World Footy News

On this International Women’s Day we salute the women around the world making footy happen.  Whether it is slogging it out on the training track, showing their skills in the heat of battle or doing all the jobs off the field that make the game happen (presidents, coaches, recruiting, media, development etc.), from a footy point of view they are putting the International in International Women’s Day.  From Suva to Dublin, Paris to Zagreb, Port Malmo to Port Moresby, Cambodia to Calgary, Montreal to Islamabad, Auckland to Austin (and everywherer in between) women’s and girl’s footy is happening.

Increasingly women footballers are making the sacrifices to experience being a women’s footballer in Australia.  In some cases it is to try themselves out against Aussies in Australian competition, in others it is to see if they can make it to the top against the best in the game’s homeland, and for others it is just to experience the game on it’s home turf at an Australian club.  At the end of their journey they will take back a wealth of footy knowledge and experience to share ineir home land.

This year there are players such as Jess Blecher from Portland, Oregon (USAFL) who has just finished at Nightcliff in the NTFL and will play in Melbourne.  Caroline Leduc has travelled from Montreal (AFL Quebec) to play with the East Fremantle Sharks and Alex Saulter (GB Swans and AFL England) is travelling to Australia to play with Melbourne University.

We asked Alex’s good friend and team mate Laura Turner to profile Alex Saulter ahead of her 2018 Australian footy odyssey.

The tremendous work of AFL India may be about to bring the sweetest fruit of all as the AFL considers options to take advantage of the tremendous football platform laid over recent years. The dedication of AFL India, and the uptake of the game across India, may be the “Perfect Storm” needed for the game to really take hold in a big way. 

Nick Bowen from the www.afl.com.au website reports that the AFL are about to engage in further missions to explore the growth possibilities of the game in India, with matches at the highest level being slated again. This is on the back of recent stories from India which have looked at the growth of a local Mumbai-based competition (see Mumbai Footy Cup 2018), and a schools-based footy program in Mumbai (see School Kids Get Footy Lesson In India). Whilst these programs are outside of the AFL India umbrella, they also suggest that Mumbai is developing as the logical city to host an AFL match.

We’re one month into the AFL New Zealand premiership season, and the Central Giants have stayed atop the ladder with two convincing victories in as many weeks. 

Round 3 Recap
Round 3 saw the Giants take on the Northern Suns at QBE Stadium in Auckland. The Suns were feeling confident after a strong two weeks of competition, but the Giants kicked the first four goals of the match to gain a 30-point lead heading into halftime. Once again, the two Jameses -- Bowden and McKenzie -- were dangerous in the forward line for the Giants.

All was not lost for the Suns, however, as they put in a spirited effort throughout the match. Defender Alex Awatere received best on ground honors, and Jackson Clince managed to kick a pair of goals as well. However, the Giants ended up bringing home their third straight victory with a big second half.

 

AFLW's second season is running successfully in Australia and women's footy in South East Asia is following the same trend.

Recently the Vietnam Swans have proudly announced their own women's team.

The Swan's girls effort has been great as they have trained hard for two weeks before Tet (Lunar New Year). The new committee member Chia Sabbatucci told the club website:

The followng is an edited version of the AFL Canada 2018 president’s report by Lachlan Griffiths. As this an AGM report it is primarily looking back over the previous year’s events. I hope to interview Lachlan soon, looking forward about a  new strategic plan which will be released shortly and some other details

The full report can be read here http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-7259-0-0-0&sID=154776&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=61461986.

History has been made in the Colombian capital city of Bogotá with the first match of the inaugural CAFL (Colombian Australian Football League) season being played last weekend.

The Bogotá Bullants go into the history books as the first team to win a match in the CAFL competition when they downed the DC Aguilas by 38 points. Domiant early, the “Bullants managed to clinch it in the end, warding off a fast-finishing Aguilas.”

In recent weeks we have seen some tremendous initiatives to develop the game of Australian Rules football across the world. From player drafts and new urban leagues in Colombia (see Bombers, Bullants and Aguilas Arrive in Bogotá) to school and ministry driven national tournaments in East Africa (see Something Amazing Happening In East Africa) individuals, clubs and leagues are finding innovative ways to attract new players to the game and open up new markets.

Another example of this development is happening in Mumbai India where Reclink India has joined forces with Mumbai Footy to get the game into schools. According to Sumesh Sawant, Co-Founder and National Coordinator from the Reclink India report:

  

For the ninth consecutive occasion, the Southern Districts Crocs have lost a semi-final and after leading the ladder all year they now face the prospect of going out of the NTFL finals in straight sets unless they can reverse their fortunes. Their loss to the Darwin Buffaloes could be costly, but for Buffaloes’ fans, it is manna from heaven as they contemplate the now real possibility of a premiership – just one win away.

It would be the second successive year that the Crocs topped the home and away ladder and won the minor premiership, only to stumble as soon as their finals matches began. The team would be shaken badly by the outcome of their match and its ramifications, but they didn’t finish on top of the ladder for no reason – they are a class act and will bounce back next weekend in the Preliminary Final against the Nightcliff Tigers.

As most predicted, both the Dubai Dragons and the Multiplex Bulls have won their final round matches and will now go on to meet once again in the AFL Middle East Grand Final. The Dragons outlasted a determined and resilient Falcons team in Abu Dhabi, whilst the Bulls hammered the Dingoes to tune up for the big day in powerful style.

The clash between the Abu Dhabi Falcons and the Dubai Dragon was a willing affair. Both sides had points to prove – one to throw the dice once more for a finals shot, the other to assert themselves again as flag favourites. By half -time the Dragons led by just five points, with both teams equal for scoring shots. It was a more dominant Dragons outfit in the second half – but not before the Falcons gave them tough workout. In the end it was the Dragons winning by 43-points to go through the home and away rounds again undefeated.

Lyon’s own ALFA Lions have pushed their claims to defend their CNFA Leo Lagrange premiership title from last season with a big win against the Bordeaux Bombers. The win is their second of the season and if they can grab a win in their next match against the Aviators (not a guarantee) they would go to a final round match against the Cockerels in Paris hoping for a win – and loads of luck – to grab fourth place.

A big first quarter against the Bombers set up a 47-point lead by half time for the Lions. Bordeaux challenged in the third quarter, pegging back the lead, but the Lions steadied again in the final term to run out comfortable 71-point winners. The result has all but ended the Bordeaux team’s finals chances, but saw he Lions leapfrog them into being one of the likely remaining five finals chances.

The top placed Western Bulldogs held on to win by 8 points over the bottom placed Collingwood, after the Pies came at the Dogs late in the final quarter at Moe.

Image Source: Twitter @BulldogsW

It was a very high intensity aggressive game of football, which saw Steph Chiocci and Libby Birch reported in the first half of the match. There was heaps of pushing and shoving in this match in the first two quarters. The Pies came at the Dogs late in the final quarter, but the Dogs held on to win by 8 points over the bottom placed Pies.

The reigning premiers the Crows were too polished in the end for the Blues when they needed to be in the match, as they won by 35 points at their home ground the Norwood Oval. This match was played with an extremely high intensity and pressure from both teams. The Blues were in the contest for most of the match with their gameplay and it was just their wayward kicking in front of the big sticks that let them down.

Image Source: Twitter @Adelaide_FC

It was a high-pressured game from both teams in the first quarter. The Crows took their chances early in front of goal with two goals to the Blues four behinds, as the Blues kicking in front of goal was wayward and let them down. Sarah Perkins hand passed to Ruth Wallace who snap kicked the goal from 20m out for a nice team goal for the opening goal of the first term. Wallace was on fire for the Crows up forward, as she nailed through her second goal of the match of a snap kick around her body.