St Kilda and the Geelong – the dominant clubs of the 2009 season – have tonight provided almost half of the players named in the 2009 Four’N Twenty All Australian Team.

The Saints and the Cats, who went 20-2 and 18-4 respectively through the home and away season, each supplied five players to the team of the year -- Nick Dal Santo, Brendon Goddard, Lenny Hayes, Leigh Montagna and Nick Riewoldt along with Gary Ablett, Paul Chapman, Corey Enright, Matthew Scarlett and Joel Selwood.

Top four contenders the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood each supplied a further five selections between them, reflecting the success of the best teams in the competition in 2009. Riewoldt was named as All Australian captain for the first time, in his fourth year as an All Australian player, while Carlton’s Chris Judd was named as his deputy for his fourth selection also as an All Australian player.

Tom Hawkins from the Geelong Football Club is the 2009 AFL Army Award winner. It was Hawkins’ brilliant smother and subsequent chase and tackle in Round 22 against Fremantle that secured him the award. He finished ahead of Port Adelaide’s Jacob Surjan (26 per cent).

The AFL Army Award was introduced in 2007 and celebrates on-field displays of courage, initiative and teamwork – values synonymous with both the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Football League. The 21-year-old forward was presented with the AFL Army Award Medal by Commander - Forces Command, Major General David Morrison, AM at the 2009 Four’N Twenty All-Australian Dinner held tonight. He will receive a travel voucher to the value of $10,000 and an Army experience.

Hawkins received 54 per cent of the public vote which was endorsed by the All-Australian committee comprising Andrew Demetriou (chairman), Adrian Anderson, Kevin Bartlett, Gerard Healy, James Hird, Glen Jakovich, Mark Ricciuto and Robert Walls.

For all the speculation and theories on form and match ups, at the end of the second round of the 2009 AFL finals all six matches so far have been won by the team that placed higher at the end of the minor round.

The Preliminary finals are now set as follows:

Friday September 18
First Preliminary Final
St Kilda v Western Bulldogs at the MCG, 7.45pm

Saturday September 19
Second Preliminary Final
Geelong v Collingwood at the MCG, 7.30pm

Week two of the AFL's 2009 Finals Series sees the competition to move to sudden death, with all finals elimination from now on.

Last weekend St Kilda impressed the most, shaking off a recent downturn in form, to stifle Collingwood and win by 28 points. Geelong also affirmed that they are not a spent force, pulling away from the Western Bulldogs early and holding them at arms length for a 14 point victory.

In the other finals Adelaide eliminated an undermanned Essendon as expected by a record 96 points, and Brisbane staged a stunning comeback to knock out Carlton by 7 points.

Week Two Finals

Friday September 11
Second Semi Final, Western Bulldogs v Brisbane Lions at the MCG, 7.45pm AEST

Saturday September 12
First Semi Final, Collingwood v Adelaide at the MCG, 7.30pm AEST

Further facts and figures from the finals follow.

In June we reported that the AFL would be staging a Multicultural Academy during grand final week, to encourage greater involvement and talent identification across Victoria's large multicultural community - see AFL to hold Multicultural Academy Camp.

Last weekend another step was taken towards that intake, with trials for 120 players. The following is a media release from the AFL leading into those trials, which involves AFL Multicultural Development officers including several men who have previously been involved in developing the game overseas - Mickey Roberts in Samoa, Sasha Herceg in Croatia and Yuta Kobayash (Japan and India).

Once again this year World Footy News is collating a list of all the Grand Final parties around the world. To have yours added to the list please leave details using the "Post a Comment" feature below or email me by clicking on my name above (you'll need to register with the site).

Last year we had approximately 10,000 views to this list - so make sure that those looking to get to your party can find your event.

Please note: The information is entered here in good faith. worldfootynews.com is not responsible for any incorrect information posted to this story. Wherever possible attempt to check ahead to make sure the party you are planning on attending is still going ahead and has room for you. There have been cases of sell outs and late changes e.g. when a venue could not secure a telecast.

A scandal has erupted in European Rugby Union over a faked injury, leading to a club in turmoil, a coach sacked and a player suspended for four months. And the cause of it all? The desire to substitute onto the field a superb kicker who just happens to be a former Aussie Rules player from New Zealand.

There has been quite a bit of fuss over the suspension of Hawthorn star Buddy Franklin for his head high bump that concussed Richmond’s Ben Cousins. The fact that Franklin had his elbow tucked in to his side and hit Cousins with his shoulder has been held up as the bump having been legitimate and a “part of the game”.

After a tight race to the line the final eight is set and the 2009 AFL Finals Series is set to be one of the most competitive yet. Since the revamp in 2000 no eventual premier has come from outside the top four, so the winner is almost certain to come from St Kilda, Geelong, the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood. But as Adelaide coach Neil Craig recently said, one day a club will break that record, so the other four clubs from 5th to 8th are still in it to win the premiership, with his own club likely to be considered a reasonable dark horse after demolishing fellow contenders Carlton. And although St Kilda was a runaway leader and Geelong the dominant team of the last 3 years, recent wobbles have the Bulldogs and Magpies seemingly not far behind the top two. An intriguing month of football lies ahead.

Yuta Kobayashi is Victoria's trainee of the year for 2009 for his work traveling to India and coaching the nation's team for last year's International Cup.

Kobayashi has been working as a multicultural development officer for the AFL in Melbourne while completing his tertiary studies in sports management, and recently became AFL club Carlton's Community and Sponsorship Executive. Born in Japan but raised in Melbourne, the 24-year-old taught Aussie Rules to more than 100 Indian residents in Kolkata as part of his traineeship with the Australian Football League while studying Certificates III and IV in Sports and Recreation at Swinburne TAFE.

The Indian team was drawn from local police, universities and homeless youth. Kobayashi says “It was a great opportunity to see the excitement of young men from all walks of life in Kolkata having the chance to travel overseas – many for the first time – and represent their country.”

Mr Kobayashi, who is now the Carlton Football Club’s Community and Sponsorship Executive, accepted his award from Victorian Skills and Workforce Participation Minister Jacinta Allan at last night’s 2009 Victorian Training Awards held at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne.