World Footy News

Australia is increasingly well known for Australian Football as the game gets a toe-hold in more and more countries. But in many sports we're also known to be prolific "sledgers" - using a bit of verbal abuse to throw the opposition off their game. It's questionable whether there is any place for sledging in sport, other than a bit of good natured "niggle", but there's no doubt a bit of "verbal jousting" will continue to be a part of many games, not just in Australia.

But what does need to be banished is any sledging along racial lines, be it truly "race" or any particular ethnic background. The Australian Football League has done an excellent job on that issue, with indigenous players such as Nicky Winmar and Michael Long making a stand and the AFL backing them up. However, anecdotal evidence and common-sense suggests that the changes in attitude have not filtered down to lower grades of football - at least not as thoroughly as needed.

Despite generations of immigration from around the world, the largest group in footy remains Causasian with an Aussie accent. Over the decades other European backgrounds have become much more common and better accepted. However the fact remains that any point of difference is often exploited.

As Aussie Rules continues to expand internationally we will see increasing numbers of players come to Australia. One such player is Brendan Murphy from Ireland, now on Sydney's rookie list. In just his second match playing for the Swans' reserves side he was reportedly subjected to abuse and told to go back to Ireland. It would be nice to think that international players will be made welcome, and they surely will at the clubs they go to, but let's hope opponents show appropriate respect too. In the meantime international players can assure themselves that part of the reason for any sledging is the fear that they just might be a better player than their Aussie opponent. It's no excuse, but should prove some comfort.

Murphy subject of racial abuse

The traditional opener to the London footy season, the ANZAC Cup, has been run and won, with the Wandsworth Demons taking the day. The tournament also saw Great Britain's national side in action against the best players in the land and they fared very well in an a further encouraging sign for their chances Down Under later in the year.

As usual the event was staged as part of the ANZAC Sports Challenge, held last Saturday (26/04/08) at Twyford Park, Acton, England. Against quality opposition in North London, the Bulldogs twice hit the post only to lose by five points. Their match against the London Swans was more successful, winning by two goals. But up against the very top sides with a host of dominant Aussies the Brits were still going to fall well short, being well beaten by Wandsworth Demons.

As it turned out, there was no shame in the result, as the Demons had such a great a day, they went on to easily defeat European powerhouse the West London Wildcats in the final, successfully defending their 2007 title.

A full report on the tournament can be read here on the AFL Great Britain website: Wandsworth Demons Win ANZAC Cup.

G'day, I help run a local Auskick group on the Mornington Peninsular, south of Melbourne, and thought I'd give an update on our season so far.

Out season has kicked off and registration day saw 95 kids sign up, 50 more than last year, it was a great day and the two girls that run our clinic did a fantastic job and were very surprised at the turn out. We have a few more girls this year which is great to see, 40 preps (first year of school), 20 grade 1's, 15 grade 2's and 15 grade 3's - that's 5 groups we have to make up, with one coach and 2 coordinators, so we are going to need plenty of helpers.

Though much of the recent media focus has been on Fijian Nicholas Naitanui, who is widely tipped to go number one in the 2008 draft, there is another player of Pacific Islands descent, Khan Haretuku, whose parents are New Zealanders, who has been rookie listed with St Kilda. Meanwhile the Western Bulldogs have turned their attention to Fiji, with another club expected to also join the international hunt this year.

Australian Football truly is growing rapidly in South Africa, with Western Cape one of the newest regions but already boasting a four team competition to add to their junior clinics program. The finals of their inaugural season (the year will be split into multiple seasons), dubbed footyWILD Extreme, have just finished, with Khayelitsha Divines challenging favourites the Nyanga Thunderstorm in a closely fought battle. The region has also secured sponsorship and the assistance of The Salamander Company to help with promotion - the following report is courtesy of them.

USFootyNews.com is excited to be able to bring detailed statistics on USFooty games including game scores, goal kickers, the USAFL ladder and an MVP table. This information not only provides great fodder for water cooler discussion but will provide actual prizes to clubs and players that finish the season at the top of the various tables.

On Saturday May 3rd, Karlstad is set to host the largest gathering of Australian Football participants ever in Sweden. As many as 10 clubs from all over the country will descend on Värmland to compete in the inaugural Swedish Lightning Tournament, the "VB Cup".

The 2008 VB Cup will be a one-day 9-a-side tournament between club sides from across Sweden, with an outside chance the Oslo Trolls from Norway may make their long-awaited debut.

The tournament will also be an important step in getting the best local talent in the country together for the Swedish Elks' International Cup preparations, with numbers in Sweden now around 300 regular players - two-thirds of which are locals.

Nauru recently confirmed their attendance at the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. As we've previously reported, the island nation has had no active league recently due to on and off-field violence. Hopefully the move towards entering a side in the Cup will be the beginning of a new era for the game in Nauru.

Here's a link to an excellent report that appeared on the English version of the Al Jazeera network, including a chat to coach Vaiuli Amoe and sports minister Mathew Batsiua.

Interestingly it notes that all players selected must have a clean history and as such most are under 21. Certainly they seem to move fairly smoothly in training.

Sportsworld - Nauru's national sport

They're called the Yankaroos. They are the St John's University Footy Club and they have two teams, one based in Minnesota on the St John's University campus and the other based at the South Fremantle Football Club in Western Australia. The club began a couple of years ago when USFooty’s Tony Fairhead and former Chancellor of University of Notre Dame Australia, Terence O’Connor, worked out a program for St John's students on study abroad at Notre Dame in Western Australia. Already this new club is supplying young talent to the US national side.

The newly-reformed AFL Britain is soon to kick off the 2008 season, with draws for the London, Southern and Northern regions released and Scotland already playing.

The ARUK-run Southern league features the new Chippenham Redbacks side, although Thanet and Swindon are gone from last year. The Northern league has held steady with four clubs back in the race for the title. The Central league, this year to feature clubs including the existing Manchester Mozzies and Nottingham Scorpions alongside some new teams, will release its feature in the near future.

The pre-season ANZAC Cup will be held in London this Saturday, with the British Bulldogs to compete as part of their preparation for this year's International Cup. As the ANZAC Cup has no eligibility rules, the all-local Bulldogs will likely be up against some seasoned Australian opposition on the day.

The British Bulldogs showed some major improvement last year, giving the Irish a thumping in Dublin to claim bragging rights as the strongest national team in Europe. With a number of training camps already held, and a series of practice matches coming up, the Bulldogs may be a major threat to the top sides in Melbourne and Warrnambool come August.

In other exciting news from England, the under 16s league in London is looking likely to go ahead, featuring teams from schools running junior footy programs.

For more information on the upcoming season, visit the AFL Britain's new website at www.AFLGreatBritain.com.

One of the world's oldest football clubs, the oldest remaining Australian Rules clubs and the only club to bear the name of the game's spiritual home is currently in crisis. In terms of world footy, the Demons were pioneers in China, setting up a China partnership which has seen the game exposed to thousands of visiting exchange students, businessmen and a team represented at the International Cup.

The Melbourne Football Club, trying to celebrate its 150th year, is suffering from a major downturn in its fortunes at a time when it was already at a low ebb. On the field the Demons have had moderate success in recent years, following a curious phase of making the finals every second season like clockwork (1997 - 2004). That sequence then broke with three years in a row of finals action (2004 - 2006), but they crashed in 2007 (14th), are winless in 2008 (0 wins, 5 losses), struggling financially and the fact remains they have not won the VFL/AFL premiership for 44 years. The club is now very much "under the pump". This is apparently also having ramifications for their links with China.