World Footy News

The Australian Football League are hoping to shortly finalise a draw for the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. A full 18 team program is still possible, with the AFL waiting on just three nations to confirm attendance. The countries with question marks are China, India and Spain. AFL International Coordinator Josh Vanderloo explained to worldfootynews.com the likely list of nations.

The Western Bulldogs' Scott Clayton has confirmed his club is actively exploring new talent in Fiji, prompted by the enormous potential seen in the likely number one draft pick, Fijian Australian Nicholas Naitanui, as discussed in Naitanui - a big Fijian draft prospect to watch.

It seems one of the keys to opening the AFL club wallets has been the recent rule change to allow clubs to stockpile international talent for just AUD$1000, as explained in International recruitment about to explode? Recruiters previously would have been hesitant to commit to any area if they couldn't exclusively lock in the best talent, or if the costs were too high. It seems the changes now have several clubs looking around Oceania and trying to keep a low profile so that they can sign up the best prospects first.

Other than a few off the record comments from a couple of our sources, it's difficult to know exactly how many AFL clubs are on the hunt, but hopefully we'll start to see some signings within the next six to twelve months.

In the meantime, see the Daily Telegraph story Bulldogs hope for Fiji paradise where Mark Stevens reports on Clayton's efforts to spot Fijian talent, funded by club supporter and businessman Shaun Bassett. The article states that "Most of Clayton's scouting has been centred on secondary school rugby sevens" and that "He is intent on finding tall, mobile players in the mould of 196cm Naitanui".

On Saturday 26 April, in front of a large crowd at Kanchanaburi, the Thailand Tigers defeated the Jakarta Bintangs by 31 points to win the prestigious ANZAC Cup.

The game was played in great spirit with neither side backing down in a contest, prompting former POW Bill Haskell to say, “We never expected the game to be this tough”.

Report courtesy of Brendan Cunningham from the Tigers.

The AFL Division 2 Championships have just concluded in Melbourne with PNG’s John James representing the Queenslanders, the first player developed internationally to represent an Aussie state at this level. The tournament comprised the best players from NSW/ACT, Tasmania, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Though Queensland failed to gain a win John James was still able to be recognised as among Queensland’s better players.

The number of injuries affecting AFL players with international backgrounds is high at the moment. Brisbane's Irish duo of Colm Begley (quad) and Pearce Hanley (hamstring) are both expected to be out for 4 weeks, while Sydney's Irish defender Tadhg Kennelly missed the Tribute Match (hamstring) but should return this week. Samoan figurehead Aaron Edwards (broken leg) faces 8 to 12 weeks on the sidelines, and South African born Luke van Rheenen (foot) is out for the season. At last check Carlton's O'hAilpin brothers at least weren't injured, but Setanta continues to be bounced between seniors and the VFL, and Aisake was recently dropped to the VFL Reserves over reportedly an on-field dispute with VFL team-mate and assistant coach Matthew Lappin.

The injury toll across the AFL is remarkably high this season, with clubs averaging about eight players injured right now, out of playing lists of approximately 40. No wonder Geelong, Western Bulldogs and Richmond are performing quite well, with three, two and three injured players respectively. Brisbane and Essendon "lead" the injury field with 13 each. It would seem the week break for most players will have been most welcome.

Firstly we must acknowledge the terrible devastation of the recent earthquake centred around Chengdu in western China - hopeful the toll will not rise much further, though sadly that seems inevitable.

Another milestone has been achieved in China's bid to attend the 2008 Australian Football International Cup in August and September this year. A national training camp was held last weekend at Nankai University in central Tianjin, near Beijing in the country's northeast. There were 46 players from across the Chinese footy development spectrum - Beijing Sport University, Beijing Bombers Australian Football Club, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin Institute of Electronics, Tianjin Nankai University and SuZhou Canglang district Education Commission. It seems footy is getting a real toe hold in four Chinese cities - Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and SuZhou. Andrew Sawitsch, an Australian Football Development Officer in China, described the camp as not just short term selection trials for the Cup, but an opportunity for all players "to expand on their skills and knowledge of the game for future matches and development".

In signs that the mainstream media are beginning to see the potential for the Australian game internationally, Melbourne's the Age recently published two articles highlighting the potential for Pacific athletes to become AFL talent, but also the shortage of funding to make that happen.

The AFL’s ability to remain Australia’s numero uno football code has been the issue of much debate recently. Each of Australia’s four major football leagues, AFL (Australian football), A-League (soccer), NRL (Rugby League) and Super 14 (Rugby Union) have outlined their expansion plans for the near future.

The AFL came good on plans to introduce a Gold Coast club (following the Kangaroos rejection of an offer to move north). Joining them will be a new Western Sydney club. These development plans were unanimously supported by the existing 16 clubs, with the Queenslanders expected to join the league in 2011, followed by the New South Welshmen in 2012 (though a simultaneous launch is possible). Following the AFL’s call, the FFA offered two new A-League licenses for the 2008-09 seasons, which were eventually awarded to the Gold Coast and Townsville. The FFA has since postponed the expansion due to doubts about financing the new clubs (however a more recent update suggests that when the A-League does expand it may add four new licenses, fast-tracking the second Sydney and Melbourne clubs). The NRL announced they were discussing the feasibility of expansion into the Central Coast, Sunshine Coast, Wellington, west of Brisbane and Australian football-stronghold, Perth. The Super 14 could also become the Super 15, with SANZAR considering a new Japan-based club comprised predominantly of local and Argentinean players.

Whilst some of the expansion plans could be considered unrealistic, at least in the short term, they suggest that this challenge to the AFL will not be short-lived. The question of whether all four codes can survive at a professional level has even been raised. This article looks at my suggestions for the AFL for the next 25 years.

The AFL Great Britain squad for the 2008 Australian Football International Cup is all but finalised, but there is still time a sliver of hope for eager Englishmen, Scots and Welsh to force their way into the side. There's also traditionally been a healthy number of Irishmen, with players hailing from Northern Ireland but playing in Great Britain often included in the British Bulldogs.

Bulldogs coach Charlie Kielty confirmed that some changes could occur, but the squad as listed on the AFL Great Britain website are in the prime position. "That is the squad at the moment. If we were leaving tomorrow 30 of those players would be on the plane. However, as we are still 4 months away, faces could change due to injury, bad form, personal issues, etc".

Johnny Boyle reprises his captaincy role from the last Cup, and Edward Doe from the South Cardiff Panthers may well be the first Welshman to represent Great Britain in Australian Football.

The much anticipated Tribute Game has been won by Victoria by 17 points before nearly 70,000 fans at the MCG. The one-off match was close all night but never really rose to great heights, with the Big V pulling away in the last quarter.

New Zealand born Trent Croad may wear the Big V on the field with the best of the AFL, but his fern leaf tattoo signals his Kiwi heritage.

The 28 year old 190cm, 100kg Kiwi will play in perhaps the most important Australian Rules representative match in his career. While he wore the Big V in 1999 and appeared in Australia's International Rules side three times, this game is Australian Rules and the opposition for the 2005 All-Australian will be the best yet.

Recruited from suburban Melbourne, Croad is a star backman at the Hawthorn Hawks, but he played with the Fremantle Dockers (which is currently the home of the AFL's other NZ born player Adam Campbell).

Croad's grandfather Eric Bloggs represented New Zealand in rugby union 1946-1949 and toured South Africa. Trent is a huge fan of the All Blacks and recently met with the players at the Hawks current home Waverley Park.

After the withdrawal of Ireland's Tadhg Kennelly from the match (the only player in the squads to have been born and grown up overseas), Trent Croad will take the honour of representing the overseas born AFL players in the All-Star game.

Trent may get the assignment of lining up on one of the game's biggest name forwards in Hawthorn teammate Lance Franklin or Geelong's 2007 premiership centre-half-forward Cameron Mooney. One gets the sense that the match up may produce something special like Croad's magnificent soaring mark over his Victorian teammate Jonathan Brown in Round 19 last year.

The final teams have been named for the Dream Team versus Victoria match tomorrow night (Saturday 10th May) at the MCG. The game pits the Big V against the "best of the rest" under State of Origin rules as a tribute to 150 years of Australian Football.

Given that both SA and WA have had plenty of success against Victoria, the Dream Team with stars from across the nation should probably account for the home side. But pride and (hopefully) a large home crowd cannot be underestimated. Read on to check out the teams and consider the amazing passages of play we could see.