2009 will see the launch of Germany's sixth Australian Football club, with the Stuttgart Emus set to take the field in the league's brand-new second division.

As with the ARFLI, the Australian Football League Germany has seen a growth in numbers and playing standard over the past few years among the strong clubs.

While this is an important indicator of good progress on the level of individual clubs, the gap between the top and bottom of the table can make it hard for new teams to enter the league.

In Germany, the Berlin Crocodiles in particular have been on the wrong end of a few large scorelines, and the Strasbourg Roos, known in their sole AFLG season as the Black Devils, found the going very tough.

The AFLG now look set to follow a similar model to the Irish in 2009, launching a second division to cater for both newcomers and the reserve teams from the stronger clubs. The Premier Division will see Frankfurt, Hamburg, Rheinland and Munich battle it out for the title, while the Second Division will see Berlin and Stuttgart field their senior teams, along with Rheinland and Munich's reserves.

AFL London are staging their first All Star game on Clapham Common this Saturday 21st February in support of those affected by the bushfires in Victoria and to raise money to assist the Red Cross response. Ben Gellie of the London Swans and Coach of the North All-Star team said, "Many of the league's players, former players and supporters are personally affected by the disaster, we really see this as a great way to come together as a community a long way away from home to share our emotions, and hopefully at the end of the day to be able to make a difference." The league’s traditional rivalries will be on hold with the Swans, Lions and Wildcats banding together to make up the Northern team and Putney, Wimbledon and Wandsworth making up the Southern push. Despite the winter weather and the possibility that some may be slightly underdone, the game promises to be a very interesting showcase of the undoubted amount of talent that is present in London football.

The Carlton Football Club has lifted the suspension on Setanta O’hAilpin and he returned to training at Visy Park earlier today. “Setanta was invited to return to the club and resume training with his team-mates following further discussions with the coaching staff and the playing group and a clearance from our Sports Psychologist,” said Carlton CEO Greg Swann. O’hAilpin addressed the playing group prior to the training session at Visy Park this afternoon and he was welcomed back by everyone at the club. He will continue to undertake ongoing counseling from the Club’s Psychologist.

“There has been much said about what was an unacceptable incident and the matter has been dealt with by the AFL in regards to a suspension from playing,,” added Swann. O’hAilpin has been training with the Northern Bullants while he has been suspended from Carlton. Carlton’s next training session will be at Visy Park at 9:30am on Thursday.

Setanta o’hAilpin today officially accepted the prescribed four week penalty handed out to him by the AFL for the attack on team mate Cameron Cloke during last Friday’s intraclub match.

Carlton yesterday made the following statement "O'hAilpin's indefinite suspension imposed by the Club last Friday remains in place and this is a matter for discussion between O'hAilpin and the Carlton Football Club, including the player leadership group. These discussions will take place this week and a decision on this club suspension is expected to be known by Friday. During his suspension from the Club, O'hAilpin will not be involved in club activities, including tomorrow's Community Camp in Seymour, and will be required to train with the Northern Bullants. He is also undergoing an anger management course with the Club's Sports Psychologist."

But speaking from the camp today Brett Ratten told afl.com.au "The AFL has gone through its review process and handed out a sanction…we want to get Setanta back as quickly as possible and not leave him in the lurch and try and help him through this time and get back with the boys. We're just waiting for Mick Martin, our sports psych, to give us the all-clear there, but if it takes another three weeks or a month we'll work through that.” So it seems at this stage that we will see Setanta continue his career at some stage this year.

The Carlton Football Club has suspended Irishman Setanta O’hAilpin indefinitely following an incident where he was reported to have punched and kicked team-mate Cameron Cloke during today’s intra-club practice match at Visy Park. Setanta finished the 2008 season with an injury and questions over whether the club would take him into 2009, and his brother Aisake was de-listed. Setanta stayed on the Blues' list but now it appears he will face a significant period on the sidelines. The following is from a statement from the Carlton Football Club:

“Setanta’s actions were totally unacceptable, on or off the field, and we are bitterly disappointed in the incident with Cameron Cloke,” said Carlton CEO Greg Swann. O’hAilpin has been suspended from the Club until further notice pending an AFL investigation. He will not be involved in any club activities and will be required to train with the Northern Bullants while he is suspended. In addition he will undergo an anger management course with the Club Sports Psychologist.

Setanta is remorseful about the incident and has spoken with Cameron to apologise for his actions. He is aware that such an incident is completely unacceptable and, in particular, is a poor example to junior footballers. The Carlton leadership group was involved in the decision to suspend Setanta and have spoken to him in relation to the matter.

Sweden's Karlstad Dragons and Queensland's Noosa Tigers have teamed up to start the first player exchange program for an individual Swedish footy club.

While a few Swedes also played footy in Australia via a partnership between Powerhouse FC and the DAFL, the first Swede from a northern club to travel down under to hone his footballing skills under this agreement will be Mattias Ewald, who will arrive in Queensland in early February. Ewald's journey has created some interest in the local press, with the Värmlands Folkblad and online version of the Nya Wermlands-Tidningen both publishing articles in the past few days.

The Noosa Tigers, based on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane, play in the AFL Queensland state league. The AFLQ has grown in recent years to be the strongest league in the northern "rugby states", with a number of former AFL players playing or coaching.

The exchange was organised by former Dragons coach Kevin Anderson while visiting relatives last year, and supported by his company Maloo Inc.

Mattias will become the third Scandinavian we know of currently visiting down under for a kick of the footy, with Nicolai Secher and Chris Campion from the Denmark Vikings' IC08 squad currently in Geelong playing with the Thomson FC for 2009.

The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland will this year introduce a second division to its league, comprising reserve teams from the established clubs and new teams from around the Emerald Isle.

The move is hoped to make the creation of new clubs easier, with the league finding it difficult to expand in recent years due to start-up clubs struggling on-field against the powerful Dublin and Cork-based sides.

The ARFLI’s Ciaran O’Hara tells WFN that, while the ARFLI Premiership will this year see the same five clubs from 2008, the league is hopeful the second division could see the debut of the Kingdom Kangaroos, Mayo Mariners and Galway’s Midwest Magpies, in addition to the rebirth of the Clare Crows and Belfast Redbacks.

O'Hara also tells us the league is launching Rec Footy this year, as an avenue to taking the game to the nation's schools and colleges.

In international news, the Green Machine will this year take on Wales and Scotland for the inaugural Celtic Cup, as well as the return of the tri-series against Great Britain and Denmark.

For many French people, the role Australia played in the first World War may seem pretty small, but there is one village in the north of France that will never forget what the Aussies did for them.

During the first and second battle of the Somme a large number of Australians and New Zealanders died to free the small village of Villers-Bretonneux. The village was almost destroyed during the conflict, and the Australian government helped to rebuild it. Since then the village is closely bonded to Australia, and a big sign in the school courtyard saying “Never forget Australia” is here to remind everyone of what the diggers did.

Every year Villers-Bretonneux host the second biggest ANZAC ceremony behind the one in Gallipoli, involving the Australian ambassador in France, and numbers of other French and Australian officials.

We all know how important is ANZAC day in the footy community, hence the officials of French footy along with Aussie Rules Europe (ARE) have decided to organise the first 18-a-side game in France since WWI (probably played in Villers-Bretonneux) as a part of the 2009 ANZAC Day ceremony.

Paul Roos today discussed Kennelly's departure from the club “As a Club we knew Tadhg was going to go at the end of this season and we accepted that and were respectful of Tadhg’s decision...based on the last two years and Tadhg’s genuine concern for his body, the injury problems he has had with his groins, shoulders and knees, it has fast-tracked that decision by six months.

“We have always known that family commitments back home and also a burning desire to play for his county Kerry and follow in the footsteps of his late father Tim Kennelly, would one day take him back. We are totally supportive of Tadhg’s decision. It has come six months before we thought it would but we completely understand that Tadhg wants to go back and have an impact. His genuine fear is that if he got injured this year, as has been the case the last couple of years, he would never fulfil his ambition that he has long had and it would genuinely haunt him for the rest of his life.” He went on to say “Tadhg’s contribution to the Swans has been sensational and led to our Premiership win in 2005, the sacrifices he has made to play with us, leaving his family and friends, have been extraordinary. His competitive drive has allowed him to become a star player of the AFL and we'll miss him but obviously respect his decision, will continue to support him and he will always be welcome back at the Football Club.”

Tadhg Kennelly is set to announce his retirement from the Sydney Swans and AFL football this afternoon at a scheduled press conference at 3.30 pm. Reports of his return home were reported here and denied by the Swans and by Kennelly himself in the past two weeks. Obviously the cat was let out of the bag early and further reports last week suggested that the Swan's players had already held a send off party for him, again the Swans denied his departure. But it seems that with Paul Roos' return to the club this week, Kennelly has had a sit down with the coach to inform him that he will be returning home to Ireland.

His departure would seem to make it less likely that Kyle Coney will return to the Swans despite Kennelly saying last week that he thought there was still some chance of his return. Kennelly's presence may have been the best tool the Swans have at their disposal to both encourage him to return and to help him to settle in. In fact it is possible that Coney's decision not to return to Sydney may have been prompted by the revelation of Kennelly's plans prior to Christmas.