World Footy News

The latest initiative of AFL England, the National University League, commenced last weekend. The competition brings together the talent in men’s and women’s football across England and southern Wales and is running also as a prototype for a wider uptake across all of Europe.

Cambridge University held nominal favouritism going into the event for the men’s draw, as much to do with being the host team as anything else, whilst the women’s draw was a little less predictable given the comparative lack of competition in preceding years. The competition combined players from each university who had played for the team before as well as new faces, providing a great opportunity to further grow the game in universities.

 

Sarah Black reports on the www.afl.com.au website about the impact that Greater Western Sydney AFLW player, Cora Staunton, has had on the women’s game in terms of more Irish women chasing an AFLW dream.

The 2019 AFL Women's season will see five Irish born-and-bred players, including Staunton, on club lists.

It's a noticeable increase from the two in 2018, one of whom, expat and now-delisted Demon Laura Duryea, played her football in Melbourne before being drafted.

 

The four new recruits come from a Gaelic football background, with Sarah Rowe (Collingwood rookie), Ailish Considine (Adelaide rookie), Yvonne Bonner (GWS rookie) and Aisling McCarthy (Western Bulldogs' senior list), moving from across the world to play AFLW.

 

As a kid in the Aussie Rules playing states of Australia, from the first time you pick up a footy and kick it around the yard you are on the path to AFL football. From the youngest ages, Auskick programs, junior clubs, representative football, school football and later academies and combines create a path to the big time. The pathways are clear and ready.

 

Not so in Ireland. At least not as directly for Australian Football. The equivalent local pathways can take young Irish kids on a journey to club, county and country Gaelic football. But whilst on that journey, many kids – girls and boys – might learn of an opportunity to head to Australia and try AFL. Be the next Jim Stynes or Tadgh Kennelly. At this point. Careers do a complete right angled turn and Irish clubs face the prospect of losing their talent to another code – albeit related.

A first round falter from the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes has been redeemed after the team enjoyed victory on the weekend over the Bordeaux Bombers. After losing their opening round match to the Paris Cockatoos, the Coyotes needed a win to stay up and about – and they got it against a determined and committed Bombers team.

Playing at home, the Coyotes had an advantage. Yet, the Bombers never let the game get right way from them. In the end the Coyotes were too good, winning 100-63.

The 37-point win sees the Coyotes right back in the mix for finals action. Whilst the finals series is a long way away, there are only five matches left for them before finals – like all teams – and every win is vital. With both Paris teams likely to be finals bound and at least one of the Stade Toulousain teams challenging, the Coyotes may find themselves in a battle royale with both the ALFA Lions and the fast-improving Bayonne Toreadors for a finals spot.

AFL England has announced the Transatlantic Trophy on their www.aflengland.org website. Following is their story detailing the clashes which feature both men’s and women’s matches.

AFL England is delighted to unveil the Transatlantic Trophy in a new reciprocal arrangement with USAFL, the national governing body for Australian rules football in the United States of America. 

Under the new arrangement, both the USA men’s and women’s national teams – USA Revolution and USA Freedom, respectively – will visit Great Britain in August 2021 for matches against the Bulldogs and Swans.  

These matches are tentatively scheduled for the 21st August 2021, with the USA expected to play warm-up games in the week prior.

In front of an ecstatic home crown at Tiwi Oval on Bathurst Island, the Tiwi Bombers finally got their first win of the season. They downed St Mary’s by 21 points to not only gain their first four points of the season but also claw their way off the bottom of the ladder. In other results, the Palmerston Magpies resurgence continued with a win over Wanderers, The Darwin Buffaloes downed Waratah and in the top of the table clash, Southern Districts defeated Nightcliff.

Over in Wurrumiyanga, the Tiwi Bombers were up against an equally desperate St Mary’s. Both teams needed a win to keep finals on the radar, but more so the Tiwi Bombers who really had to win this one. The enthusiastic home crowd played their part as the Bombers gained the lead and stayed there before running out 21-point victors. Mathematics says that Saints are still right in the mix for finals, but form is another matter altogether. Their first six rounds have been shaky, at best, and they need to find the firepower to win consistently.

The opening round of the new 2018/19 AFL Middle East season got underway yesterday in Dubai with two tight matches which produced two significant results. The Dubai Dingoes came out snarling against the Abu Dhabi Falcons, whilst the Dubai Dragons won a thriller against the Multiplex Bulls.

In the opening match on a hot morning at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai, the Dubai Dingoes got their bark back and put a serious bite on the Falcons. In a tight opening half, it was the Falcons getting their noses in front to go to the main break with a seven point lead.

The Dingoes came back out after the break with renewed spirit – conscious that their new season needed a positive start – and rammed home eight goals to five after half time to win the game by ten points. It wasn’t the start the Falcons were looking for. After the promise of last year they needed a good start to the season. However, the Dingoes would be delighted with the win after a tough season in 2017/18. Already they are in a position to challenge for finals later in the season if they can snare another couple of wins.

 Last week, World Footy News reported on the arrival of a new centre for Australian Rules football. Hawaii, better known for Pacific holidays, Pearl Harbour, Waikiki Beach and Kilauea, has some hardy enthusiasts getting together in Honolulu to create a new club – a club that could potentially develop like no club before it. 

Dallas McCulloch isn’t your average footy player. But his drive, along with a great team around him, is making positive things happen. They are onto something. Our interview with Dallas and his vision for the future makes for some very interesting reading. 

The prospects of a Pacific-wide Australian Rules football competition have been discussed for many years with many locations touted as potential venues. However, the arrival of Hawaii as a football destination might just add another dimension to that argument. 

Here is our chat with Dallas.

 

The new AFL Middle East season gets underway on Friday morning (Dubai Time) with a double header at Dubai’s Sevens Stadium. The season starts with the Dubai Dingoes clashing with the Abu Dhabi Falcons ahead of the grand final replay between the Dubai Dragons and Multiplex Bulls. 

Whilst the off-season didn’t produce another team for the 2018/19 season – the Bahrain Suns, Doha Kangaroos and Muscat Magpies still a distance away from re-entering the competition – the four teams that take the field on Friday will be determined to create an exciting contest for this season’s flag. 

 

Each team has seen the usual comings and goings which will change the look of team lists, but a look at last season also gives a clue.

 

The following article from Fox Footy at their www.foxsports.com.au website looks at the naming of Essendon and AFL legend, Michael Long as the 2018 Northern Territorian of the year. As well as being an icon of the game for his achievements on and off the field, Long remains an inspiration to generations of people inside and outside of sport. 

ESSENDON champion Michael Long has been named Northern Territorian of the Year in recognition of his work as an indigenous community leader.

Darwin-born Long has been described as a football icon who made a stand against racism during his career, and an advocate for reconciliation. 

The Michael Long Learning and Leadership centre in Darwin provides accommodation, education, football and other sporting and corporate facilities.  

The centre aims to give young indigenous Territorians the same opportunities as their non-indigenous peers.

The clouds drifted in from Hinchinbrook Island. The players drifted in from Cairns, Townsville and the Whitsundays. The clouds made far less noise about it. A variety of bodies in various states of disrepair had descended like arthritic locusts on beautiful Cardwell – midway between Cairns and Townsville. The purpose – to compete for the AFL Masters Cardwell Cup for the naming rights as the best Masters’ team in North Queensland.

Whilst the breeze brought with it the clouds and occasional shower, the players brought mainly beer and some ill-fitting footy shorts from bygone eras (their playing days). The converted rugby league ground was as hard as the rocks in the nearby Cardwell Range. The grass playing surface was a cross between vegetation and piano wire.

Round 5 of the NTFL 2018/19 season continued to throw up interesting and sometimes unexpected results which keep alive finals hopes for most teams and further confuse followers of the game. St Mary’s and Palmerston both enjoyed valuable wins whilst early finals hopefuls, Waratah and Darwin Buffaloes, stumbled.

With no Premier League matches played at TIO Stadium this weekend, the opening match saw Waratah host the desperate St Marys. On form, and home ground advantage, Waratah should have won. But life doesn’t work that way. In a tight match up until the final change – less than two goals separating the teams until then – St Mary’s pumped the gas in the final term to kick four goals to one and hand Waratah a stinging defeat.