World Footy News

After meetings held recently in London, the British Australian Rules Football League looks set to re-structure and re-badge. Current plans would see a shift towards a national umbrella organisation, probably to be called AFL Britain. To provide a more defined structure, the London leagues will play under an organising body called AFL London, directly responsible for the Premiership, Conference and Social Leagues.

It should also consolidate recent improvements to their working relationship with Aussie Rules UK, which has seen collaboration between the GB Bulldogs and England Dragonslayers as well as Aussie Rules UK providing opportunities for London clubs to play their juniors in a new under 16s league.

The best one hundred and ten young AFL players in PNG have recently attended the National Institute of Sport in Goroka (30th Nov – 2nd Dec). There they were tested and assessed through a range of activities including games, skill and physical testing, mental challenges and lectures on the requirements to play AFL at the highest level.

Selection from the National Championships, held in Lae in September, has now seen the best 35 boys in Under 14, 16 and 18 vying for spots at the NIS to go to Australia in 2008 as part of AFLPNG’s National Talent Player Pathway.

The Sydney Swans' first GAA recruit, Tadhg Kennelly, has spoken of his mixed feelings regarding the recruitment of other Irish players to the AFL. Although he is keen to encourage players that have undertaken the journey, he also says the idea that Gaelic football back home may be adversely affected "doesn't sit too pretty with me. The last thing I want to do is to see the GAA, or the game itself, suffer". He also spoke glowingly of the Swans' latest recruit, and didn't rule out there being 20 to 30 Irish players in the AFL within just two or three years. In fact Sydney may have their eyes set on another player already.

Just a quick note to let people know that the AFL's website has undergone a minor restructure and the web address for their International Leagues section is now: http://www.afl.com.au/Development/International/tabid/10238/Default.aspx. The link in our database has been updated to reflect this change. You can also navigate to the section from the AFL's front page by selecting Development then International. We hope one day the International section will be directly accessible as a prominent link from the front page, but I think all will agree that their coverage of international footy has improved significantly in the past 12 months.

Two PNG juniors recently attended Australia’s Elite AIS/AFL academy camp. The players Stanis Susuve and John James have played the past year in the Queensland local competitions and were the only international players selected for attendance. As many of our readers would know, AFLPNG has a programme that sees their elite athletes competing at state level in Queensland providing a talented player pathway which is clear and logical.

While most of the attention on this year's AFL Rookie Draft was on the swathe of Gaelic football converts from Ireland, there were a couple of players from other interesting backgrounds in the mix.

As reported in Territorians looking to step up, the Northern Territory is considering applying to enter a combined squad into one of the major state leagues, with the Western Australian or South Australian leagues the front runners. The ABC website reports that a business plan is now being drawn up ready to be put to the WAFL and SANFL.

ABC article: NT footy team gets down to business

Braedon Reynolds, a promising junior from the North Delta Junior Australian Football League (NDJAFL) has had an experience of a lifetime for any international player, a chance to play football in Australia.

Rob Nisbet, one of the organisers of the Barassi Youth Tournament 2008, has sent us the following press release. The Barassi Youth Tournament (BYT) calls for more international youth teams! Along with the AFL's senior cup, 2008 will see the fifth international Barassi Youth Tournament take place in Canberra. The BYT is an international schools (16-year-old) non-elite Aussie football competition. The Tournament is organised by a non-profit incorporated association in the ACT. Over the years (1998, 2001, 2003 and 2006) youth teams from the United States, South Africa, Denmark, Samoa, Nauru and New Zealand have competed against invited Australian teams from the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory (Kormilda College) and Western Australia. Yes playing Australian football!

In yet another coup for footy in the US, the United States Australian Football League has announced the appointment of Wayne Jackson to the Australian Advisory Board. The Australian Advisory Board was set up in 2006 with a vision of inviting friends of the USAFL in Australia, who have stature in both business and football, to advise the USAFL on issues including business in Australia, the inner workings of the game in Australia and to increase the USAFL’s general understanding of everything football.

Wayne Jackson is the former Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner of Australia's biggest sporting body, the Australian Football League. Wayne has recently received a life membership of the AFL. Prior to this high profile position, Wayne held senior management roles with leading Australian companies including South Australian Brewing Company Pty Ltd, BRL Hardy Limited and Thomas Hardy & Sons Pty Ltd. Wayne joined Minter Ellison Lawyers SA/NT as a consultant in 2003 and since July 2007 holds the position of Chairman. He played 71 games for West Torrens in the SANFL from 1965 to 1971, and played for Adelaide University in the South Australian Amateur Football League prior to that.

The Kangaroos have rejected the Australian Football League's offer to move to the Gold Coast. The club, which changed its name from North Melbourne to the Kangaroos in 1999 in an effort to gain wider support, had toyed with Sydney, ACT and Gold Coast markets for several years. With Aussie Rules booming on the Gold Coast thanks to internal Australian migration and massive AFL investment, ultimately the time would come when they had to decide whether they would take up the AFL's plan for a club fully based in the region. The Roos looked for a further year extension to make a go of things in Melbourne, but the AFL informed them yesterday that a decision had to be made now. After a drawn-out saga the answer was swift - the club will not commit to the Gold Coast and will try to stay alive in Melbourne. This means a new, 17th AFL club, is likely, and the number of AFL players will expand - perhaps even opening the door for a few more international recruits.

Back in March of this year WFN looked at a wide list of countries that may consider sending their team to the 2008 Australian Football International Cup (see 2008 International Cup - country attendance likelihood list). Eight months later, and much less than a year before the tournament, we listed the teams the AFL say have expressed an interest (see IC 2008 - Hands up for Division 1?). We've spoke to representatives from most of those nations to see whether they are expecting to get Down Under for international footy's premier event. If all the countries we rate as moderate or better make the journey, the Cup will feature a major jump in numbers from past years, going from 11 (2002) and 10 (2005) to 16 in 2008, giving the AFL the number of nations they are hoping for to give balanced divisions. That's not including possible teams based on recent ethnic migrant groups in Melbourne, whichever division they end up in.