Alex Benjamin from USAFL Weekly Report wraps up the USAFL ANZAC Round matches from this past weekend.

Cincinatti Metro postponed

The Cincinnati Dockers, the Louisville Kings and the Indianapolis Giants were set for a Metro tripleheader last weekend but the tournament was postponed because of a major severe tornado threat and nearly 4 inches of rain had deluged Point Pleasant Park in Cincinnati. These games will be rescheduled at a later date.

The following list of ANZAC Day commemorations across the USA is thanks to the USAFL -the original article appears here.

100 years ago, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, better known as the ANZACs, fought against enemy forces in the Battle of Gallipoli. The bravery and sacrifice of the men who fought that battle in 1915, and every man and woman who has served afterwards, are remembered and commemorated every April 25th.

Though ANZAC Day is an occasion of solemn reflection and gratitude to for those who have dedicated their lives defending Australia, it is a also a celebration of the identity of her people that was forged over a century ago and that continues to grow and thrive into the future.

Australians everywhere will be marking ANZAC Day 2015 in a variety of different ways, and the US is no exception. From memorial services to games of 2-up to watch parties for the always enormous Bombers-Magpies game from the MCG, here is a look at what's going on this weekend:

Alex Benjamin from USAFL Weekly Report recaps the weekends matches and provides his latest USAFL Standings table (with comparison to the new USAFL rankings poll). He also looks at the matches ahead for the weekend, tells us about his personal Road to Austin walk and previews his Youtube streaming show for this week.

 USAFL Last Weekend

What can I say about the Eastern Regional Weekend except…”Expect the Unexpected…” 2 Upsets and the USAFLWR standings are turned on its head, including the USAFL Top 20 as well. Here’s how the weekend’s games went:

Eastern Regional Tournament: Fort Lauderdale

Game #1: North Carolina 4.1.25 New York 10.8.68
Game #2: Fort Lauderdale 6.7.43 New York 2.6.18
Game #3: Fort Lauderdale 7.6.48 North Carolina 3.7.25

The United States Australian Football League officially got the 2015 season under way this past weekend with the Eastern regional tournament being held at the Central Broward Park Cricket Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  2015 will see a full slate of regional (Eastern, Central and Western) tournaments held across the league; these events, and a new USAFL poll-ranking system, will help determine divisional seeding at the National Championships in Austin, Texas later this year.

While three teams (#1 New York Magpies, North Carolina Tigers and the #20 Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids) competed as full units, numerous players from other squads made the journey down to sunny Florida for an April footy-cation.  With two 2014 national champion sides in attendance, the stage was set for a wonderful day of Aussie Rules, with sunscreen and hydration the order of the day. 

Match results of the day surprised many observers of the USAFL. 

The third AFL Women’s Draft was held at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne last night. The event was streamed live on the internet (although we had one report of the stream dropping out in Canada for around 10 minutes). Western Bulldogs and Melbourne took turns to add to their retained players from the 2014 match.

Western Bulldogs’ Number One selection Emma King from the Coastal Titans in Western Australia and Melbourne’s Number Two selection Danielle Goding were the top picks. Each team selected 16 players plus one emergency.

Canadians Aimee Legault and Kendra Heil were present and received a special welcome from the AFL's General Manager Mark Evans in his opening address. A support crew for the Canadians were present from AFL Canada. Unfortunately neither of the girls were selected but the fact that they were considered for this two team competition is a great effort and no doubt an inspiration to women and girls playing and taking up the game around the world. It should be noted that some of those selected last night have been playing the game for only a relatively short time.

The USAFL-AFL Combine is back. But this year the location has moved from Los Angeles to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. This is the same venue that the AFL held their 10-day high performance training camp for the U18 Academy earlier this year. The Combine will be held in just over a week from April 26-29. This year's updated video promoting the Combine to US athletes can be seen below and has been updated with clips of Combine graduates Jason Holmes at St Kilda and Mason Cox at Collingwood from NAB Challenge matches earlier this year.

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Best known in footy circles as the place where Essendon legend Tim Watson grew up, Dimboola is a small country town in the Wimmera region of Victoria about 330kms west of Melbourne. It is a traditional wheat/sheep farming area.

The town population is around 1600.  Their footy team play in green and gold and are known as the Roos. And now it will be home for this footy season for Terence Brasch. 

At home in Oregon state, USA Brasch like many Americans discovered Aussie rules late at night on TV.  Then he got together with some mates for a kick at OSU, before finding a more regular footy fix with the Porland Steelheads.   Brash is the latest lucky participant in the USAFL's footy exchange program where the league send a promising young American to Australia to further their footballing education.  His application was successful and soon would be on his way to Dimboola.

American Footy Star program players Carl Winston III and Torrey Harkness have moved on from VFL club Port Melbourne where they missed the final list cut and have headed to the southern NSW team Temora Kangaroos in the Farrer League. They have also been joined by a third memeber of the program Eddie Ballard who had a preseason run with VFL club Springvale before also heading to the Riverina region township.

 Adding to the International theme at the club is Dominic Joyce who played for the Irish Warriors at IC14. Joyce has moved from nearby club Collingullie where he played the 2014 season.

“We’ve got some North Americans, an Irishmen, we’ve looked outside the box to try and make our league stronger and a better place to be,” Temora President Darryl Harpley told The Daily Advertiser. “(Winston and Harkness) are out here to have a crack at our great game of AFL and if they want to come and learn more at Temora for a season or more than that’s fantastic for them.”

The following is an extract from an excellent article by Justin Robertson in the Toronto Star, the largest daily newspaper in Toronto, Canada. It looks closely, and proudly, at the success of Sydney Swans ruckman, Mike Pyke, but also paints a good picture of the game of Australian Rules football in the Canadian sporting landscape.  

Australians can spend 20 years trying to win a premiership. Pyke won a flag three years into his AFL career.

Ask a rookie viewer of Australian Rules Football to describe the sport, and they might say utter chaos — and, also, a bit like rugby. Ask Canada’s Mike Pyke to describe it, and he’d say it’s one hell of a job.