Round 18 kicks off in Melbourne on Friday night with Collingwood hosting North Melbourne at Docklands Stadium. 

If you want to know when you can see the footy on TV in your part of the world, check out the full schedule below.

As always schedules are subject to change at the discretion of the local broadcaster so please check local guides for updates.  Note the scheduled time for the GC Suns vs Fremantle into China is yet to be confirmed.

GAME	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH	VENUE	STATE	LOCAL TIME	EST	GMT	NETWORK
1	22-Jul	Night	Collingwood vs. N Melbourne	Etihad Stadium	VIC	19:50	19:50	09:50	SEVEN
2	23-Jul	Day	Sydney Swans vs. Carlton	SCG	SA	13:45	13:45	03:45	SEVEN
3	23-Jul	Day	GC SUNS vs. Fremantle	Metricon Stadium	QLD	14:10	14:10	04:10	FOX
4	23-Jul	Twilight	WC Eagles vs. Melbourne	Domain Stadium	WA	14:35	16:35	06:35	FOX
5	23-Jul	Night	Geelong vs. Adelaide	Simonds Stadium	VIC	19:25	19:25	09:25	SEVEN
6	23-Jul	Night	Western Bulldogs vs. St Kilda	Etihad Stadium	VIC	19:25	19:25	09:25	FOX
7	24-Jul	Early	Essendon vs. Brisbane Lions	Etihad Stadium	VIC	13:10	13:10	03:10	FOX
8	24-Jul	Day	Hawthorn vs. Richmond	MCG	VIC	15:20	15:20	05:20	SEVEN
9	24-Jul	Twilight	Port Adelaide vs. GWS	Adelaide Oval	SA	16:10	16:40	06:40	FOX

This is not a unique experience. Girls and women have been playing footy for many, many years. To see a team of girls running around as part of the half time entertainment at an AFL venue has been seen and done many times.

However, there is something a little symbolic, prophetic and visionary about seeing girls on a footy field in 2016, the year the AFL committed to the first ever national women’s competition for 2017. Unlike most years before, this year a future, stark and defined, sits in front of any young girl or woman who takes to the fields of footy.

Round 17 kicks off in Sydney on Thursday night with Sydney hosting Hawthorn at the SCG. 

If you want to know when you can see the footy on TV in your part of the world, check out the full schedule below.

As always schedules are subject to change at the discretion of the local broadcaster so please check local guides for updates.

GAME	DATE	TIMESLOT	MATCH	VENUE	STATE	LOCAL TIME	GMT	NETWORK
1	Thursday July 14	Night	Sydney Swans vs. Hawthorn	SCG	NSW	19:20	09:20	SEVEN
2	Friday July 15	Night	Fremantle vs. Geelong Cats	Domain Stadium	WA	18:10	10:10	SEVEN
3	Saturday July 16	Day	Richmond vs. Essendon	MCG	VIC	13:40	03:40	FOX
4	Saturday July 16	Twilight	North Melbourne vs. Port Adelaide	Etihad Stadium	VIC	16:35	06:35	FOX
5	Saturday July 16	Night	Adelaide Crows vs. Collingwood	Adelaide Oval	SA	19:10	09:40	SEVEN
6	Saturday July 16	Night	Western Bulldogs vs. Gold Coast SUNS	Cazalys Stadium	QLD	19:25	09:25	FOX
7	Sunday July 17	Early	Carlton vs. West Coast Eagles	MCG	VIC	13:10	03:10	FOX
8	Sunday July 17	Day	St Kilda vs. Melbourne	Etihad Stadium	VIC	15:20	05:20	SEVEN
9	Sunday July 17	Twilight	Brisbane Lions vs. GWS GIANTS	The Gabba	QLD	16:40	06:40	FOX

A group of us were chatting online after training this week about each player’s multicultural heritage. The club is Pyramid Power in Cairns – my team – and we are a club already renowned for having a 92% indigenous playing list. Most of our players are aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander by heritage. When you have that kind of background there mustn’t be much else in terms of diverse backgrounds.

Wrong!

A closer look unveiled Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Irish, English, Welsh, Scottish, Sierra Leone, Malaysian, Indian, Chinese, Samoan, South Sea Islander (by description, but uncertain of which islands) and Papua New Guinean. And these diverse origins didn’t come from the 8% of non-indigenous players. Such is the cultural diversity amongst indigenous and non-indigenous Australians – multiculturalism lives across all humanity.

The AFL Players’ Association has established its inaugural Multicultural Players’ Advisory Board to better understand the needs and issues affecting the current 122 players with multicultural backgrounds.

Made up of players from each state, the Board had its first official meeting last week and has since appointed Collingwood’s Mason Cox (USA) to lead the group as Chair.

I have just finished ready a new book by author Nick Richardson which looks at an amazing football match played at Queens in London in 1916 where two teams of Australian soldiers faced off against each other prior to their journey to the Western Front. Six of those players never came back, paying the ultimate sacrifice.

Players such as South Melbourne superstar Bruce Sloss and Collingwood captain Dan Minogue and Essendon player Bill Sewart and other well known VFL players of the era played for the Third Australian Divisional Team. Sloss was captain. Playing for the Australian Training Units Team were Essendon player Clyde Donaldson, Collingwood’s Harry Kerley and South Melbourne’s George Bower.

The AFL officially launched the 2016 Toyota AFL Multicultural Round today at the Female Orphan School in the Parramatta campus of Western Sydney University.

The Toyota AFL Multicultural Round highlights the contribution different communities have made to Australian Football, while highlighting the extraordinary power the game has in uniting all people of all backgrounds.

AFL Commissioner Gabrielle Trainor said the significance of the Female Orphan School in Western Sydney was not lost on her or the AFL.

Tony De Bolfo has named a team of International born players to have played at AFL club Carlton (with an 8 man extended bench) on the Carlton Football Club website.

 Nations represented include England, Scotland, Ireland, NZ, Sweden, Yugoslavia, PNG, the Netherlands, Lebanon, South Africa, India, Italy, Austria and Wales.  It also includes Tommy Hughes who was 'born at sea'.   Hopefully in the near future American Matt Korcheck will be added to the list. 

You can check the full team out here

The following overview from the AFL gives some of the highlights of this coming weekend’s 2016 Toyota AFL Multicultural Round. Using and enhancing many of the initiatives from last year’s highly successful round, the AFL is planning to showcase the multicultural heritage and future of the game like never before. The following article from the www.afl.com.au website lists some of the more exciting aspects of the round.

 

THE AFL's annual Multicultural Round celebrates the game's diversity and promotes inclusiveness, with the theme of 'Many Cultures, One Game'. Here's a look at what the AFL and some of the clubs are doing this weekend.

The following article by Nathan Schmook at www.afl.com.au looks at another AFL initiative in line with next weekend’s Multicultural Round. With the appointment of coaches from a diverse collection of multicultural backgrounds it is hoped that an even higher profile for Australian Rules football be raised within multicultural communities as well as bringing a wide range of skill sets to clubs at the highest level, filtering down to grass roots levels of the game.

The AFL Multicultural Round commences on Thursday 7th July and encompasses AFL matches through to Sunday 10th. For details on events for the 2016 Toyota AFL Multicultural Round, go to their website at: http://www.afl.com.au/multiculturalround

 

 

THE AFL is taking on the next frontier in football diversity by launching a program to place six multicultural coaches within clubs for the rest of the season.