World Footy News

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.

The long-awaited first test clash between Argentina and Chile has now been scheduled for Saturday June 28th in Buenos Aires.

The Argentine Eagles will hold their first training session on May 31st, with plans to restart the four-team 9-a-side league that existed in Buenos Aires from 1998 until 2005. The league ran for a few weeks each year, featuring mainly off-season soccer and rugby players, until hitting a lean patch in 2006 and 2007 where only one friendly match was played in each of those years.

Around 800 students and teachers of physical education took part in Australian football clinics held by CODA Sports in between 2005 and 2008, with the sport being a semi-regular feature at alternative sports expos.

The Santos de Santiago - Chile's only Australian football club to date - was formed early this year, with their first training session only a few weeks ago.

Information about footy in Argentina can be found at the newly relaunched www.futbolaustraliano.com.ar.

The 2008 Aussieproperty.com Premiership season is up and running in Ireland. As regularly happens, ARFLI hoped to bring in some new teams this year, but were stymied by absences of key personnel at the proposed start-up clubs. However the five team league continues and unlike their AFL namesakes, the Dublin Demons are one of the early pacesetters.

Papua New Guinea continues to set the pace in terms of utilising Australian Football pathways and continues to produce impressive young talent.

Gary Kele, David Meli and Naime Gordons will represent Queensland at Under 16 level in the state championships.

The young stars will be billeted by members of the Caboolture Football Club in South East Queensland, where they will train with and play for the Caboolture under 16s.

The news received coverage in Papua New Guinea's major papers, The National and Post Courier.

WorldFootyNews.com and USFootyNews.com have once again combined to produce the second USFooty Top 10 Poll of 2008. The San Diego Lions have regained first place after losing to Denver in the 2007 National Championship game, perhaps proving that no news is good news.

1. San Diego Lions (0 wins - 0 losses) (5 #1 Votes) (UP from 2nd)
2. Balt/Wash Eagles (4-0) (1 #1 Vote) (UP from 3rd)
3. Denver Bulldogs (0-3) (4 #1 Votes) (DOWN from 1st)
4. New York Magpies (2-1)
5. Golden Gate Roos (0-0)
6. Minnesota Freeze (0-0)
7. OC Bombers (0-1)
8. Seattle Grizzlies (0-1) (UP from 9th)
9. Atlanta Kookaburras (3-0) (IN)
10. Dallas Magpies (2-0) (IN)

A 35 player squad for the Irish Warriors (affectionately known as the Green Machine) has been named ahead of the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. Head Coach Roger Clarke has named 15 players that represented Ireland at the 2005 Cup. Veteran Diarmuid Griffin will be the only footballer to have represented Ireland at all three Cup tournaments - he's currently playing for the Fitzroy Reds in the VAFA. Four others are also playing Down Under, and several stars from the 2002 campaign are also returning. Information courtesy of the Australian Rules Football League Ireland.