World Footy News

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.

Australian Football in Britain is something of a sleeping potential giant. With so many expatriate Aussies there have been many teams come and go, particularly across England, but always a sense of not enough involvement from the locals. However slowly but surely more and more have made their mark across the various competitions. With an image overhaul for the top body and hopefully a new sense of cooperation from all involved, we could be seeing the beginning of the next phase for the game in Great Britain. Meanwhile 2008 promises to be an interesting year with new clubs and movement of old ones. We look at the changes and list all the teams and where they are playing.

Last year in Kanga fan takes team to the ice we reported on a North American fan naming his ice hockey club after the North Melbourne Kangaroos. It seems Tim Brown's enthusiasm for Australia continues, telling worldfootynews.com that on April 26th "we played in honor of ANZAC Day at a local DC area rink (Reston Skatequest). We lost 6-5 to a local college team (GMU). We raised $405 for two charities (each one having to do with Australia and New Zealand military)". It's good to see awareness of Aussie Rules is slowly developing in the US.

DCFooty Kids, the junior footy program in the Washington DC area, kicked off its 2008 season with a free clinic as part of the FitArlington Sports Festival on Saturday April 26 at Bluemont Park in Arlington VA. The FitArlington Sports Festival showcased numerous clubs and sports who operate in Arlington including Kickball, American football, soccer and Ultimate Frisbie.

DCFooty Kids, with the help of the Baltimore Washington Eagles, ran a clinic that included some introduction to basic skills of kicking, handpassing and marking. The kids were then split into groups to play some "monkey-in-the-middle" and practice their ball movement and communication skills, followed by a game. Players and coaches from the Eagles, including Revo squad members, Jay Levesque and RJ Wheelock helped run the boys and girls aged 5 to 12 and their parents through their paces.

Just a quick reminder of our Tribute Match polls - see right hand side of website. Are you backing in the Big V or the Rest of the World (the Dream Team)?

Given comments by Victoria's skipper, Jonathan Brown, on Australian TV last night, the odds have firmed that he will pull on the state's jumper for the match. Given he only just missed Brisbane's match on Saturday, and a softening of coach Leigh Matthews' stance, Brown looks reasonably likely to represent his home state in what will probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Incidentally, Brown's home town is Warrnambool, site of two rounds of this year's International Cup.

Against the Dream Team will be doubts raised over Lance Franklin due to a shoulder, and lining up against them is Adam Goodes, despite having spent all but four years of his life in South Australia and New South Wales.

Looking back at some of our footage from the 2005 Australian Football International Cup semi-finals, it's a reminder that it may still be tight at the top of international footy come the third Cup in August this year. We'll be looking to stir up the debate later in the year, but already there's plenty of opinion that Papua New Guinea should be the stand-out. With so many players now at a high standard in the AFL Queensland leagues, it seems quite possible that PNG will be far too good for everyone else.

On the flipside though, watching back some of the Mosquitoes' dogged battle with Ireland in the 2005 semi-final, there must be some hope for other nations. Like many countries, Ireland didn't have their best possible team at the Cup, yet in their match against PNG, with a bit of luck, they could have gotten over the line, losing by just 9 points (and having one more scoring shot). Similarly the US Revolution's match against PNG went to the wire, the Stars and Stripes falling just one point short, and ultimately losing to the tournament winner, New Zealand, in their own semi-final.

Of course New Zealand were the stand-out side in 2005, undefeated at the Cup and generally winning easily. So perhaps they will deserve to start favourites again. With none of the top 4 having played each other since 2005 one thing is for sure - no country can truly be confident until they've put the score on the board this August and September.

The Dream Team versus Victoria match next Saturday has been rocked by a series of injuries to big name players. In doubt for the 150 celebration show-piece match are Big V stars Jonathan Brown (captain) and Gary Ablett, both of whom withdrew from the Brisbane versus Geelong clash yesterday, with quad and calf injuries respectively. And Hawthorn's Luke Hodge strained a hamstring and looks a definite loss for the Vics.

Meanwhile the Dream Team has already lost Chad Cornes (broken finger), Chance Bateman (broken bone in hand) and Simon Black (early signs of osteitis pubis). The Dream Team will also be waiting on the fitness of Dean Cox (playing with damaged ligaments in his right foot) and Brett Burton (who injured an elbow this week); of course they'll also be without fallen star Ben Cousins, missing indefinitely after problems with illicit drugs.

New York Magpie Garth Nevin was captured taking a great mark against the Denver Bulldogs during the recent Faststream Invitational in Florida.