World Footy News

When the brilliant Chrissie Amphlett sang these words back in 1985, she wasn’t singing about footy – as least we don’t think she was. Yet those words adequately sum up the result of the AFL Middle East Grand-Final played in Dubai yesterday when the Dubai Dragons won their fourth straight premiership (and sixth in seven seasons) by defeating the tragic heroes, the Multiplex Bulls.

The difference between the pleasure of premiership heaven and runners-up despair and pain was just 23 points. Ten minutes into the last quarter it was just ten points. Two goals to either side would turn the result…it was the Dragons that turned.

Four flags in a row is an incredible effort at any level of the game. The consistency to bring together a squad of players over that length of time and keep them hungry enough, as well as talented enough, to hold off every other challenge is remarkable. The Dragons deserve their glory and deserve to go down in history as one of the most extraordinary teams to play the game outside of Australia. Pleasure.

Despite the arrival of cyclones in Darwin and raging bulls in Dubai, this weekend will see two new premiership teams crowned to bring to an end the respective 2017/18 seasons for the NTFL in Darwin, Australia, and the AFLME in the Middle East. In Darwin, Mother Nature has already had a say, whilst in Dubai – half a world away – the Multiplex Bulls are trying to tear own a Dragon’s reign.

With the arrival of Cyclone Marcus in the Arafura Sea, the Northern Territory Football League has already been forced to postpone tomorrow’s scheduled grand final timetable to Sunday. The expected impact of what is likely to be a Category 1 cyclone is still enough to bring flooding rains and damage to structures from wind gusts. The weather system is expected to have passed Darwin and surrounds by Sunday, though games are likely to be played in very sodden conditions.

 

The Lions won by a whopping 40 points over the Giants up in Sydney at the Blacktown International Sports Park and there hopes of making the 2018 AFLW Grand Final are well and truly alive. All night the Lions were a class above the Giants who could not do anything to stop the strong momentum shown by a Lions outfit where everything fell right into place in tonight’s match for them. The six goal first stanza set up the win for the Lions who scored ten goals and kept the Giants to three goals for the entire match. 

Image Source: @aflwomens

The second part of the AFL’s new promotional campaign features a young Muslim woman from the western suburbs of Sydney and her dream and journey to play Australian Rules football. According to the www.afl.com.au website, the synopsis for this video is:

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The AFL’s 2018 campaign “Don’t Believe I Never” has been released. The key motivator in the campaign is a series of three videos focusing on the inspirational journeys of three people. Featured are Richmond coach Damien Hardwick and his journey with the club to premiership success, Sydney Swans footballer Aliir Aliir and his incredible journey from war-torn Sudan to the AFL and a teenage school-girl in western Sydney and her journey to the Bankstown Bull Sharks. Below is the story of Aliir Aliir.

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After just two games of the CAFL season in Bogotá, Colombia, the Bogotá Bullants have already announced themselves as the team to beat. Whilst the pre-season drafting has certainly made the three -team competition competitive, it is already clear that the talent pool at the Bullants runs deep and it will take a big turnaround from the Bogotá Bombers and DC Aguilas to take down the Bullants.

For three quarters the Bullants and Bombers were evenly matched. Scores were level at quarter-time and the Bullants led by just three points at the main beak. The Bombers won the final quarter. However, it was the third quarter where the inner Bullant was unleashed as they piled on seven goals to break the game open and set up victory by 30 points.

The Southern Districts Crocs have reached the 2017/18 NTFL Grand-Final by defeating the Nightcliff Tigers in last night’s Preliminary Final at Darwin’s TIO Stadium. The result sets up a dream decider with two teams that have endured premiership droughts that go back twelve years for the Darwin Buffaloes (2005/06) and eleven years for Southern Districts (2006/07). Regardless of next weekend’s result, one team will break a drought; the other will have to start all over again for another crack next season.

The Nightcliff Tigers used their better accuracy to advantage early against the Crocs, holding a narrow quarter-time lead of three points after kicking five straight goals for the quarter. Two goals to Cameron Ilett helped give Nightcliff a good start, but the Crocs hit back hard in the second quarter to kick five goals to two and open up a 17-point lead at the main break.

 

It was the six goals to zero first quarter from Melbourne that helped set up the 35 points thumping win for them over Carlton at Ikon Park. The Dees scoring in the second and third quarters dried up, because they only scored two goals in the second half of the match. This win now has the Dees sitting second on the AFLW ladder and all they have to do next week is beat the Dogs and they are into the AFLW Grand Final. The Dees came out all guns blazing in the opening quarter of the match and were a class above the Blues, as they kept the Blues scoreless and kicked 6 goals of their own. They were on fire in their forward 50 and midfield, which caused headaches for the Blues who could not get their hands of football.  

Image Source: @aflwomens

This weekend’s CNFA Léo Lagrange round in France saw the Paris teams – the Cockerels and Cockatoos – hosting the Toulouse-based teams, the Hawks and Aviators. It was a highly successful weekend with both Paris teams winning, and in the process enhancing their finals prospects.

The Paris Cockerels handed the Toulouse Hawks their first defeat of the season. Both teams were locked on four wins apiece going into the match. The win for the Cockerels sees them outright competition leaders with two rounds remaining. In the other match, the Cockatoos leapt over the ALFA Lions and into fourth place after comfortably defeating the Aviators.

Image Source: @aflwomens

The Greater Western Sydney Giants won by 18 points over the Western Bulldogs in an enthralling AFLW match at the UNSW Canberra Oval. It was a tight contest by both teams in the first half and this was reflected on the scoreboard. As at quarter time the Dogs had a one-goal lead and the Giants had a 10-point lead at half time. The Giants took their game up a notch in the second half and made light work of the Dogs who tried hard to counteract and respond to their pressure. This win by the Giants is a statement win by the Giants to the rest of the AFLW competition.

Image Source: @superfooty

Collingwood pulled of a huge upset over the Brisbane Lions by 14 points at the Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex. It was a good old game of wet weather fashion football between Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions. The Pies played exceptional football for the whole match and the Lions were stunned to say the least. However, in the final quarter the Lions had a late fight back, as they scored three of the last five goals of the match. The late goals could be important for Lions who have hopes of finishing top two on the AFL ladder.

It has been a tough off-season for the Australian Football League Central & Northern England (AFLCNE). The first blow was the departure of the Newcastle-based Tyne Tees Tigers as they moved to join the AFL Scotland league SARFL for a variety of logistical reasons – the most obvious being travelling advantages. Soon afterwards, it was announced that Sheffield Thunder would not field a team for the 2018 season due primarily to low player numbers.

The double-whammy losses will see the AFLCNE feature just five teams for the season. But whilst there are less teams, most of the players involved last year will be out there again for their respective clubs, so the standard of football is likely to be just as high as before – maybe higher.