A little over six months ago a small Australian Rules football club in northern Australia had an idea.

In a deliberate bid to turn around negative perceptions of their club, they looked at social media, specifically Facebook, to begin contacting clubs as possible “friends”. But like anything enjoyable, one or two friends became nine or ten. Before long, the club had hatched an idea of having a group of “Brother Clubs”.

So the term “Brother Club” was bandied about, but many people did not really know what it meant. Some clubs jumped at the chance and became “brothers”. Other clubs, being a little more sceptical, held off in case it was some brand new “scheme” which would ultimately result in a risk to money or image. Both fair points given what is out there on “the net”.

But the “Brother Club” idea is not new and is not a threat. For the simplest comparison, consider the world wide concept of sister cities, where cities around the world come together for geographical, cultural, social or economic reasons to be friends for the small price of a lovely plaque and maybe a small civic event to celebrate it. From there, those cities decide whether they do anything else.

Young Tyrese Bounghi, from Gordonvale State School in North Queensland, probably has to pinch himself every now and then. A week ago he was just another normal 12 year old boy going to school and playing footy.

But last Saturday he wore a football jumper donated by the Vietnam Swans Australian Rules Football Club based in Saigon. Now he is about to become the pride and joy of his home towns of Yarrabah and Gordonvale as a new face of international Aussie Rules football.

Last Saturday saw an International Day in Yarrabah, a small indigenous community east of Cairns, which was organised by local club Pyramid Power Junior AFL Club. At this event, kids from the community were asked to come down, have a kick and wear the donated jumpers from a number of international clubs. These included the Manchester Mosquitoes (England), Reading Kangaroos (England), Dublin Demons (Ireland), Orange County Bombers (California, USA), Baulkham Hills Hawks (Sydney, NSW) and the Vietnam Swans. Photos of the boys were sent around the world, and the shot of Tyrese was seen by the Swannies, prompting the club to request an interview with him to encourage a cultural exchange and further the “Brother Club” concept developed by Pyramid Power.

AFL Media Release

The AFL is pleased to announce Australia Post AFL Multicultural Ambassador Bachar Houli has been named an inaugural winner of the Award for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding.
 
In a partnership between the University of South Australia’s Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding and the Australia Day Council, the award was established to highlight the efforts of people around the nation who are contributing to social harmony and community cohesion.

As the first devout Muslim to play AFL, Richmond defender Bachar Houli has become a leading influence for many young Australian Muslims.
 
AFL National Community Engagement Manager Jason Mifsud said Bachar Houli is committed to strengthening cultural awareness and has shown he is a great community leader.

Australian Rugby League fans already know Innisfail, in North Queensland, as the home of two test match internationals. Ask anyone remotely connected to Australia’s “other” football code and they will tell you that Innisfail is where North Queensland Cowboy’s star Ty Williams was born, along with Melbourne Storm’s Billy Slater, argued by many to be one of the game’s greatest full backs.

Innisfail has not been seen as a hotbed of talent for Australian Rules footballers.

Until now.

AFL Cairns Juniors have invested a great deal of time in recent months developing a junior Australian Rules football team in this beautiful town, located in the picturesque Johnston River Valley, 90 kilometres south of Cairns. Eddie, Tim, Baden and the crew from this organisation have been training Innisfail kids, as well as others in nearby Tully and Mission Beach, to produce the next wave of Aussie Rules stars.

The work they have done with local primary schools to get kids involved in our great game may see the next Billy Slater wearing a Gold Coast Suns or Brisbane Lions jumper rather than that of a Rugby League team.

WFN welcomes aboard Wesley Hull who, amongst other interests, will examine some of the stories of grass roots footy within Australia.  Wesley will be familiar to some readers through his involvement with the Pyramid Power football club and our story about it.

White driftwood sits on the golden sand of Lilly Beach on Badu Island in the Torres Strait. Coconut Palms sway gently in whatever breezes the day brings. The water changes from blue to green to shades of grey, depending on the moods of the day. Turtles and dugongs cruise languidly by beneath the surface and various sea birds chatter and squawk about whatever they wish.

Surely this description of paradise has nothing to do with Australian football. Does it?

This picture of paradise changes once you add a few young boys and girls, who run with excited freedom along the beach. They gallop, screaming and laughing with joy, as they play a game of Rugby League, touch football or Aussie Rules. The delightful sounds of youth combined with the majesty of their surroundings. Idyllic.

Torres Strait is the body of water that separates mainland Australia from Papua New Guinea. At its narrowest it is 150 kilometres wide and contains over 250 islands. Some of these are alluvial islands made from the sediments of nearby rivers. Others are coral cays and others still are continental islands, part of the original Great Dividing Range. Very few of these islands have permanent settlements.

This is where Henry and Nathaniel grew up. Born on neighbouring Thursday Island and living their youngest days on Badu. This was light years away from the hustle and bustle of big cities, and equally as far away from the MCG, the symbolic home of AFL football.

A total of 94 players were tonight added to AFL club lists at the 2012 NAB AFL Draft, held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre in Queensland.

Dandenong Stingrays' midfielder Lachie Whitfield was taken at selection number one by the GWS Giants, with the Giants adding Jonathan O'Rourke (Calder Cannons) and Lachie Plowman (Calder Cannons) at selections two and three respectively.

Jimmy Toumpas (Melbourne), Jake Stringer (Western Bulldogs), Jackson Macrae (Western Bulldogs), Oliver Wines (Port Adelaide), Sam Mayes (Brisbane Lions), Nick Vlastuin (Richmond) and Joe Daniher (Essendon) rounded out the top 10 selections, while three players with previous AFL experience were re-drafted onto club lists - former Port Adelaide player Ben Jacobs and former Gold Coast player Taylor Hine both selected by North Melbourne while Hawthorn re-drafted premiership player Michael Osborne.

Irish rookies Zach Tuohy and Niall McKeever were both ugraded to the senior list as were Sudanese born Majak Daw and South African born Jason Johannisen.

Full draft list below:

 

The Greater Western Sydney GIANTS have welcomed the announcement by the Federal Government of a partnership to support young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in Greater Western Sydney.

The Federal Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Sport, Senator Kate Lundy, announced at ŠKODA Stadium that the Federal Government through the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has committed $1.2 million over three years to fund a national approach to youth settlement through the Multicultural Youth Affairs Network Australia (MYAN)

As part of this commitment, $270,000 has been earmarked to fund the establishment of a new independent service in New South Wales through a partnership between the GIANTS, the Centre for Multicultural Youth and Multicultural Youth Affairs Network NSW and its local host organisation, Settlement Services International (SSI).

The Greater Western Sydney GIANTS today announced the appointment of David Matthews as Chief Executive Officer for the next three years.

 

Formerly AFL General Manager National and International Development, Matthews joined the GIANTS last November for an initial period of 12 months after a career spanning 14 years at the AFL.

 

Chairman Tony Shepherd said the board of the GIANTS were delighted to secure Matthews for a further three years as the club continued to grow across Western Sydney and Canberra.

 

"This is the biggest and most exciting challenge in Australian sport. Since he joined the GIANTS, David has led the club with distinction through its first 12 months in the AFL competition and shown why he is a highly respected figure in the game," Shepherd said.

Victoria will host the first competitive AFL football to be played for the 2013 year when the NAB Cup begins with a triple-header match up involving Collingwood, Essendon and the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Friday February 15 next year.

 

AFL General Manager Broadcasting, Scheduling and Legal Affairs Simon Lethlean today announced the fixture for the opening three rounds of the 2013 competition, including the six divisions of three teams apiece for round one, that was introduced in 2011.

 

Round One has been split across two weekends, Mr Lethlean said, to ensure that all six match-ups of three teams apiece were played in twilight / night conditions in the late summer period, for the opening shortened games. All clubs then play two full-scale matches across the weekends of March 1-3 and March 8-9, with the leading two teams to contest the final on either March 15 or March 16.

 

All Round One match-ups will be broadcast on FOX FOOTY and, following the opening night at Etihad Stadium, the Geelong Cats will travel to WA to join West Coast and Fremantle at Patersons Stadium on Saturday February 16 while St Kilda will travel to SA to join Port Adelaide and defending champions the Adelaide Crows at AAMI Stadium on Sunday February 17.