World Footy News

Highlights and interviews from the USFooty Nationals are up on the net - the YouTube link is here.

The clip opens with a short chat with Rod Grjlusich, regular Nationals guest commentator from Fremantle who mentions that back in 2003 he knew straight away who the Americans on the field were - but now with the improving standard it isn't so obvious.

The link will also put you into close proximity with the huge (and growing) amount of footage from USAFL games on YouTube, as well as footage from Europe and elsewhere available with a few clicks in the search bar.

English-born Fergus Watts' recent delisting by St Kilda and David Rodan's delisting scare last year show just how fragile an AFL career can be. However, many players do bounce back.

Glancing upon the AFL lists, as we head into 2008, there is plenty to get excited about. As these players mature, they become role models for players growing up in their countries. The younger they are, the more potential for long successful AFL careers.

So we decided to look at the ages of some of the current crop of AFL "internationals" and encouragingly the signs are still youthful.

For the first time since the Crows took on Brisbane in Wellington, New Zealand back in 2001, a NAB Cup match will be played outside Australia.

The Crows are back on the bill for the revival, with their much-anticipated clash against Collingwood on February 9th next year in Dubai also given NAB Cup status .

The match will be only the fifth AFL Pre-season Tournament match ever held overseas, after games were held in Cape Town (1998) and Wellington (1998, 2000, 2001).

The Crows will hold a training camp in Dubai in the lead-up to the match, while the Magpies are spending time in South Africa.

Kevin Sheedy's tour of North America received a little more media attention in Melbourne today with an article in the Herald Sun on his presence at the USFooty National Championships. The article mentions Sheedy being given the key to the city of Louisville and some general comments on the standard of footy in the US and how it's risen in the two years since he was last in attendance.

In a sound bite that might spark debate in the USA, he also mentioned as an aside that the Minnesota Freeze - a fairly new club and Division 2 Champions - has the best young talent at the Champs, particularly helped by the Western Australian Football League partnership program.

(Louisville, KY) Legendary Coach, Kevin Sheedy, spent his first two weeks of retirement from coaching footy doing what he loves most – coaching footy. Sheedy’s trip to North America included opening the Toronto Stock Exchange, meeting with sponsors of 'The Northwind', Canada’s national football team, watching the Northwind vs. Convict match-up and the Ontario Australian Football League Grand Final, helping USFooty Kids National Coordinator Denis Ryan with a High School clinic, giving a pep-talk to the Seattle Grizzlies prior to their Division II Grand Final match up, and consoling the San Diego Lions after their tough loss in the Division 1 Grand Final. If the first two weeks of Sheedy’s retirement are anything to go by, he's not going to have much time for fishing and golf.

A fuller tournament report for the USAFL National Championships is on its way, but in the meantime we've got some pics of the event.

For the results, check further down the page in the story Denver Wins!

The BARFL's British Bulldogs continued their domination of all that come before them this year with a massive 146-point win over the ARUK combined England and Wales Dragons. The game was played 14-a-side as the Dragons suffered some last-minute withdrawals, with the Bulldogs again showing the form that saw them hammer the Irish in Dublin running out 23.28.166 to 2.8.20 winners.

The Bulldogs are now looking forward to next year's International Cup, where they will have the chance to show how much they've really come against the heavyweights PNG, New Zealand and the US.

For the ARUK sides, the next hitout will be a match between the England Dragonslayers and Wales Red Dragons on November 3rd in Cardiff.

The Denver Bulldogs won the 2007 Coopers USFooty National Championship, defeating San Diego Lions by just 6 points. It was a beautiful day for footy in Louisville's Champions Park - bright and sunny with little breeze and very warm for mid-October in the mid-West. The pitch was flat but dusty as Kentucky's blue grass hasn't seen water in a very long time.

TORONTO, Ontario: The Toronto Eagles have created AFL Canada history winning their 11th title beating the Etobicoke Kangaroos 12.10 (82) to 3.6 (24) in the Ontario Football League Grand Final on Saturday 6th October.

The Toronto Eagles finished equal top in the regular season standings finishing with a 13-win, one-loss record, and confirmed their rating as the best team in the OAFL with the historic win over the Etobicoke Kangaroos.

"Both teams were exception all year, though I feel that our finals experience came through today” Eagles Captain Troy Marsh said.

The Eagles 58-point win was totally unexpected as a tight contest between the league’s premier teams was to be on the cards. The Eagles dominated the match, outscoring the Kangaroos 5.5 (35) to 1.5 (11) in the first half, before kicking four goals in the third quarter to head into the final break with a 42-point lead.

The Eagles were on top in every aspect of the contest, with their defense — which has been the best in the competition all season — keeping Etobicoke to their lowest score of the year.

"It has been such an exciting year to be able to coach such a talented team," Coach Mark Block said. "It's not easy to win back to back, but we did it and we did it well."

Eagle Tasos Dimacakos was named Man of the Match. Dimacakos, who has been the Eagles' best defender all year, began the season in super hot form and was selected in this year’s OAFL All-star team.

(Louisville, KY) Day 1 of the USFooty National Championships was a fabulous sunny day with a light breeze. Hot pies and cold beers were selling like hotcakes at the City of Louisville Champions Park. The day saw 4 fields hosting 4 men's divisions and 1 women's division.

The 2 and 0 winners on the first day of round robin play in Division 1 were the top 2 seeds from each group. In Group 1, the San Diego Lions won their two games in fairly convincing fashion. Golden Gate came pretty close, but Chicago couldn't stay with the 2006 Champions. The New York Magpies were able to hold off Chicago in a very closely fought game. The New York Mapgies had a easier time against the Golden Gate Roos. The Denver Bulldogs easily accounted for the OC Bombers and although they started slower against Boston they were able to win in the end. The Baltimore Washington Eagles had harder time against both the Demons and the Bombers and were behind the Bombers at the half, but they finished both games in convincing fashion.

Day 1 games set up two great "semi-finals" on Sunday with San Diego taking on New York and Baltimore Washington taking on Denver. San Diego looked like the class outfit that they have been all year. New York was a little lucky to beat Chicago. In Group 2, BWE and Denver set things up for a classic USFooty encounter. Denver looked very impressive led by new USFooty President Rich Mann. Their backline of Jim Baldwin and Tom Ellis came to play as did Matt Daniuski who was like a freight train leading out from full forward. The Eagles were up and down all day. Dwayne Marshall was a huge asset in the forward pocket with some beautiful goals. Dennis Ryan and Chris Carroll went in for the hard ball all day.

In Division 2, the Minnesota Freeze have been a revelation taking two wins in their group. The Freeze's B-side also took 2 wins in Division 4. Atlanta and Seattle also finished the day with 2 wins setting up some great games in Division 2.

OC Bomber stalwart, Chris Olson, whilst disappointed with his club's two losses, summed up the day perfectly saying "I just love this game". The tournament continues today.

At the USFooty Admin Conference held in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday, Joshua Goodstein of the Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids presented an update on the International Cricket and Footy stadium being built in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The stadium will be ready later this year and the Fighting Squids are planning a major tournament at the site in April or May next year.

Here are some stats:

* Seating for 25,000 (8,000 covered).
* Private suites and announcement facilities.
* Fully-lit oval in the main stadium.
* 2 additional (non-Stadium) full-size ovals with lighting.
* Main stadium oval measures over 170m diameter.
* ICC sanctioned facility.
* Wired for TV broadcast.
* Digital scoreboards and the newest in announcement and broadcast technologies.
* Full service concessions.
* Will play host to international and local Australian Rules Football events as early as 2008-2009.

The idea of a purpose-built footy stadium with two more fields in the facility had football administrators from across the US dreaming of the possibilities and looking forward to having a kick. The lit fields allow the possibility of night games which will help reduce congestion during the USFooty National Tournament Championship.

Back in 2004 the Australian Football League, in conjuction with state leagues, launched Recreational Football, or Rec Footy. Essentially it is non-contact football, played on a smaller field with eight players per side. "Tackles" are made through pulling flags from the player with the ball - a similar concept to flag football in the US, and in the same vein as a touch replacing a tackle in touch football (touch Rugby) in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The new game gives the opportunity for people to play a form of Australian Football over summer in a social setting, without the physical load of traditional Aussie Rules. The game has the potential to fill a crucial hole in the market which allows sports such as soccer and touch football to draw players away from footy. I've written before of the effect touch football has in Australia of introducing the skills and interest in Rugby Union and League to future fathers, mothers and their children. Australian Football clearly needed an equivalent, so as the 2007/08 season approaches it's timely to see how this new sport is going, based on statistics from the AFL's 2006 census. And it's also timely to remind prospective players, those with footy backgrounds and those without but who had always wanted to try the game themselves, males and females, young and not so young, to contact their local associations to find or make a team and launch their Rec Footy experience.