World Footy News

The Carlton versus Fremantle exhibition match in Pretoria on February 2nd will be no quiet run at an empty park. The game forms the centre-piece for a major campaign to raise awareness of Australian Football in the area and will see thousands of young players bussed in to see the game, live coverage on South African cable TV, and a curtain raiser in which all four of South Africa's footy provinces will be represented for the first time. worldfootynews.com speaks to AFL South Africa's Joel Kelly.

Rugby’s Super 14 side, the Wellington Hurricanes might be pros in rugby union, but in Aussie Rules it was the Wellington Rep team, the Tigers, who triumphed.

At Elsdon Park, Porirua, the Hurricanes squad went down 53-37 to a Wellington Tigers AFL selection. The Hurricanes, who are presently preparing for their season, took the field in an attempt to add interest to their pre-season and to look at skills that could be adapted to their game such as kicking and overhead marking as part of this cross training exercise.

Though the Hurricanes had had a crash course in the rules of Australian football and featured the Ellison brothers who have both played plenty of Aussie Rules in the local Wellington competition, including Tamati who was part of NZ Rugby 7’s Gold medal performance at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, they struggled initially. They were penalized heavily early on until the umpires adopted a more lenient translation of the rules which was more fitting for such a cross code exhibition.

Collingwood's latest Irish recruit, Kevin Dyas, was interviewed for the Collingwood internet TV channel. He talked about the recruitment process and the inspiration provided by countryman Martin Clarke. The next few weeks for Dyas will speak loudly of the recent rapid changes in the internationalisation of Aussie Rules - consider that he is a recruit from Ireland, about to head to South Africa for high altitude training and community clinics, then heading to Dubai for a NAB Cup match against Adelaide (the squad will split, so it will depend on which group Dyas stays with).

The video interview can be viewed here, and the text can be read in Clarke success gives Dyas confidence.

The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland are organizing a one day Invitational 10-a-side cup for August 30th for Footy clubs around the Globe.

The competition will provide a opportunity for an end of season trip for clubs, as well as an opportunity for some more footy for those not involved in the International Cup. The ARFLI are keen to hear from clubs anywhere who would like to enter, enjoy some footy and the Irish Capital's famous nightlife.

There are direct flights to Dublin from most major European cities, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando, Tampa and Toronto.

ARFLI will assist all participating teams in obtaining accomodation. Clubs interested in attending should e-mail arflipr@yahoo.com to register.

Melbourne's Herald Sun this morning reported on the AFL's Magpies' upcoming trip to South Africa.

In it, Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert mentions that they are already undertaking elite talent identification and that he believes African draftees are very close to happening in the AFL.

The article gives some details about the AFL international scholarship program, as well as a few pieces of information regarding other AFL clubs' activities in South Africa.

The Wellington Hurricanes, one of rugby union’s Super 14 teams, is using a modified game of Aussie Rules against the Wellington AFL rep side the Wellington Tigers, as part of their cross training in preparation for their upcoming season. The game will be played on Tuesday 15th January at Elsdon Park in Porirua. The game is expected to be played in a friendly spirit to minimise the risk of players picking up an injury, however the competitive nature of the players is likely to come through once the battle of the codes commences.

Wellington Rep Coach John Jackson said that he would meet with the Hurricanes squad to give them a brief rundown on the rules beforehand. Hopefully he will make them clear as a team that has contained past All Blacks such as Christian Cullen, Tana Umaga and Alama Ieremia and currently contains powerhouse loose forward in Jerry Collins could be dangerous in any grey areas!

To Australians, Nauru was well known as a small Pacific island-nation (around 21 sq km) that had embraced Aussie Rules more so than any other country - even Australia itself. Many of the tiny population of around 13000 people played footy, but unfortunately it wasn't ultimately a happy relationship on the financial front. Nauru was heavily mined for phosphate, giving the locals a high standard of living, but when the resources ran out, so too did many of the investments supposed to safeguard their future. Such investments included Nauru House (at one stage the tallest building in Melbourne) and the ill-fated Fitzroy Football Club.

On field things also turned sour, with the local league suspended in recent seasons - it seems too much passion for the game was leading to on and off-field violence. But the county still hopes to make it Down Under for the 2008 Australian Football International Cup, and is looking for financial support to allow that to happen. There's no doubt Nauru has the potential to be one of the higher profile nations at the tournament. WFN spoke with Nauru politician and former club coach, Hon. Fabian Ribauw M.P., about footy on the island.

That's the question that Melbourne Demons AFL star Brad Green asked himself as a 16 year old from Tasmania.

As a talented young soccer player, he was flown to England and offered a lucrative contract as part of a trial with Manchester United in 1996, but decided to return home and instead finish school and play Aussie Rules, a sport he'd never played competitively.

Despite retaining a love for soccer and the Melbourne Victory, Green has never looked back and is widely regarded as one of the most accurate kicks for goal in the AFL.

The story is covered on the Melbourne Demons website.

The Mullingar-based Midland Tigers are hoping for some rejuvenation in the Irish league this year and are back on the world wide web after an absence of three years.

The club have established a new website with an address of www.midlandtigers.net hoping to recruit new players and coaches to the team, who have struggled of late.

The site includes a social networking page. The Tigers' Bebo page which can be accessed through the website and allows current members, past players and friends to interact and also includes video footage of Irish AFL Stars, an introductary video to the sport; as well as quizzes and polls.

The club are keen to attract new members from throughout the Midlands for the season ahead which commences in March and anyone interested in joining can do so by checking out the website or e-mailing recruitment@midlandtigers.net.

A report in the Irish Times quotes GAA media relations officer, Feargal McGill saying whilst discussions on the future of the International Rules series between the GAA and AFL in October were "frank and cordial", they "are still set to resume...(and) nothing definite has been planned for the next couple of weeks, and it looks like it will be February before anything is set."

The article goes on to note that the AFL schedule this year will be full enough with the 150th anniversary events, and the GAA is not rushed about the series. The GAA has TV rights negotiations it is preoccupied with, which although far less lucrative than the AFL's TV rights are far more lucrative than the amateur sports association has been used to.

There have been some rumours circulating that the Adelaide versus Collingwood NAB Cup match in Dubai on February 9th may not go ahead due to concerns about the condition of the playing surface at the Dubai Polo Ground. There was talk that the match would be moved back to Australia because the alternative grounds will not allow alcohol - a problem for entertaining corporate guests.

Today the Adelaide Crows' General Manager of Football Operations, John Reid, commenting on Adelaide radio station 5AA, said that the match would definitely go ahead, but at a different venue to that originally selected because of the ground conditions. The new location will be another set of polo fields.

On the 19th of November 2007 the West Perth Falcons of the Western Australian Football League entered the second year of their international experiment with two brothers, Americans James and Jared Brunmeier. While a number of AFL clubs have looked to Ireland, the Falcons looked across the Pacific and found two Wisconsin boys. The Brunmeier brothers went to the Falcons November 2006 as part of an exchange program with the Milwaukee Bombers. They completed a full pre-season with the team and then a full season with the club. Both boys played reserves games throughout the year and made a major impression on the coaching staff and the club. Now they've been invited back for more.