World Footy News

When the BARFL re-badged as AFL Great Britain there were two naming concerns to be addressed - the slightly unwieldy length of the name and confirming their new designation and logo with the AFL. After some debate and a few unexpected delays the new title is official - AFL Britain (i.e. they have dropped the term "Great").

AFL Britain's President, Sam Percy, had some interesting things to say on the name and an honest appraisal of the current role of the association in relation to England, Scotland, Wales and their position on Ireland. For the wider audience not across the topic (it's more a curiosity than vital knowledge), we also look at the difference between the terms Britain and Great Britain.

According to a recent article on the AFL website, Vanuatu has joined a growing list of Australian football-playing nations.

Football arrived in the country "when a Gold Coast couple living there introduced Rec Footy." Whilst a senior league is yet to develop, eight teams participated in Rec Footy over the summer. These matches were initially played by expatriates at an international school but before long had attracted "broader interest". AFL Queensland Auskick Manager, Fiona McLarty has since visited the island to help establish a NAB Auskick program, with eighty children signing up after participating in introductory clinics.

Participation in the sport by Vanuatuans adds weight to calls for football's inclusion in future South Pacific Games.

The AFL Commission has approved a proposal for the 17th team in the AFL, the Gold Coast, to have access to up to 20 young Queenslanders. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou on Friday announced the acceptance of the recommendation from the Gold Coast List Management Working Committee, covering the initial player concessions that would be made available. By pre-signing up to 20 Queensland players of draft eligible age in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the new club would be in a position to build a healthy player base with a local identity. All other 16 AFL clubs will be entitled to list an additional two rookies per season for the 2009 and 2010 seasons, to compensate for the compromises in these draft years.

With plenty of PNG talent in the Queensland system, South Africans being fast-tracked, junior development gaining pace around the world (see for example The international players of the future), the international scholarship lists, expanded rookie lists and two new AFL clubs, the time for the first internationally developed draftee must now be very close.

The following is an edited extract of the release from the Victorian Premier's office today.

Premier John Brumby today announced Australia would play Ireland at the MCG on Friday 31 October with Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse to coach the Australian team. “The match will be a celebration of the close relationship between Ireland and Australia and the great sporting rivalry between the two countries,” Mr Brumby said.

“Melbourne is the undisputed major events capital of the world with a year round calendar of sporting and cultural events. This weekend will further boost this reputation. “We expect a huge number of visitors from Ireland, England and from across Australia to converge on Melbourne for what promises to be a fantastic long weekend of major sporting events.

“I expect there will be a great buzz around Melbourne which will provide significant economic benefits to Victoria and be a great boost for our hotels, restaurants, taxis, bars and shops.”

Laura Dundovic, Australia’s nomination for the Miss Universe Pageant, is in Vietnam in the lead-up for this year's final judging on July 14 at the Diamond Bay Resort, Khanh Hoa Province, in Nha Trang.

June 24 saw her pull on a Vietnam Swans jumper for the "National Dress" section of the pageant, after meeting for a photo session with members of the Swans in Saigon. Unfortunately for Laura, she didn't score any points for the outfit, but according the the Swans' Phil Johns "Miss Australia was amazing. While she didn’t do well with the National Costume dress the other day, her wit, personality and charm is exquisite. She is quite the consummate professional."

The organisers claim that globally, there will be 1 billion viewers from 170 countries watching the final event on July 14th. According to the Miss Universe website, the contest is an opportunity for "beautiful young ladies from more than 80 countries not only to share their culture but also their values, intelligence, talent and beauty."

Last month, the Swans played against the Singapore Wombats in Hanoi. Next month will see them travel to Laos to play the Elephants, then finally a trip to the Asian Championships in Singapore in early September when 12 of Asia's finest Australian football outfits will compete.

The following story is contibuted to us by Rebecca Cassidy - Public Relations Officer for the Yankeroos.

Australian Rules football has become a popular extra curricular activity for American ‘Study Abroad’ students studying at The University of Notre Dame Australia’s Fremantle Campus. The successful Study Aboard program has been operating for a number of years and sees students from American university’s such as Notre Dame, Indiana and Portland University travel to Fremantle for their ‘cultural and academic’ exchange.

Introducing them to Aussie Rules was the brainchild of local Fremantle businessman, Mr Tony Fairhead. He explains, “The initiative began in Semester 2, 2006 and has become a regular event on the students’ calendar. “The team, called the Yankeroos, is formed at the beginning of each semester. Our aim is to teach American students the rules of the game and how to play, therefore promoting Aussie Rules to the Americans.”

The Bali Geckos, an Indonesian football club that has previously fielded ex-AFL players such as Jason McCartney and has enjoyed high-profile support (former Australian Prime Minister Mr. John Howard watched a game), hosted the fourth annual Bali 9s Masters tournament earlier this month. As the tournament name suggests, teams consist of nine players on the field, in the 35-or-over age bracket. Matches were comprised of two twelve-minute halves, with the event held at The Canggu Club. Readers please note that the Bali 9s Masters tournament differs from the regular Bali 9s tournament, which is held yearly in October in remembrance of victims of the Bali Bombings.

Apart from the Geckos, teams present at the 2008 event were the Jakarta Bintangs, Singapore Wombats, Dubai Dingoes (pictured left), Darwin Dingoes (Northern Territory, Australia), Castlemaine Masters (Victoria, Australia), South Coast Buccaneers (NSW, Australia) and the Darwin Waratahs (Northern Territory, Australia). Also present were the recently formed Timor Leste Crocs and Borneo Bears.

Former Revo, Jeff Purcell, is a documentary filmmaker following the US Revolution as they prepare for Melbourne. Here is a preview of his film, "Australian Football, American Revolution"

[youtube:nidvHmmh_zI ]

Following on from our story on Sunday, Times are changing - clubs fight over South Africa, it now appears possible that the AFL will stage two pre-season matches outside Australia in 2009. These may be NAB Cup or NAB Regional Challenge matches.

Vying for a spot alongside South Africa is the USA and India. A USA match would coincide with the country's G'day USA festival, with Lauderhill the likely venue. Potential Indian venues are in Mumbai (Bombay) and Bengaluru (Bangalore) - the country's most and third-most populous cities respectively. Apparently Bengaluru is firming as the preferred Indian venue due to its more pleasant climate.

Andrew Demetriou, who made the revelations, seemed to be pleased with the results of last year's Dubai match, which brought together Australian business, government and much of the expatriate community.

2002 International Cup Champions Ireland have received a makeover for this year's tournament. ARFLI held a jumper design competition earlier in the year which was won by Aine Hasson. Entries were received from Australia and America, but a design by the girlfriend of Irish player Daire Ó hAodhagáin was deemed the best. The jumper features a Celtic Dragon (representing Ireland) and the Southern Cross (representing Australia).

WFN spoke with NZAFL CEO and the Falcon’s Coach Rob Vanstam to see how things were progressing towards International Cup 2008

The New Zealanders have had three training camps so far, with 2 of them based in regional centres before everyone gathered in Auckland earlier this month. The squad has been whittled down from the near 60 who were initially named at the National Provincial Championships late in 2007. There are now 34 players aiming for the 29 available spots in the traveling squad to Melbourne.

Coach Vanstam was playing his cards very close to his chest knowing how close this years International Cup is likely to be with significant development in around the world in the intervening period. He confirmed that there are players from across the four provinces Auckland, Canterbury, Waikato and Wellington as well as five who are continuing to develop off-shore in Australia and have made the effort to meet the requirements of being selected.

How times have changed. Fans of international footy have spent years bemoaning the lack of AFL games staged overseas to promote the Aussie code - now AFL clubs are fighting over the right to play such matches.

It has been reported that West Coast will clash with Collingwood in Cape Town in a NAB Cup match to open the 2009 AFL pre-season competition. Given that most of the clubs that travelled this year had slow starts to the season, it's heartening to see they haven't been discouraged from further international trips.

However Fremantle, also involved in South Africa, are reported to be upset with the decision (which is yet to be confirmed), as they too were enthusiastic about a South African match. The club signed up major sponsorship money in their last trip and made it very clear they were keen to return. With the NAB Cup draw yet to be released and four clubs working in South Africa (Carlton being the other), is there a good reason why a second match shouldn't be played there in 2009? Some fans will be disgruntled, but given the turnout for first round NAB Cup matches in Australia are relatively poor, the series more about practice and TV, wouldn't it be great to see two matches in South Africa and one each in India and Florida.

Read Digby Hanckock's report in the West Australian: Freo furious over snub