World Footy News

Arguably New Zealand's strongest league, the new Auckland AFL season is about to get underway.

The results are in from the second leg of the US Western Regionals, held in San Diego on August 14 and 15.

On August 18th the All-Japan Samurai met the Melbourne Vietnamese at Box Hill North's Elgar Park. The Samurai ran out comfortable 13.13 to 6.8 victors in a match marked by some impressive skills from a Japanese squad much improved from the side that travelled to the 2002 cup and some explosive pace from both sides.

In part one of our two-part feature on Aussie Rules development in the two nations, WFN's Aaron Richard talks with Samurai Coach Troy Beard.

The origin of Australian Rules football is often speculated on, but there are few definitive answers. It does seem likely that it had many influences in its formative years.

Australia's AFL Grand Final weekend (25th-26th September) is shaping up as a big weekend for football in New Zealand, with Christchurch set to host the National Provincial Championship (NPC) and an international junior tournament at a number of venues in the Canterbury region.

From having only one side in the whole country (the Helsingborg Saints) to having local leagues in Stockholm and Skåne, an outpost in Göteborg and hosting international competition, the past two years have been a time of spectacular growth for the Australian game in Sweden.

The South Eastern (USA) Australian Football League finishes this week, with the title to be decided between Atlanta and North Carolina.

The Japan Samurai have continued on their winning way defeating Box Hill North at Elgar Park on Tuesday night, 17th August.

The United States' North East Australian Football League is coming to the end of its season, with the champions to be decided in Philadelphia.

The Japan Samurai, an all-Japanese side, have proven their recent wins in Asia were no fluke with a sound thrashing of a Howlong Football Club selection on Australian soil last Sunday, 15th August.

Australian football finals series are underway the world over, with the Northern summer beginning to wane as the Ausralian winter thaws. Last weekend witnessed the successful conclusion of two British leagues' seasons - the Scottish and British Regional Premierships.

The amazing story of the 2004 Japanese national team, the Samurai, continues....