Hawthorn have named Conor Nash to make his debut for Hawthorn against Geelong at the MCG on Saturday afternoon (Melbourne time). The 197cm Irish rookie from County Meath has played two seasons (25 games) with Box Hill and has had an Aussie rules education in a number of positions in defence, forward and on the wing in that time.

Coach Alistair Clarkson today told the media “We told him in front of the group, but also with his parents on Wednesday. I knew he was in the car with his family so I made the call then and that was pretty special. His mum wanted to do cartwheels”

The visiting team from the USA came up against the Irish Warriors in the final match of their tour on the weekend at Islandbridge, Dublin. The tour has been a huge boost for both national teams and an enormous success. Following is the match report from the AFL Ireland Facebook page, looking both at the game and the recognition of the many people who brought such an event together.

After a rousing 3/4 time huddle, with their backs to the wall, the Warriors came out hard in the last quarter and every player to a man stepped up to claw back the deficit and drive ahead with an outstanding 5 goal quarter. 

USA Revolution players are devastated after coming so close having played their best footy of the tour but the weeks exertions ( 3 games in 6 days) definitely seemed to take their toll in the last 10 mins as the Warriors stepped into overdrive. Still, Revolution fought to the very end and were out on their feet at the final siren.

They won’t be playing finals footy in 2018, but the Frankfurt Redbacks have ensured that they secured fifth spot on the premiership ladder with a resounding win against the Württemberg Giants. In the only match for Round 9, the Redbacks gave their home fans the ideal finish to their season.

After crashing out of the starting barriers at breakneck speed with a seven goal to nil opening quarter, the Redbacks simply kept the momentum and pressure going across all four quarters to run out victors by 141 points. With Jay Calder kicking six goal for the Redbacks, and Jonas Petrenz a handy five goals, the Giants were never allowed to build any momentum to get back into the game.

The Redbacks will finish with four wins for the season along with the Rheinland Lions, but with a very poor percentage. The Lions would need to lose their final match by an earth-shattering margin against the rampant Dockers in Hamburg to be overtaken by the Redbacks. Whilst not impossible – the Dockers have been merciless this season – it is unlikely.

In the wake of yesterday’s AFLCNE Grand Final, won for the fifth consecutive season by the Manchester Mozzies (see FIVE..!!! Manchester Mozzies Raise Premiership Bar), the league has announced their Tam Of The Season to recognise excellence across the five competing clubs throughout the 2018 season.

Not surprisingly, the team features six Manchester Mozzies, but all teams are represented. As expected, AFLCNE Best & Fairest winner, Matthew Whiteley from the Huddersfield Rams has been selected as has the competitions leading goal kicker, Andrew Walkden from the Mozzies.

The AFLCNE Team Of The season selections are:

It has proved to be a huge day for the Wandsworth Demons after preliminary final day at Hackney Marshes. With one premiership in the bag already, the club’s other teams either were already in the Grand Final of their division, or had to win through. By the end of the day, the Demons had one flag decided and will have four teams aiming for more next weekend as they aim for a record-breaking five flags in a season.

It now remains in the hands of the other AFL London clubs to find way to exorcise these Demons and seek their own premiership glory.

The biggest result of the weekend saw the Wandsworth Demons winning the Women’s Conference division flag when they downed a gallant London Swans. In an amazing result, the Demons held a nine-point lead at the final change in a low scoring match, keeping the Swans scoreless for three quarters. The Swans came home hard in the final quarter, threatening to steal the match and falling short by just one point. The Demons held on, but only by the skin of their teeth.

After a season of dominance where they remained undefeated, the Manchester Mozzies have won an extraordinary fifth consecutive premiership when they defeated the Nottingham Scorpions by 25 points. Their fifth flag in a row already propels the Mozzies to stratospheric heights on a worldwide football stage and they have no immediate plans to end their dominance, now being the proud owners of seven AFLCNE premierships.

For the third straight year, the Nottingham Scorpions bravely stuck with the Manchester behemoth, but in the end could only be in awe of the ability of the Mozzies’ ability to keep finding ways to raise the bar – both on the field and across the history of the league.

Playing the AFLCNE Grand-Final in front of a home crowd in Nottingham, the Scorpions stuck within striking distance of the Mozzies all day but couldn’t bridge the gap enough to catch them. This was despite having their adoring home fans cheering and offering all manner of advice from the sidelines.

The second match of the Irish itinerary for the USA Revolution was played this week in Belfast when the touring squad took on the Redbacks. In a closer game than last wekend’s clash against the Irish Warriors, the visitors still found it tough against the current FL Ireland flag favourites. Conor Mallon, Belfast Redbacks Club President, provided the following match report.

The American national team, USA Revolution, travelled to Belfast on the 31st July to take on the AFL Ireland League leaders the Belfast Redbacks as part of their visit to Ireland to play the Irish Warriors.

The Redbacks jumped at the opportunity to take on a national side for the first time in the club’s history when they were asked by the Irish Warriors’ head coach, Brian Currane.

After struggling in recent seasons, the Redbacks have had a great year with some new recruits joining the ranks and helping the club to an undefeated season - finishing top of the league.

A remarkable semi-final between the West London Wildcats and the Wandsworth Demons required extra time as the two teams were locked at the final siren. The ensuing extra time saw the Wildcats find enough ways to score to hold the Demons at bay in an absolute thriller. The win sees the Wildcats book a grand-final berth, leaving the Demons to face the North London Lions in a Preliminary Final after the Lions convincingly downed the London Swans on Sunday.

The Women’s Premiership division saw the first big upset of the finals with the North London Lions convincingly defeating the Wandsworth Demons. The Demons went into the match as firm favourites after an undefeated home and away season and finishing three games clear of the Lions. Bu finals pressure is different and the Lions were relentless, ignoring recent history and chasing their own.

The Portsmouth Pirates came agonisingly close to finishing the SEAFL season on top of the ladder. Their match against the Sussex Swans saw them claim enough points to draw level with the Southampton Titans on wins but with a lesser percentage. When combined with the SEWARFL results in Bristol earlier in the season, the Titans had a draw to keep them ahead of the Pirates.

That leaves the Titans on top with 22 points, followed closely by the Pirates on 21 points. The following report from the SEAFL details the weekend matches.

“Due to a forfeit from Southampton Titans on Saturday (who must have done the math on the ladder!), that left the Sussex Swans to face the Portsmouth Pirates in an extended game of footy in the Brighton sunshine - final result was 8 10 58 to 5 7 37 to the Pirates.”

After another hard fought season by all concerned, the Bristol Dockers have taken out the WARFL (AFL Wales) premiership downing the Cardiff Panthers by 51 points. It was a fitting end to a season where the Dockers were always a step ahead of their rivals. It sees the Dockers defending their title from 2017, going back to back.

The result was comprehensive, and a far bigger margin that their last meeting, which saw the Dockers down the Panthers by just a couple of kicks. This time around, the Dockers broke the shackles early and killed of any chance of a Panthers’ fightback with a five goals to nil third quarter. The Panthers certainly had their share of the ball with 22 scoring shots to 29, but inaccurate kicking meant the Dockers were able to keep them at arm’s length.

The following is a small press release from the Dockers giving a brief overview of the match.