World Footy News

This Saturday, 26th January is Australia Day, a day that becomes especially important to the many expatriates living away from their home country. Every year there are many parties held around the world to celebrate the day, which inevitably links in with Australian Rules football clubs who celebrate the day with a game or use the occasion as a fund raiser. Other celebrations hold games purely as part of the fun of the day and may provide non Australians at the festivities with their first live taste of the game.

We highlight some of these festivities and ask anyone out there having a party or game to feel free to post details by using the comment feature below.

The Australian Indigenous youth squad to tour South Africa has been announced. The tour follows on from the February 2006 tour and a reciprocal visit last season. The team features some well-known surnames and will play the South African youth side as a curtain-raiser to carlton versus Fremantle in Pretoria. In an article on the AFL website, the target of 25000 South African players by 2009 is re-stated.

The two approaching international AFL matches are receiving some publicity in the countries they're being staged. According to a post on the fan forum Bigfooty, the Dubai match has had a full page advert in a local newspaper. There's also been two similar promo videos produced for the matches, viewable on the Bigpond site (you don't have to be a subscriber). Just visit http://bigpondvideo.com/AFL/43150 and scroll down the video looking for the Dubai and South Africa Television Commercials (Dubai's also accessible from here, look for "Click here for a preview of the AFL Action").

The AFL Challenge Carlton versus Fremantle match is listed as February 2nd, 7:30pm start (so presumably under lights) at SuperSport Park, Pretoria, with the Australian Indigenous Youth versus South African Under 19s (actually a mixed age youth side) at 4:00pm. The Collingwood versus Adelaide NAB Cup match is down for 1:45pm February 9th at Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club, Dubai. The venue and surrounds can be seen on the map at the ticket vendor's site.

Last year, this weekend saw AFL teams North Melbourne and the Sydney Swans at UCLA as part of the G’day USA festival. This year however, the match was replaced by an Australia vs England cricket match featuring Steve Waugh alongside Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson taking on Robbie Williams, Simon Jones and Daniel Radcliffe (who Carlton assure us is a fan of the Old Dark Navy Blues).

Sufficient funding was unable to be raised to get AFL clubs back to LA this year (see LA Clash off the Agenda).

Regardless, the USAFL, who played a Revolution v All comers game as the curtain raiser in 2007, were back in LA as part of the preparations for this year’s International Cup. Last year it was the UCLA grounds, but for this year's clash the grounds at Katella High School in Anaheim were used.

The change of venue for the NAB Cup match between Collingwood and Adelaide in Dubai has been confirmed, with the match of Saturday February 9th now to be held at the Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club.

The day will begin with the Auskick kids at 10am, followed by a match between fierce local rivals the Dubai Dingoes and Dubai Heat for the "Multiplex Cup".

The main game will kick off at 1.45pm local time. The new venue means no alcohol will be allowed at the game.

The past few years has seen a significant increase in women's involvement in football, both on and off the field. In Australia there are female board-members at AFL clubs and studies have suggested that women account for 40 or 50% of football fans.

Adding to this, more women's football clubs are being established, with the largest league (Victorian WFL) gaining greater exposure in the media.

Having said this, the ladies version of Australian football is far less advanced than the mens in Australia. There are no professional leagues, nor is there a large spectator following - basketball, netball and to a lesser degree cricket are ahead in this regard. For this reason, many people have pointed out that a World cup involving a full-strength Australian side would be ready for the women much before the men. Women’s involvement in football has been documented in South Africa, PNG, the USA and Canada.

WFN now looks to the Pacific, and gives football fans a brief overview of how women are involved with the game there.

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!