I sat down for a coffee and a chat with Gil Griffin author of Jumping at the chance this week on his promotional tour of Melbourne. You can hear the audio in the two parts below.

The AFL Record for Round 11 features an animated Mason Cox on the cover (see below) and a featured two page spread inside discussing his journey and impact so far.   Below the ominous figure of Cox on the cover are the words "Be Warned! There are more of us on the way".

You can watch the latest episode of "On the Record" here where Mason Cox  is discussed and compared with the NRL's Jarryd Hayne who attempted to cross over to the NFL. 

 

Justin Trudeau's favourite Aussie expat Myk Aussie joined host Gabriel Morency this week on the Fantasy Sports cable TV Network. Myk previews AFL Round 9 and gives his best bets and picks for Round 9. He also gives the Canadian Nationals a plug and expects big things from the East team (currently 2-0 after Day 1).

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If you are in North America look out for Myk on your TV or on UStream with Gabriel on Friday nights.

AFL Canada's first National Championships kick off today in Burnaby at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West (3677 Kensington Avenue, Burnaby, British Columbia V5B 4Z6).

Players have travelled from across Canada for this historic footy event that looks set to change the footy landscape for the positive in Canada going forward.  You can watch the matches from 9am Vancouver time at the following link - https://www.ustream.tv/embed/10290903?html5ui 

Games will be 18-a-side.

• 24 players on the roster per match.
• The match will run for two (2) 20 minute halves with no time on.
• Umpires will award a fifty (50) metre penalty.
• If a match is drawn the result will stand (no extra time)
• Queries, appeals or requests for rulings in relation to the Match Arrangements and Regulations should be directed to the Tournament Director

On the Sunday footy show, Game Day, North Melbourne’s star ruckman, Todd Goldstein, was asked about the difference it makes playing against the bigger and more mobile ruckmen in the AFL. Apart from pointing out players like Max Gawn (Melbourne) and Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle) as examples of taller, influential ruckman he also responded to the impact of players like Mason Cox (Collingwood) and Jason Holmes (St Kilda) by suggesting there might be more on their way.

In fact, Goldstein suggested that with the successes and developments of the American players coming to the AFL, he hopes they give him five or six years so he can retire and not have to face the onslaught.

The 2016 US Combine in LA has wrapped up.  The AFL will now bring a number of athletes down to Australia  in July (likely 3) to prepare for the National Draft Combine, although the possibility exists that they could bring one or more earlier at the request of AFL clubs as they did with Mason Cox in 2014.

The final day of the Combine saw the athletes in a competitive, improvised game with tackling. Woody Quinn, a gridiron player from the University of Tennessee stood out here against the basketballers. Also impressing was the 7ft Frenchman Stan Heili who threw himself wholeheartedly into the competitive work. Others that impressed were Shane Henry and Omari Gudul.

We spoke to Gil Griffin, author of the forthcoming book "Jumping at the Chance: From NBA Hopefuls to AFL Prospects — The Players of the American Experiment" who he thought would be offered the chance to come to Melbourne.

Photo Courtesy AFL Photos

This is not an 18 man team you would want to match up against. Okay they may be a bit top heavy.

These 18 elite athletes are undergoing testing at the AFL's US Combine in Los Angeles Monday through Wednesday this week. And not all of them are American.

The other nationalities include French, Nigerian and one athlete who is a citizen of The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Most of them are basketballers (as their main college sport) with just two Janko Beras who is a baseball and gridiron football player and Daniel Joseph Woody Quinn who played baseball and volleyball in college. The full list is below, some of the stats may be out of date.