World Footy News

 

Riley Beveridge from the www.afl.com.au website filed the following story looking at the success of Carlton’s Irish import, Ciaran Byrne. Usually stories about Irish footballers trace their journey from Ireland to the AFL. However, Byrne has reversed the trend, returning to Ireland to play in a local match.

CARLTON defender Ciaran Byrne has returned to Ireland and become a hero in his local county, starring in a surprise appearance for his boyhood Gaelic side over the weekend.

Byrne suited up alongside his older brother Declan for his home club St Mochta, helping it defeat Mattock Rangers to reach the Louth Village team's Intermediate Championship final.

The 23-year-old came on as a second-half substitute, making his first Gaelic appearance since joining Carlton as a Category B rookie from County Louth at the end of 2013.

The Solna Axemen have made amends for last season’s grand final defeat by taking out the 2018 SAFF (Stockholm Australian Football federation) premiership last weekend. In a great day for the club, the Axemen defeated the Norrtälje Dockers by 33 points in a comprehensive victory.

In a landmark day for the club, the pain of last year’s grand final defeat to the Södermalm Blues was erased. Whatever pledges were made in the darker hours of 2017, were kept by a team with a mission. The final score on the day saw the Solna Axemen 10 7 67 defeat the Norrtälje Dockers 5 4 34.

It was the seventh SAFF Premiership flag for the Solna Axemen since their inception in 2006, enhancing their status as the most successful SAFF club since competition started in 2004. It was also the first flag for the Solna team since 2014.

After last weekend’s DAFL Grand Final, the Copenhagen Giants are the toast of Denmark. They are truly the giants of Denmark after downing perennial Danish powerhouse, the Farum Cats to take their second DAFL Premiership.

On a wet and windy afternoon, the day actually favoured the Cats early. Using whatever climatic advantage available, the Cats kicked three first quarter goals to open up a handy 21-point lead. They kept the Giants goalless for the quarter, and would have felt very pleased with their efforts to set up a premiership.

However, that was as far as the Cat charge went. By half time, the Giants had trampled all over that lead, lifting their own intensity and capitalising on whatever conditions that would help to slam home five goals for the quarter and lead by five points. Not a premiership-winning lead, but a quarter that defined the determination of the Giants.

It was a great day for the Hawks be it under the Box Hill or Hawthorn banner, one of the best AFL/VFL alignments shone through. The Box Hill Hawks winning the men’s final by 10 points over the Casey Demons and the women’s in their first season under the Hawthorn title (Box Hill formerly) winning by 13 points over Geelong.

VFL Women's Grand Final 

A tight first quarter of the VFL Women’s Grand Final with the Hawks first on the board through Tamara Luke.  Maddie Boyd evened things up for the Cats later in the quarter with a low flat drop punt through the middle.  Then Hawks had the better of the contest in the quarter but could not convert their forward 50 opportunities with Pearce marking Sarah Perkins closely.  A two point lead to the Hawks at the first break.

Over the years, players from international or multicultural by birth backgrounds have polled well on Brownlow Medal night. Jim Stynes won the Brownlow Medal in 1991 and remains the most successful international player. However, other players to have polled well over the years include Pearce Hanley (Brisbane & Gold Coast) and Tadgh Kennelly (Sydney) among others.

Tonight at the Brownlow Medal count, Mason Cox (Collingwood), Jason Johannisen (Western Bulldogs) an Aliir Aliir (Sydney Swans) each polled three votes. If an award were given, Mason Cox would not win as he incurred a suspension during the season. If an award were based on the most three votes (as the Brownlow once was) then Johannisen would win as his votes came from one best on ground performance.

In a weekend of major finals and tournaments across Europe, the following article give a brief look at results from the Coupe De France (French Cup), the Grand Final of the Kenguru Cup in Norway and premierships decided in Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

FRANCE – The ALFA Lions have already started to atone for a disappointing 2017/18 season by taking this season’s Coupe De France. Hosted by the Bordeaux Bombers, the event kicks off the CNFA season. This year, the Lions and Paris Cockerels made their way through the preliminary round robin matches in their respective pools. In the end, the ALFA Lions defeated the Paris Cockerels 48 to 26. In the women’s match, it was the Paris Cockerelles defeating hosts the Bordeaux Bombers 54 to 39. The result sees the Lions qualify for the Champions League in Amsterdam next year.

Grand Final day in Cairns was played out today under beautiful, if windy, conditions at Cazalys’ Stadium. In the first grade premiership showdown, the mighty Port Douglas Crocs proved too good for the Cairns Saints, running out 46-point winners.

However, in what might be the most significant result of the day, it was the league’s newest senior grades team, Pyramid Power, which won its inaugural premiership as a reserve grade team.

The first grade clash was tight to half time. Port Douglas held a narrow three-point lead at quarter time. Neither side relented in the second quarter and the half-time margin remained at three points. However, the “premiership quarter” belonged to the Crocs as they kept Saints scoreless whilst hammering on four goals (and eight behinds) with the wind to effectively secure the game.

In one of the most remarkable VFL/AFL finals ever witnessed, the crowd at the MCG has erupted into the chant of the title as American footballer Mason Cox cut loose. As this article is being written, Cox dominates the Fantasy points on the http://www.afl.com.au website as the most impacting player on the field.

This isn’t a practice match but an AFL Preliminary final involving two of the great AFL clubs – Collingwood and Richmond – and it can truly be argued that Collingwood’s seven goal lead at half time is built heavily on the back on an American.

So far, Cox has claimed eight possessions (seven kicks), six marks (most contested) and crucially, three huge goals in a row that were the integral part of a Magpie goal-kicking avalanche. Rarely has a player dominated a half as Cox has done – NEVER an American.

The Finland AFL (FAFL) 2018 season will come to a close this weekend when the Helsinki Heatseekers meet the Waasa Wombats in the Grand Final. After the final round of the FAFL season in Waasa late last month, the Heatseekers finished in first place, two games clear of the Wombats in second. The results qualified both for the Grand Final.

The match will be played at the Talin Jalkapallohalli Sporting Fields in Purotie, Helsinki, this Saturday 22nd September.

The home and away season ended in Waasa with the Helsinki Heatseekers winning both of their matches against both the Wombats and Turku Dockers to finish in top spot with five wins for the season. The Wombats secured another win against the Dockers to have three wins for the season and the Dockers were third overall with just the one win.

As part of their slow burn towards a return to full competition in the AFL Middle East, the Bahrain Suns will host the region’s AFX tournament next month. With their rebranding and rebuilding program last year, the Suns had planned to be back in action for the 2018/19 season. That goal will wait a little longer, but their involvement in the AFL Middle East pre-season competition will certainly boost interest and support.

In a media release from the AFL Middle East, “on October 12th, AFLME will conduct an AFLX style tournament which will comprise of all teams from of the competition. The tournament has been scheduled to take part in Bahrain to engage other areas of the Middle East to get involved in the league and potentially use this for expansion into the future.”