Ryan Davidson from the www.afl.com.au website has reported on the eye-catching performances of a couple of potential Irish recruits after they impressed at last week’s NAB AFL Draft Combine. Held at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne (formerly Etihad Stadium), the Irish lads held their own and more up against the best of the prospective AFL draft prospects for 2018.

IRISH prospects Anton Tohill and Mark Keane believe they've shown enough to deserve a spot on an AFL list, and several clubs are interested in signing the promising duo. 

After impressing at the Dublin Combine last December and at the AFL Academy's camp in Florida in January, the youngsters earned an invitation to this week's NAB AFL Draft Combine, and they didn't disappoint.

 AFL.com.au understands the duo's exciting testing results have Collingwood and St Kilda as two of several clubs considering signing them as a Category B rookie.   

Arriving in Melbourne last week, the 18-year-olds, along with countrymen Jordan Morrisey and Pierce Laverty, have had meetings and training sessions with the Magpies and Saints, as well as Geelong, Hawthorn and Essendon. 

Keane and Morrisey finished in the top 10 in the goalkicking assessment, while Tohill came in 12th in the Nathan Buckley kicking test. 

Standing at 198cm, Derryman Tohill looms at key forward option who can play at both ends, while the 194cm Keane, from County Cork, appears suited to a third tall role at AFL level. 

Fiercely determined to become professional footballers, they are confident of receiving contract offers in the near future. 

"Footy is for me, I want to give it a good crack," Tohill told AFL.com.au. 

"I want to do the best I can and do whatever I can to play professional footy.

"We've set up training sessions in Ireland with Marty Clarke and Colm Begley, so we're getting great exposure with the ball.

"I also met up with St Kilda's Darragh Joyce for a chat in Dublin recently and we had a great chat about the lifestyle of an AFL footballer, playing footy professionally and what it's like living in Melbourne. 

"We're both well suited to the game with our height and athleticism." 

Tohill, the son of Gaelic Football great Anthony Tohill, is familiar with Australia's indigenous game due to his supportive father's time playing reserves with Melbourne during the 1990s. 

But Keane has had a whirlwind introduction to the sport since being identified as prospect who is a strong mark and reads the ball well in the air. 

"My parents hadn't heard much about the AFL when I was first approached, so they were a bit shocked (when the AFL approached me), but they want what's best for me and this is what I want to do," Keane said. 

"I took a few marks at the Dublin Combine, the US camp and trials with clubs this week, so it helps I was a midfielder back home who would catch the ball when the goalkeeper kicked it out. 

"I used to play rugby, so that helps (me with the oval ball). 

"We've only been playing the game a few months and we've both come a long way since then, so give us a year or two of training and we'll show what we can do." 

With Carlton's Ciaran Byrne the latest Irishman to battle homesickness, Tohill and Keane are taking a pragmatic approach to their adventure Down Under. 

The now great friends have developed a healthy rivalry, but both will have the support of family living in Australia and can expect to be embraced by the other 11 Irishman plying their trade in the AFL. 

"It's just like playing Aussie Rules, you have to deal with the shape of the ball and change in position, so you just have to deal being away from home," Tohill said. 

Keane said technology will help them keep track of what they're missing back in the Emerald Isle. 

"Homesickness is just another test you have to get past, but Facetime and Skype make it easy to talk to family whenever," Keane said.

Dubliner James Madden was the latest Irishman to make the switch to the AFL after the midfield prospect signed with Brisbane in August. 

Ryan’s original story can be viewed at: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-10-06/several-clubs-circling-irish-draft-prospects

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The bi-annual tour of Under 17 talent from St Marys Sporting Club in Geelong has been completed for 2018. The club’s long association with South Africa, and particularly the work of AFL South Africa, has seen students tour three provinces in what is described as a “life changing experience” for those students.

Other tours for St Mary’s students include Ireland and Cape York Peninsula communities in Australia. The South African tour features a series of matches and clinics for kids across the Western Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal and North West provinces in association with AFL South Africa and AFL FootyWILD.

The tours have been a huge boot for the game in South Africa with both local and national South African teams able to play against highly talented Australian youths. The AFL FootyWILD Auskick-style clinics are also a huge beneficiary, with young kids gaining one-to-one tuition in the game from young Australian players who already play at local and school level back in Australia.

The Western Cape Magpies won the opening match of the series in Khayelitsha, before the St Marys team kicked into gear to down the KZN team and then the national South Africa Lions

St. Marys Tour results:
Match 1 @ Khayelitsha Oval Cape Town (Western Cape Province)
Western Cape Magpies 57 - St. Marys 43

Match 2 @ Newcenter Sports Grounds – Durban (Kwa-Zulu Natal Province)
KZN 39 - St. Marys 112

Match 3 @ Mohadin Cricket Ground – Potchefstroom (North-West Province)
S.A Lions 41 - St. Marys 81

Once again, he tour has been deemed a huge success both by the AFL South Africa staff and players in all provinces as well as by St Marys as part of an ongoing tradition to develop young men – which for St Marys is a critical measure of success as their students – all 17 year olds – reach the conclusion of their school lives ahead of the challenges of adulthood.
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After an absence from the Euro Cup for a couple of years by the Valkyries and Vikings, both teams are  mounting a two pronged assault upon Cork.

Maybe even hoping to instill a little "dread" into the Irish and other cup contestants as in history as did those dragon headed ships when they appeared on the horizon.

The women’s side will once again be led by Odense Lionesses veteran and superstar Maria Falkesgaard.
 

Now the Valkyries captain for the fourth consecutive year running, Maria is very excited to lead out a new-look Danish outfit.
“When we have our full squad, the women on our team have very different profiles,” Maria said.“We have tallies, smallies, smarties, fasties, oldies and young guns.”

With many of the girls taking place having just played for the runners-up in the WNAFL in the Odense Lionesses, Maria is bullish about her team’s chances of progressing through to the latter stages of the tournament.
 

“Our goal is to advance from the group stage and we want to challenge us selves and aim for the top four,” Maria said.  “Everybody that has been to Euro Cup in the past few years knows that Ireland and England have been dominating on the women’s side. It was the case even before I started playing footy.”

“But seriously I reckon they (the Danish girls) are the toughest bunch of sheilas I’ve ever met.”
 
A fifth place finish in 2016 was the last time the Danish girls played as a single entity at the Euro Cup.

In contrast, the men’s side are looking forward to regaining some experience at an international tournament after missing the Euro Cup in 2016 & 2017.
 

After winning the tournament in Umag in 2015, the Vikings were excited to announce their squad earlier in the year. With a mix of players from the DAFL including teams like the Farum Cats, Copenhagen Barracudas and premiers the Copenhagen Giants, the men’s team are out to impress on the international stage according to captain Thore Lauritzen.
“Anything less than a top three spot would disappoint me,” Thore said.
 

“We’ve still got a young squad, but all the players have either played with each other or competed against one another. They know each other and they know how to perform as a team.”
 

With expectations high, the Vikings are looking forward to coming up against some of the heavyweights playing Australian Football in Europe.  “Of course, it would be nice to win, and I’ve been to 2 Euro Cups and won at both occasions, but I know the competition is going to be tough,” Thore said.
 

Among these tough competitors are the Irish which Thore believes will be the Danes toughest competition this October.
“They’ve got the home advantage and they are a strong side,” Thore said.
 

“But there are a lot of contenders and I think it comes down to which team weathers fatigue best at one-day tournaments.”
With the Danes fresh off their domestic seasons in the WNAFL and the DAFL respectively, the Valkyries and Vikings may just be the biggest threats to take home the chocolates in both the men’s and women’s divisions.
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Euro Cup 2018 – German girls ready for tournament debut

Fresh from a highly competitive AFLG season, the vast progression of the game in Germany will be on show in Cork this October as the German Eagles women make their maiden voyage to a Euro Cup competition, heading to Ireland alongside their 2017 bronze-medal winning male counterparts.

Leading the side as the inaugural female skipper, Ioanna Kopasaki, who says that the lack of experience is going to be no barrier to her side’s performance, and if anything, can allow the Eagles to be at their best without any burden of expectations.

“Although we are the least experienced team in the competition, every single player is highly motivated and committed to the game, Kopasaki said.

“In contrast to all the other competing teams we don’t have to meet any expectations, so there is no pressure weighing us down before and during the games.
 
Women’s footy is booming in Germany, with the AFLG Women’s competition launching in 2019

“Even if initially something doesn’t go as well as planned, we won’t be discouraged or put our heads down… we will pick ourselves and our teammates up, learn from it, and come back stronger than before.”

Riding the wave of momentum that surrounds football in Germany, Kopasaki says she hopes to build a national team environment that can be used to further promote the game to women, with the AFLG women’s competition set to launch in 2019.

“Having witnessed the passion, commitment and open mindset that the German players bring to the ground, I am honestly proud, thankful and most of all excited to be the captain of such an amazing team,” she said.

“Our goal is to achieve the best possible experience for every player and the team as a whole and to grow as a team and develop a great team spirit and culture that will hopefully inspire more women in Germany to start playing footy. And of course, to win our first international match.

“Personally, I want to play the best footy I can and lead by example. After all, actions prove who you are, words just prove who you want to be.”

For the full story see;http://afleurope.org/euro-cup-2018-german-girls-ready-for-tournament-debut/
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And now for something completely different....Footy has long inspired song writers to try and capture the games essence and put it to words accompanied by an appropriate tune.  None bigger than the likes of Up There Cazaly and One Day in September. 

Adam Western contacted us this week to share his take on the footy anthem.  His song had it's humble beginnings "in the garage of the drummers house(as all good songs do)."

"We had been at the local football in Albany that day (coastal town on the south coast of Western Australia) and the umpires had been particularly disappointing ,we were jamming away making up lyrics about the game and came up with the song Holding The ball".

"We think it has a chance of becoming the seminal anthem for our game , as the term "holding the Ball" or just simply "ball" is surely the most commonly used term a spectator uses whilst watching our great game.Think about it when you watch the game, It really is the catch cry of the game" Western told us.

Rumour has it that the West Coast Eagles Josh Kennedy and Jarrod Schofield are listed among high profile fans of the song.

Probably best to let our readers become listeners and decide for themselves, whether this Aussie pub rock sounding tune can become an anthem for our footy followers around the world?

You can also listen on Spotify at the following link - https://open.spotify.com/album/2H9hjdXfmuWKZIsZ8fxhCo  ...

The USAFL's National Championships will see seven divisions of men's and women's footy in Racine, Wisconsin over the coming weekend, October 13-14 at the SCORe Complex. 

This year's tournament features 45 teams spanning seven divisions, representing nearly forty clubs across the USA and Canada.  Two women's divisions, four men's divisions and one men's reserves division. 

Everyone will be out to hunt down Golden Gate who took out the 2017 titles in both the Men's and Women's Division 1.  And those divisions are very strong with six stand alone clubs in each all eager to take that title.  

As has been the format throughout most of the tournament's history the ability for those clubs that cannot bring a full squad to combine with other clubs and both participate and compete for a title.

The weekend that is very much a festival of football will as always be full of special guests, such as the AFL's Mason Cox, AFLW's Sarah Perkins, as well as media, umpires, spectators and supporters travelling from Australia. 

The streaming coverage continues to evolve and improve every year and those that can't make it to Racine can stream matches live from two of the grounds from anywhere in the world.  The streams can be found here - http://golivesportscast.com/2018/10/live-on-espn3-usafl-nationals-sun-oct-14th-2pm-eastern/

For all match results and Brian Barrish's previews and daily reviews go to www.usafl.com

Article Courtesy AFL Europe

Only 4 days remain before 350 players from 15 nations descend on Cork, Ireland, and the first ball is bounced at one of the world’s premier international football spectacles, with AFL Europe’s Euro Cup 2018 earmarked to be the best in the events eleven-year history.

The city on the southwest coast of Ireland will play host to 64 matches on the day at the Cork Institute of Technology sports facilities, as Europe’s premier national teams face off in the nine-a-side format chasing the title of champions of Europe.
That crown currently belongs to England in both men’s and women’s divisions after their Dragonslayers (men’s team) & Vixens (women’s team) both took the spoils in Bordeaux at the 2017 edition of the tournament.

Dragonslayers skipper, Matt Whiteley, said it was “an honour” to be named captain of his country to lead out the Euro Cup title defence. “To lead the team out will be a magnificent feeling and one that will stay with me for a very long time,” he said.
 

“I’m hoping that we can emulate our performance last year and I will be able to lift the trophy once again come evening time.
“The squad has several returning players from last year and we have strengthened with the addition of players from all over the country. We have game winners right across the pitch and we all get on,
 

“I am excited to see how some of the new players go as they have shown in our recent warm-up game that they have the presence around the pitch to compete with anyone. With coach Garth Nevin leading us again, we have all the personnel capable of defending our crown.”
 

Bringing such a diverse group of players from across the continent to compete on a 64-game, one-day footy bonanza obviously comes with its logistical challenges, but AFL Europe General Manager, Ryan Davey, says that the commitment to the event is “a testament to the strength of the European footy community.”
 

“It is always an extensive process putting an event like this together, but with the great collaboration between our team in London and those on the ground in Cork, we’ve never been more confident of the day proving a huge success than we are heading to Cork.
 

“Every year Euro Cup is a hit with all players, officials, volunteers and spectators who get to experience what is a unique event… even in footy heartland in Australia there is nothing quite like it,
 

“There is an extraordinary amount passion on show as some of the most passionate footy people around come together from every corner of Europe, some coming in as seasoned campaigners, others might be having their first competitive game…famously one player once rode her bike over 1,000km’s from Sweden to Croatia just to get to the tournament, then played through a knee injury that she sustained on the way!”
 

The tournament marks the beginning of a jam-packed 18-month international cycle for the European nations, encompassing the 2019 Euro Cup in Norrtålje, Sweden, the full-scale 18-a-side European Championships in London, and the 2020 International Cup in Melbourne.
 

With these events occurring in addition to the ever-expanding domestic competitions around Europe, you can expect to see a lot more of the European footy landscape making waves in the coming years.
Stay across www.afleurope.org for extended build-up to Euro Cup 2018

Euro Cup 2019 – Cork, Ireland
Saturday 13th October
Follow AFL Europe on Facebook for live coverage

Previous Winners:
Men’s Division
Milan 2010 – Croatia
Belfast 2011 – Ireland
Edinburgh 2012 – Ireland
Bordeaux 2013 – England
London 2014 – Denmark
Umag 2015 - Denmark
Lisbon 2016 – Croatia
Bordeaux 2017 – England

Women’s Division
London 2014 – Ireland
Umag 2015 - England
Lisbon 2016 – Ireland
Bordeaux 2017 – England
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AFL Asia 2018 iflix Asian Championships & Inaugural AFLW Asian Championships

Article Courtesy AFL Asia

The AFL season may be over, however it’s the business end of the football season in Asia, with the AFL Asia’s 2018 iflix Asian Championships & Inaugural AFLW Asian Championships taking place at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this Saturday, October 13th.

This year’s biggest ever ‘Asian Champs’ will see 5 Division 1 Men’s Teams, 12 Division 2 Men’s Teams and 4 Women’s Teams fighting it out for the ultimate glory in Asian Football. The AFL Asia’s showcase event is expecting over 500 participants from 13 different countries to attend, including approximately 100 females, which is an outstanding result.

AFL Asia’s hosting nation, the Malaysian Warriors, have secured iflix as the tournament’s naming rights sponsor, who will provide live coverage of the Asian Championships via their subscription on demand for free and there will also be a live-stream available via AFL Asia’s Facebook Page.

AFL Asia’s 19th Annual Asian Championships is expected to see an increase in local Asian born talent on display and will feature AFL Asia’s first ever Asian born female umpire adjudicating at this level. Another one of AFL Asia’s focuses throughout the 2018 season has been to grow, nurture and develop Women’s football and as the figures above suggest, it has paid off in spades.

The AFL Asia 2018 iflix Asian Championships and Inaugural AFLW Asian Championships is going to ginormous and you can check out all the action live via your iflix subscription or via the AFL Asia Facebook Page!
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You know you are finally cracking the veneer of the American sporting market when you have the attention of the New York Times. On the eve of the USAFL Nationals in Racine, Wisconsin, that is just what is happening with journalist S B Tang getting Collingwood’s American Pie onto the sports pages of one of the biggest and widely read newspapers in the United States.  

Below is an extract from Tang’s story. To read the article in full, go to: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/sports/mason-cox-football-australia.html#click=https://t.co/MOUZRQyQGb

How an American Basketball Player Became a Star in Australian Rules Football 

MELBOURNE, Australia — As Mason Cox sprinted toward the football, one thought ran through his mind: attack it.

 He leapt up onto the back of the defender in front of him, using him as a stepladder to bring himself closer to the dropping ball. He timed his leap to perfection, turning his 6-foot-11 body into a long crane, and plucked the yellow, oval-shaped ball out of the night sky. 

It was a clean and pivotal mark, or catch, 25 meters (27 yards) out from goal in an Australian rules football match. Cox would finish that game with eight contested marks — the second-highest ever in an Australian Football League playoff game — and three goals. His team, Collingwood Football Club of Melbourne, won that playoff game but lost in the grand final — Australia’s Super Bowl — the next week. 

Yet Cox stood out for another reason: He is an American, from Highland Village north of Dallas. In the last five years, a handful of Americans, generally tall men performing a specialized role, have been contracted by A.F.L. clubs. By the beginning of the 2018 season in March, Cox was the only one still left in the league. 

He has become a bit of a sensation in Australia, a fan favorite whose goals are often met with chants of “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” He has been welcomed in part because Australians would love to see more global recognition for their homegrown sport. He has also shown a playful embrace of the country, wearing a “Crocodile Dundee” outfit to a team party and joking on Instagram, “I think I qualify for citizenship now.” (Cox intends on beginning the process of becoming an Australian citizen in December.)

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Sam Nichols reports on the Vice Media website about the growth of the game in North America – specifically the New York Magpies as a microcosm of the challenges facing the growth of the game as a whole. As the USAFL Nationals kick off in Racine, Wisconsin this weekend, this excellent story marks a good time to reflect on the journey of one club as an example of the journeys of others.

With just under 2000 registered players and 42 clubs, Australian Rules has taken a foothold in America without fans or money. 

At a public park in Brooklyn, parallel to the East River, the New York Magpies—the city’s only Aussie Rules team—gear up to train, just like they do every Monday evening. 

“There’s usually more people at training,” Shane Lowry, a longtime player and recently appointed coach, tells me. “We had a big weekend of footy in Philly, so I reckon a lot of people are tired.”

 There are 30 or so players here, both men and women, all playing with evident enthusiasm. Sure, the kicks may be slightly off-centre, and they’re quarantined to the edges, stuck telling off the kids playing soccer for getting too close, but it’s still a club. And Shane is quick to assure me that the team is about more than just Australians missing home. What we’re looking at is the sport’s expansion into America.

The Magpies have been playing since 1998, one year after the formation of the country’s national league, the USAFL. The league, like the Magpies, is a serious competition, with teams all over the country. But in recent times they’ve found that maintaining enough growth has been a challenge. In 2006, the USAFL had 1048 registered players and 40 clubs. By 2018, According to USAFL figures, that figure had grown to just under 2000 players and 42 clubs.

“There just needs to be a little spark...whether it’s funding, programs or support, it’s just a little stagnant and needs a little bit more,” muses Shane. 

Like all the players here, he believes the sport has a North American potential to be enormous. But whereas in China and London the AFL has a direct association with the group, the USAFL unfortunately lacks any AFL association—which basically kills opportunities for major sponsorship. “I’m not sure if [it’s] a branding issue, but it means we’re a stand-alone league following the rules of the AFL rather than being an understudy of them,” Shane tells me. 

Since the early 2000s, the AFL has provided exposure through exhibition games, as well as financial and developmental support. In 2012, they invested heavily to grow the USAFL by establishing a five-year-plan aiming to ultimately establish 2000 players—30 of whom would go to Australia every year—as well as a men's, women's, and U21 national team. This didn't quite pan out though, and the only goal that was met was establishing a men and women's international team. As of 2018, the plan to grow seems dead, with no current or adapted plan in place. 

It’s uncertain why the AFL sees no urgency to invest further, but many pundits and internal members like USAFL President Seb Aguiari agree the issue may be competition. 

“The AFL probably recognises that the US market is pretty close to saturated with [the] NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and a growing [Major League Soccer]. Then you add College Sports and there [isn’t] much left in terms of exposure or merchandising,” Seb Aguiari writes via email—while assuring me he finds the AFL incredibly supportive. 

Although logical, that lack of urgency for further support combined with the league’s low income creates an environment that is fairly non-conducive to expansion. Currently, the USAFL is wholly dependent on members donating their time, with every single official—including the executive board—volunteering, and bankrolling their own resources.

Players are also expected to commit significantly in time and costs. These costs can range from membership and uniforms to the costs of travel across the US and accommodation. That expectation is a deterrent both for any Australians looking to have a kick, and any Americans interested in an unknown sport. 

“If I got paid a little bit, or even if I just had my travel expenses paid for...That would make it worth it,” says Nick Bowman, a 32-year-old American who has spent US$4,000 in the last year just to play. 

Nick has played in the USAFL for six years, recently representing the US internationally. He's devoted, traveling the country weekly, regularly playing two straight games in a row due to inadequate rostering. Nick tells me that if USAFL players were in the AFL, then exposure would increase. But unfortunately Americans are usually too old to be recruited, and discover the sport too late. Despite often being unsuccessful, scouts opt for college athletes found at combines: like Collingwood’s Mason Cox, a former basketball player at Oklahoma State University.

“If our league had more of an affiliation with the AFL, and we were able to start recruiting [players] younger—have some kind of academy [or] even an Auskick—[then we could] get the name out to other sports organisations,” Nick tells me, adding: "I think Mason Cox hurts the USAFL, because he didn’t play here. Having that funding would make such a difference.”

And sure, getting more funding to draw younger players makes sense, but another (cheaper and somewhat controversial) option is to just alter the game so it’s more appealing to a US audience. Because as a sport, Aussie Rules is completely alien to most Americans. One grab for familiarity would be to play AFL on rectangular fields rather than ovals, thus making it seem more like NFL. 

 “It’s coming to the US and not trying to fit the USAFL into the AFL mould, but seeing how the AFL can fit into the US and just going with it,” says Magpies president and former board member Andrea Casillas. “We don’t have ovals for example, and here in New York City we’re not going to find one. AFLX wasn’t something that was popular in Australia, but here, a lot of clubs were trying it.” 

Another long-term solution may exist in the rise of women’s teams. Andrea has played for 13 years, founding the first women’s USAFL side in 2005, and during that time—and particularly in the last five years—she’s seen the number of women swell from 30 to 300 players in 22 clubs. The reason, according to Andrea, is due to the sense of community both on and off the field. “So many women have stayed on and supported the infrastructure after they’ve stopped playing. It’s hard to leave [your] family.”

Whether leveraging community is the ultimate way to get Aussie Rules to blow up in America is hard to know. But from watching the Magpies play, it seems like the only reason it’s even alive in New York. The future of AFL in the US may be uncertain, but as long as Andrea and her New York Magpies—and every other club across this country—keep coming together, then who knows what’s possible.

“That community is what’s needed,” Andrea says, “We want people to come, play games, and be supportive of each other, and then we’ll go from there.” 

The original story from Sam Nichols can be viewed at: https://www.vice.com/amp/en_au/article/gyn557/the-story-of-the-afls-incredibly-slow-expansion-into-the-usaωutm_source=vicetwitteranz&__twitter_impression=true

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Australian Football Sri Lanka continues to build on their dream to establish the game of Australian Football in Sri Lanka. Following on from their previous visits to Sri Lanka where they ran clinics and formed a representative squad ahead of the 2017 International Cup, and again visiting later in 2017, the Fonseka brothers are back in Sri Lanka.

Accompanying them on the AFSL Annual Tour 2018 is the Essendon Football Cub captain Dyson Heppell and his brother, Essendon's 2018 VFL Best and Fairest winner Aaron Heppell. The tour is sponsored by AFSL.

The crew spent the past few days finding their feet on the ground in Sri Lanka where they will spend 2 weeks networking with strategic individuals and organisations, promoting Australian Football and running clinics to help introduce the game to the locals.

Below we hear the thoughts of the Heppells on the tour so far.