It was today reported that Kyle Coney will not return to Australia to join the Sydney Swans, who returned to training in Sydney yesterday. Coney wants to play for his GAA club Ardboe and hopefully for Tyrone county side. Reports before the New Year did indicate that he was considering not returning but had been convinced to return by his countrymen at the Swans in Kennelly and Murphy.

The article in the Irish Times quotes Coney as saying “I'm staying in Ireland for the time being," Coney said today. "I was scheduled to go back on 2 January but the time came to make a decision and I decided not to go back…I weighed up my options when I was in Australia. Now I want to keep my options open and I want to be playing football for Ardboe and Tyrone.”

While this sounds like he may consider returning to Sydney other statements in the article make it seem unlikely “It was a very, very big decision. It took a lot of thinking but in my opinion, I've made the right decision," he told BBC Sport. "About a week after I came home (for Christmas), I said to my family that this is where I want to be playing football."

Many challenges await Irish Gaelic games players when recruited to AFL clubs. Full time training, a different shaped ball, a whole new country. Part of that change is the weather. Despite Australia occupying an entire continent with varying weather patterns, heat is the one thing in common. Summer is always hot - very hot.

That's something that Adelaide's recent recruit Brian Donnelly has only just had a sample of. After several weeks training with the South Australian team, the 20 year old from County Louth has experienced what has been an unusually mild start to the Adelaide summer. Maximum temperatures have rarely gone above 27 degrees, leaving more than a few locals grumbling about the lack of beach weather (although a few rainy days have been welcome respite from the drought).

Donnelly is 193cm and 82kg and the Adelaide Crows have so far been impressed with his abilities, though recruiting manager Matt Rendell has said the club would be happy if he holds down half back or centre-half back in the SANFL Reserves in 2009 (he has been mini-drafted to Glenelg), perhaps breaking through for a few SA League games; obviously Adelaide are not expecting his AFL debut this year.

The import is quoted in the article Irish recruit hot to trot as not thinking the weather so far has been mild and saying "It's pretty warm for me. I heard it gets up over 40 degrees Celsius, so [when it does] I'll be hiding". It will be a tough pre-season for him if the usual summer kicks in - extended periods with daily maxima above 35 degrees and occasional peaks of over 42. Last March had what news reports described as an "unenviable" Australian capital city record of 15 successive days of 35 or more, with one report citing a climate model that suggested it was a 1 in 3000 year event. No doubt Donnelly will be happy if it's that long before the next one strikes.

Also more on Donnelly in Irishman hammers out new football life, in which he discusses the step up in training required for the AFL.

Last December we reported on the formation of the Bordeaux Bombers - France's third club. Since then, 2008 has seen the creation of the Montpellier Fire Sharks on the Mediterranean coast and the rebirth of footy in northern Catalonia, with the creation of the Perpignan Tigers.

This month sees the French footballing fraternity welcome new clubs in the cities of Aix-en-Provence and Toulouse. The Aix Rascasses will be the first club in France's south-east, the name "Rascasse" translating as Scorpionfish in English - a venomous inhabitant of the waters around Marseille and the Côte d'Azur.

The Toulouse Crocodiles will bring footy to another of France's main centres. With Toulouse, Montpellier and Perpignan all within a few hours' drive of each other, and Bordeaux, Aix and the Catalan league not too much further in either direction, the future looks promising for an area that only 12 months ago had no clubs at all.

Late in 2007 and early in 2008 AFL Britain was formed from the British Australian Rules Football League with the intention of splitting the duties of the committee such that the individual football leagues could operate somewhat independently within the broader framework of AFL Britain. This was to free up AFL Britain to concentrate on longer term strategic goals rather than day to day running of the London leagues, as well as to provide an umbrella structure over the very fractured footy landscape, particularly in England.

12 months on and the 2009 committee has been elected, with outgoing President Sam Percy stepping aside as he predicted a year ago, having overseen some of his goals but true unity remaining elusive. He now intends to focus on the running of the AFL London leagues, while committee-member Glen Ocsko has moved up to take on the role of President.

The Australian Rules Football League Ireland (ARFLI) have had many ups and downs in their short history, although two things have always been assured - a strong squad sent to the International Cups and strong clubs out of Dublin.

But away from the Republic's capital only the Leeside Lions have thrived. Several regional sides have come and gone, such as the Clare Crows (no longer active). However in 2008 momentum has been building, and although there can be no guarantees, there are real hopes for several new clubs in time for the 2009 season.

We've previously reported on attempts to kickstart the Mayo Mariners and Kingdom Kangaroos (see ARFLI season running, Mayo and Kerry clubs postponed). Those efforts are continuing and joining them in the race to start next season are the Midwest Magpies, to be based in Galway. The club has been established by Eoin Budds, Aiden Cunningham and National team player Ray Colleran. They are looking for players and officials. More details on the ARFLI website here.

Ironically the key to having more teams in ARFLI is just that - having more teams. By increasing the number of regional sides there will be less travel and more local rivalries, thus improving the chances of retaining players and indeed clubs. Success should in theory breed success. After several false starts it would be tremendous to see ARFLI expand to 7 or 8 clubs in 2009, and it would go part way to ensuring the Warriors continue to keep pace with nations such as PNG, New Zealand and South Africa, at least in the short term.

Now the wind and rain have settled back into the British Isles, there is a chance to look back at a manically busy year of footy in Great Britain. Alongside a steadily developing raft of domestic competitions, 2008 saw huge growth in international footy being played and planned for the near future, with adult and junior fixtures being played in Britain, mainland Europe and Australia.

Probably foremost in many minds was the International Cup (IC), the tri-annual event attended by footy playing nations from across the globe and a chance for the best of the Brits to test themselves against their peers from 4 continents.

Focused preparation had been underway for over a year, giving the coaching staff opportunities to see many more players in action and decide where they could fit into the game plan.

A benefit of this was the chance to look outside the traditional recruiting grounds of the London-based competitions, with 12 players selected from clubs across regional England and the fledgling Welsh league – a real endorsement of the development of British players outside the Aussie-laden and more experienced clubs in London.

Footy is not a new sport in Perpignan, anyone who follows footy in France remembers the game organised between the French national team and a selection of English players back in 2005 that brought 500 spectators to the ground. But soon after that, the local Saint Estève Saints disappeared and footy in the south of France with it.

But during the summer of 2008, a young ex-rugby player decided to bring footy back to life on the Mediterranean shores. After discovering the game on TV and realising that the St Estève team no longer existed, he decided to give it a go, and contacted the Saints former president to start the club again.

“At first I found footy fun, but I did not understand any of the rules" says young Tigers president But after reading them he realised that "Aussie rules is a great sport that deserves more recognition".

In the process the Saint Estève Saints became the Perpignan Tigers. For now no players from the Saints have joined the Tigers, but there's no doubt that some of them will bring their knowledge to the young team.

Damien, the Tigers president, tried to organise a tournament in November with the help of the nearby Montpellier team, but unfortunately he was forced to cancel the event. There is no doubt that the Tigers will play a major part in the future of footy in France.

Ed: World Footy News welcomes Olivier Tresca to our team of reporters. Olivier was a pioneer of French footy, as well as more recent experience in Scotland.

The North Melbourne Football Club has added Irishman Conor Meredith to its rookie list for 2009. The 19 year old is one of Gaelic Football’s brightest prospects and was identified by List Manager Cameron Joyce during a special training camp held in Ireland in August. He then travelled to Melbourne for trials with the Kangaroos and Richmond.

“Conor showed good speed at the camp. He is a good height and in time could play half back, half forward or even through the midfield. The one thing that stood out was his ability to kick the AFL ball pretty well, which for me is half the battle,” Joyce said.

After an impressive showing, despite being unfamiliar with the oval-shaped football, Meredith from County Laois was given a two year deal. “We are delighted to have Conor on our rookie list for the next two years. The coaches are excited and looking forward to working with him and want to give him the best possible chance to reach his potential in the sport,” Joyce added.

The Essendon Football Club have signed their first Irish player. 18 year old Michael Quinn has been announced as an international rookie, although ultimately this is believed to fill a normal rookie spot, as opposed to the international scholarship lists, as recently exercised by the Western Bulldogs with two Fijian youngsters. From Killoe in Longford, Quinn will join full training in January and is allowed to remain on the rookie list for two years. He trialled for the Bombers in September, and has now been placed with a recently arrived Irish family to help him settle into Melbourne life.

See Essendon signs first international recruit for more details.

The first Gaelic football players from player agent Ricky Nixon's talent search program in Ireland are arriving in Australia. Nixon has sought to become the conduit by which Irish players are introduced to AFL clubs (see Nixon makes good on Irish scouting pledge).

The Age has reported that Conor Meredith (18) and Niall McKeever (17) arrive this week in Australia, McKeever to spend 1 week each with North Melbourne and Richmond, and similarly Meredith with Richmond and St Kilda. James Kielt arrives later to trial with the Roos and possibly the Saints.

Two more players are reportedly due in soon, and 20 year old Tom Parsons has stayed on since the International Rules Tests to look for an AFL contract.

"We have got to look to new markets to find talent, especially with the two new teams (Gold Coast and West Sydney) on the horizon in the next four years and us being hamstrung in the draft by the concessions they will receive," said Richmond football manager Craig Cameron.

Update 12/11/2008: County Kerry's tall forward Tommy Walsh, 19, last month named the Gaelic Athletic Association's young footballer of the year, will train with St Kilda.