World Footy News

NTFL Press Release:

The 2018/19 TIO NTFL season will start with a bang when defending premiers Southern Districts play a grand final rematch against the Darwin Buffaloes on the first Saturday night of the season.

This is just part of an exciting TIO NTFL Men’s Premier League season that was announced with the fixture release by AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) today.

The season will kick off on Friday 5 October and is scheduled to culminate with the grand final on Saturday 16 March 2019.

This year the AFLNT Football Operations team worked in collaboration with clubs, with each club given an opportunity to have input and share feedback on last year’s fixture and also put forward key club priorities for the upcoming season.

The visiting team from the USA came up against the Irish Warriors in the final match of their tour on the weekend at Islandbridge, Dublin. The tour has been a huge boost for both national teams and an enormous success. Following is the match report from the AFL Ireland Facebook page, looking both at the game and the recognition of the many people who brought such an event together.

After a rousing 3/4 time huddle, with their backs to the wall, the Warriors came out hard in the last quarter and every player to a man stepped up to claw back the deficit and drive ahead with an outstanding 5 goal quarter. 

USA Revolution players are devastated after coming so close having played their best footy of the tour but the weeks exertions ( 3 games in 6 days) definitely seemed to take their toll in the last 10 mins as the Warriors stepped into overdrive. Still, Revolution fought to the very end and were out on their feet at the final siren.

Irishwoman Aoife O’Gorman (previously known as Aoife Murphy) played Gaelic Football (GAA) and Hurling through school, university and beyond.

She played GAA against AFLW GWS Giants star Cora Staunton in the late 1990s back in Ireland in a number of high-profile matches for their counties.

“We won some big games and lost some; it’s a bit mad to see her playing at the top level out here in footy”, O’Gorman said of her time with County Waterford.

They won’t be playing finals footy in 2018, but the Frankfurt Redbacks have ensured that they secured fifth spot on the premiership ladder with a resounding win against the Württemberg Giants. In the only match for Round 9, the Redbacks gave their home fans the ideal finish to their season.

After crashing out of the starting barriers at breakneck speed with a seven goal to nil opening quarter, the Redbacks simply kept the momentum and pressure going across all four quarters to run out victors by 141 points. With Jay Calder kicking six goal for the Redbacks, and Jonas Petrenz a handy five goals, the Giants were never allowed to build any momentum to get back into the game.

The Redbacks will finish with four wins for the season along with the Rheinland Lions, but with a very poor percentage. The Lions would need to lose their final match by an earth-shattering margin against the rampant Dockers in Hamburg to be overtaken by the Redbacks. Whilst not impossible – the Dockers have been merciless this season – it is unlikely.

In the wake of yesterday’s AFLCNE Grand Final, won for the fifth consecutive season by the Manchester Mozzies (see FIVE..!!! Manchester Mozzies Raise Premiership Bar), the league has announced their Tam Of The Season to recognise excellence across the five competing clubs throughout the 2018 season.

Not surprisingly, the team features six Manchester Mozzies, but all teams are represented. As expected, AFLCNE Best & Fairest winner, Matthew Whiteley from the Huddersfield Rams has been selected as has the competitions leading goal kicker, Andrew Walkden from the Mozzies.

The AFLCNE Team Of The season selections are:

It has proved to be a huge day for the Wandsworth Demons after preliminary final day at Hackney Marshes. With one premiership in the bag already, the club’s other teams either were already in the Grand Final of their division, or had to win through. By the end of the day, the Demons had one flag decided and will have four teams aiming for more next weekend as they aim for a record-breaking five flags in a season.

It now remains in the hands of the other AFL London clubs to find way to exorcise these Demons and seek their own premiership glory.

The biggest result of the weekend saw the Wandsworth Demons winning the Women’s Conference division flag when they downed a gallant London Swans. In an amazing result, the Demons held a nine-point lead at the final change in a low scoring match, keeping the Swans scoreless for three quarters. The Swans came home hard in the final quarter, threatening to steal the match and falling short by just one point. The Demons held on, but only by the skin of their teeth.

After a season of dominance where they remained undefeated, the Manchester Mozzies have won an extraordinary fifth consecutive premiership when they defeated the Nottingham Scorpions by 25 points. Their fifth flag in a row already propels the Mozzies to stratospheric heights on a worldwide football stage and they have no immediate plans to end their dominance, now being the proud owners of seven AFLCNE premierships.

For the third straight year, the Nottingham Scorpions bravely stuck with the Manchester behemoth, but in the end could only be in awe of the ability of the Mozzies’ ability to keep finding ways to raise the bar – both on the field and across the history of the league.

Playing the AFLCNE Grand-Final in front of a home crowd in Nottingham, the Scorpions stuck within striking distance of the Mozzies all day but couldn’t bridge the gap enough to catch them. This was despite having their adoring home fans cheering and offering all manner of advice from the sidelines.

The annual USAFL Western Regionals tournament was held this past weekend at the David Legacy Soccer Park outside Sacramento, California. It was a day of intense heat (105 F/41 C), but it was great to see some high quality footy being played in the state capital.

With eight men’s teams and four women’s teams, there was plenty of talent and experience on display. The men’s division one side was made up of the Seattle Grizzlies, the Los Angeles Dragons, the Golden Gate Roos and the San Diego Lions (who combined with several Arizona Hawks players). The day started with the Dragons taking on the Grizzlies, securing a 26-point win in the process; concurrently, Golden Gate defeated San Diego by a nine goal margin. As the temperatures climbed throughout the afternoon, the Dragons took home another scalp, beating the Lions and securing a spot in the grand final.

The second match of the Irish itinerary for the USA Revolution was played this week in Belfast when the touring squad took on the Redbacks. In a closer game than last wekend’s clash against the Irish Warriors, the visitors still found it tough against the current FL Ireland flag favourites. Conor Mallon, Belfast Redbacks Club President, provided the following match report.

The American national team, USA Revolution, travelled to Belfast on the 31st July to take on the AFL Ireland League leaders the Belfast Redbacks as part of their visit to Ireland to play the Irish Warriors.

The Redbacks jumped at the opportunity to take on a national side for the first time in the club’s history when they were asked by the Irish Warriors’ head coach, Brian Currane.

After struggling in recent seasons, the Redbacks have had a great year with some new recruits joining the ranks and helping the club to an undefeated season - finishing top of the league.

Round 20 of the 2018 AFL Season kicks off Friday night Melbourne time at the MCG with Richmond hosting Geelong.   

The full broadcast schedule for the round can be seen below.

In addition to the TV networks you can also subscribe to the Watch AFL service that will give you live access to all the matches and more (outside Australia only).

You can access that service by clicking on the link here or the Watch AFL promo shot on the left to register and by then paying the subscription fee.

Right now Watch AFL is offering a Mid-Season Pass a big discount on the regular season pass. This pass includes all AFL Premiership season matches, the Finals Series plus access to FOX FOOTY content.

 

 

The second instalment of the AFL Colombia competition got under way last weekend. Just weeks after the DC Aguilas held aloft the inaugural premiership, teams returned to the playing field in Bogota for the second “season” for the year. Paddy Smallwood from AFL Colombia sent the following report after the Agulias took on the Bullants.

“The rematch of the teams from the last Grand Final proved to be a real livewire for both the Gourmet Burger Bar Bogota D.C. Aguilas and the Bogota Craft Beer Tours.”

“With the Aguilas facing off against what was once their star player Sam Miller but also incorporating the mercenary ex-vice captain of the Bullants Tristan Quigley, there was certainly some tension between the two outfits.”

 

Sarah Black reports on the www.afl.com.au website that the Western Bulldogs are casting a recruiting net globally in a bid to develop their own list, and by extension women’s football. There are also positive ramifications for women across the world who may find their way onto an AFLW list. Whilst the Bulldogs’ initiative is looking for just one rookie spot, the concept will be looked at by all clubs, and especially those yet to be granted places in the AFLW as they look to grow future lists.

AFL Women's premiers the Western Bulldogs are casting their net around the world in the hunt for a rookie to add to their list for the 2019 season. 

The Bulldogs have partnered with international AFL bodies such as AFL England, AFL Ireland Women's, AFL Europe and AFL Canada to promote its international rookie program 'CrossCoders'. 

The definition of an AFLW rookie has changed from season to season, but for 2019, an AFLW rookie would not have played Australian football in the past three years or been involved in an AFLW high-performance program.