World Footy News

The Geelong Cats pulled off a hard fought five point win over Carlton at the GMHBA Stadium in a fine day in Geelong.

It was a top of the table Conference B clash between the Cats and Blues and the contest lived up to it all match long. 

Rochelle Cranston led the way in the midfield with her pressure for the Cats. 

Image Source: Darrian Traynor

 

Conor Walsh from the Essendon Football club website www.essendonfc.com.au looks at the rise of the Tiwi Bombers during the 2018.19 NTFL season. Early in the season, the Bombers were in a battle to even reach the finals, yet this weekend they are playing in a Qualifying Final as the form team in the NTFL. 

The Tiwi Bombers are flying and ready to explode in the TIO NTFL Finals on Saturday, entering the campaign as the form team of the competition.

The Bombers have won six of their last seven outings leading into the weekend’s qualifying final against Southern Districts, coming off the back of an 87-point thumping of St Marys last week.  

The dominant victory helped the side secure a second chance for the finals series, lifting them into third place by percentage, just 1.28 per cent clear of Waratah.

Football in Denmark is about to get a massive boost with the expansion plans for the Odense Lions. Club president Morten Merhøj and fellow founder Daniel Petrolo from the Lions took the time to detail the plans and how they will impact on the game for the entire DAFL.

It is an exciting and also inspirational story of a club’s ongoing journey.

“Odense Australian Football have BIG plans for 2020. Working together with the local government and the old Danish sports association Bolbro GIF, we are building what will be, maybe, the best set up for footy in Europe. A brand new field is being made and to be able to fit the big oval in the area, light towers and drains had to be moved. A massive and expensive effort that could not have been accomplished by the club alone.”

“On top of that the clubhouse is being fully renovated with new cafeteria, change rooms, gym, medical room, meeting/tactic room and the indoor arena for the long winters. An incredible renovation of the home of the Lions called Bolbro Parken. To keep costs down most work is being done by volunteers using all their spare time painting, breaking down walls and so on.”

Image Source: AFL Women's 

Round 4 team lists have been released below

Geelong vs Carlton, Saturday 23rd February 4:45pm at GMHBA Stadium

Geelong Squad

Position	Name	#	Name	#	Name	#
Backs	A.Teague	40	R.Goring	44	M.McMahon	24
Half Backs	M.Hickey	18	M.McDonald	11	D.Taylor	27
Centreline			R.Cranston	30
Half Forwards	D.Orr	2	M.Boyd	26	S.Van De Heuvel	27
Forwards	R.Garing	12	P.McWilliams	23	J.Ivey	5
Followers	A.O'Connor	45	M.Keryk	16	O.Purcell	16
Interchange	E.Hoare	46	M.Clifford	7	G.Clarke	17
	J.Crockett-Grills	6	C.Blakeway	4
Emergencies	G.Rankin	10	K.Darby	8
	EMG4	EMG4_NO

 In: - C.Blakeway, A.O'Connor

Out: - R.Webster (injured), K.Darby

Carlton Squad 

Position	Name	#	Name	#	Name	#
Backs	J.Edwards	25	J.Van Dyk	36	S.Hosking	10
Half Backs	N.Stevens	21	K.Harrington	9	G.Pound	6
Centreline			K.Loynes	2
Half Forwards	M.Prespakis	4	R.Watt	22	T.Harris	7
Forwards	D.Vescio	4	B.Davey - C	1	G.Gee	19
Followers	A.Downie	30	A.Mullane	8	C.Dalton	15
Interchange	A.McKay	5	N.Plane	32	L.Brazzale	12
	J.Hosking	11	B.Walker	14
Emergencies	R.Hicks	24	T.Lucas-Rodd	18
	EMG4	EMG4_NO

 In: - R.Watt, A.McKay

Out: - B.Moody, K.Bentley

 

Angus Boyle from AFL Europe has put together the following comprehensive preview of upcoming pre-season tournaments across Europe. For further information on any of the tournaments below, go to the www.afleurope.org website.

With spring just around the corner, it’s an exciting time of the year for AFL clubs across Europe as teams step up their preparation for their upcoming seasons.  

One form of preparation is taking part in a pre-season tournament, where teams travel for a big day of football, battling it out to win a pre-season cup. Teams also get the chance to test out tactics, put their skills into a real match situation and get to know teammates better.

AFL Japan GO League Round 3 - Osaka Dingoes versus Senshu Powers

Saturday 16 February 2019 7:20 pm - Izumi Sports Village, Kaiduka, Osaka Prefecture

By Yoshi Imagawa Osaka Dingoes player & Public Relations Officer

The Osaka Dingoes hosted a GO League match for the second time in 2019. The match was played in quite windy conditions at five degrees under lights at a soccer field on a hill. Eight players on each side were fielded because of Dingoes’ players availability. The home side had no interchange player available.

Last year both Meghan Markle and Natalie Portman surprised the Australian Rules football world with surprise visits to clubs or related events whilst in Australia. Now, American comedian Conan O'Brien is the latest celebrity to spend time learning our game - with the Sydney Swans.

The following YouTube clip shows O'Brien learning the game as part of a new show in production.

[youtube:Q0rKk9MUQVk]

The round three NAB AFL Women's Rising Stars nominees are North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos Courteney Munn and Melbourne's Eden Zanker.

With Round 18 being the final home and away round of the NTFL season, some clubs made sure they imposed their will to either secure finals berths or avoid wooden spoons. With the victors winning by a combined total of almost 300 points, it was probably the most one-sided round of the season.

The Tiwi Bombers hammered St Mary’s by 87 points, Waratah took down the Darwin Buffaloes by 76 points, Nightcliff thrashed Southern Districts by 90 points and Wanderers also enjoyed a 44 point win over Palmerston.

The carnage started at Tracy Village where the Tiwi Bombers jumped out of the blocks with a seven goal to one opening term. From there they were never seriously challenged, extending their lead at every break. It was a huge result for the Bombers as they secured third place on the ladder and a double chance in the first round of the finals. The loss was painful on many fronts for the Saints, earning the wooden spoon to complete a fall from grace which has seen them drop from a premiership in 2017 to fourth in 2018 and now last. It promises to be a big off-season for the Saints.

 

Oxford University have claimed the minor premiership in both men’s and women’s divisions after the final round of the National University League. The following article comes from the www.aflengland.org website and details the weekend’s matches as well as the ramifications leading to grand final day next month.

After a blistering performance in the final round of the National University League, The University of Oxford have been crowned minor premiers in both the Men’s and Women’s Division. The sides will now face the University of Birmingham in the NUL Grand Finals on March 9th. 

 

In its inaugural season, the National University League welcomed teams from Oxford, Birmingham and Cambridge as well as a combined Universities of South Wales side as they battled it out over four rounds of fixtures.

In a great day out for Netherlands footy, their Amsterdam Devils club have travelled south to France and taken out the 2019 Coupe Du Nord (North Cup). The tournament, hosted by the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes in the north-western suburbs of Paris, featured both Paris teams – the Cockerels and Cockatoos – host team, the Coyotes, the ALFA Lions and the Devils.

Sadly, the Strasbourg Kangourous did not field a team on the day.

After a day which featured plenty of fun and some tough footy, the Amsterdam Devils took home the cup, outlasting the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes in the final after each team played four round matches.

The win for the Devils continues the run of success enjoyed by the Dutch national team in recent tournaments at home (Champions League – consecutive grand finals Amsterdam Devils) and abroad (Euro Cup – Bowl Final Netherlands Flying Dutchmen).