oceania Development Manager.

Many challenges await Irish Gaelic games players when recruited to AFL clubs. Full time training, a different shaped ball, a whole new country. Part of that change is the weather. Despite Australia occupying an entire continent with varying weather patterns, heat is the one thing in common. Summer is always hot - very hot.

That's something that Adelaide's recent recruit Brian Donnelly has only just had a sample of. After several weeks training with the South Australian team, the 20 year old from County Louth has experienced what has been an unusually mild start to the Adelaide summer. Maximum temperatures have rarely gone above 27 degrees, leaving more than a few locals grumbling about the lack of beach weather (although a few rainy days have been welcome respite from the drought).

Donnelly is 193cm and 82kg and the Adelaide Crows have so far been impressed with his abilities, though recruiting manager Matt Rendell has said the club would be happy if he holds down half back or centre-half back in the SANFL Reserves in 2009 (he has been mini-drafted to Glenelg), perhaps breaking through for a few SA League games; obviously Adelaide are not expecting his AFL debut this year.

The import is quoted in the article Irish recruit hot to trot as not thinking the weather so far has been mild and saying "It's pretty warm for me. I heard it gets up over 40 degrees Celsius, so [when it does] I'll be hiding". It will be a tough pre-season for him if the usual summer kicks in - extended periods with daily maxima above 35 degrees and occasional peaks of over 42. Last March had what news reports described as an "unenviable" Australian capital city record of 15 successive days of 35 or more, with one report citing a climate model that suggested it was a 1 in 3000 year event. No doubt Donnelly will be happy if it's that long before the next one strikes.

Also more on Donnelly in Irishman hammers out new football life, in which he discusses the step up in training required for the AFL.

As 2009 begins we present below the club premiers and provincial champions from across the world of Australian football for 2008. This is the third year in a row that we've compiled the list (see Club Premiers 2006 and Club Premiers 2007).

It was a year in which we saw many multiple-in-a-row premierships for some but notably not red-hot favourites Geelong in the AFL. One tier down, at Australian state league level, former strugglers Central Districts made it a remarkable 7 out of the last 9 in the SANFL in South Australia. But that still doesn't match the 8 in a row by the Shepherds Bush Raiders in London's Conference. The same club is also home to the West London Wildcats (pictured) who racked up their 5th straight London Premiership title, while the club's third side, the Ealing Emus, also claimed the Social League, leaving no doubt that the West London club is the most dominant outside of Australia - and can any within Australia lay claim to such success?

The Goodwood Saints won their fourth straight in the SAAFL (South Australian amateurs), Subiaco 3-peated in Western Australia's top league as did Launceston in the Northern Tasmanian league and the Eastern Blues in New Zealand's South Island Canterbury league. Teams going back-to-back included Glenorchy in Tasmania's Southern Football League, the Darebin Falcons in the Victorian Women's Premier Division and Solna in Sweden's Stockholm league.

Not helping the cause over the years of a Tasmanian AFL bid has been troubles within Tassie's domestic football scene. The same issues that affect an AFL push also affect local footy. With a relatively small population spread right across the state, it has been difficult to maintain a coherent state league. Tasmania has sometimes had a single league and sometimes it has broken into northern and southern leagues. Compounding their problems, the state has a side in Victoria's state league, the VFL, that has consistently performed very poorly.

Perhaps a change for the better is on the way - but it's a controversial one. AFL Tasmania was established by the AFL in 1998. It has managed and delivered game development programs throughout Tasmania but mostly in isolation to the clubs - it's probably fair to say that the various clubs and leagues have not always been on the same page.

It is AFL Tasmania that is behind the launch of a new Tassie-wide league, to be called the Wrest Point Tasmanian State League. In 2009 it will have 10 clubs, a mixture from across the island. They are Burnie, Devonport, Launceston, North Launceston, South Launceston, Glenorchy, North Hobart, Hobart, Clarence and Lauderdale.

In news from the United States' NFL, where several Australian footballers have converted to American football, it's play-off time for two former AFL players.

Ben Graham will feature in a playoff game for his new team the Arizona Cardinals next week, although he has been in the playoffs once before with his former team the New York Jets. After arriving with the Cards late in a turbulent season for the former Geelong captain, he has punted well and held well for Kicker Neil Rackers. Although Graham is not hitting any massive punts it seems his accuracy – particularly on the shorter punts is working well for his new team.

The Cardinals today defeated the Seattle Seahawks in the final regular season match 34-21. Graham punted three times for an average (and net average) of 42.7 yards including two inside the 20 yard line. He also held for four successful conversions and two successful field goal attempts. After recent poor performances (one win from their last five games), the Cardinals will be heartened by a good result going into next week’s match.

On this site we've bemoaned the lack of improvement to Adelaide's number one football ground, AAMI Stadium (Football Park). In particular South Australian fans have had to sit by while there have been major upgrades to the MCG, the building of the indoor Telstra Dome (Docklands Stadium), and a complete overhaul of the Gabba in Brisbane, as well as plans for a brand new facility in Perth and Sydney having use of ANZ Stadium (was Telstra Stadium / Olympic Stadium).

During that time AAMI Stadium has improved. New seating and the addition of two video screens and the relatively small northern grandstand have all made the venue better. But all along fans have wanted several things - to get closer to the action (the 1970s design with low sloping stands leaves the audience a long way from the playing surface), to increase the capacity (the Crows had a long waiting list for season tickets), and of course the ultimate dream - an indoor stadium closer to the city centre, as the AFL built in Melbourne.

The SANFL, owners of AAMI Stadium, in the Adelaide suburb of West Lakes, have had plans to upgrade, but have consistently denied the viewing distance was an issue or that it would change. The constant criticism of that line has caused some friction, so it is somewhat ironic that they have now released their plans for the upgrade - and it includes moving around one third of the spectators closer to the field. But simultaneous with the positive result came the negative - due to the global financial crisis, the state government has "postponed" its funding support. Thus the major changes will be delayed.

In our continuing series towards a list of World Rankings for 2008, it's time to determine what other countries should be included. The obvious ones so far are the sides that attended the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. What other nations could reasonably be expected to provide a squad of say 22 players under International Cup qualification rules? The players should be active players, having played in 2008, but not restricted to those that can travel - let's assume the dream situation that all expenses are paid or that any international matches are hosted locally.

Auckland’s season has just concluded and the North Shore Tigers have triumphed over University Blues after an unbelievable turnaround from their Second- Semi Final clash. Under the coaching of NZAFL CEO and current NZ Falcons’ coach Rob Vanstam even this result is surprising.

Also news of two Life Memberships at another Auckland club, and more success for talented young player Liam Ackland.