Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities Gold Coast Expansion--- The new 23,000 seat Stadium construction start up edges closer as the Construction Manager is appointed. Link— http://news.realfooty.com.au/breaki...n-to-manage-gc-afl-stadium-20090806-eanr.html Another two players have joined the Gold Coast Clubs list. The pace of recruiting will increase when the 2010 Draft come around. Meanwhile the club has access to the cream of twelve young players which it is sorting out. Link--- http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=82154 International Expansion----- The Inaugural Oceania U20 team beat the Inaugural North Queenslanders (Indigenous players from that regions programs) last night in Cairns. The match was sponsored by the Aust Govt and AFL sources, and was played before the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and several other South Pacific Leaders who were in Cairns for a conference. Very interesting comments by a Rugby League Crosscode player from PNG. We will be running an article shortly on the re-organisation of AFL Port Moresby which has attracted a medium term major sponsor recently. There is no doubt that some young kids in the S Pacific will now have a fourth football code to choose from in the next few years. It appears that Fiji is now up and running. With the mooted expansion of the Rugby Codes and Soccer football in the region the competition for the best young players will increase and the those players and sport will be the winners. Link--- http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_...task=DETAIL&articleID=9677334§ionID=53234
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities International Expansion-- The touring US Women lost their first match against a Rookie Sydney side yesterday. We have to correct some info- They are not playing first grade teams in some locations. Link-- http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_...task=DETAIL&articleID=9706376§ionID=89946 Their next match on Aug 10 will be in the tropics in North Queensland against a Cairns League team which will contain some QLD State Players. The venue is Cazaly Park which is an AFL match Standard ground - So it will be a good experience for them.
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities West Sydney Expansion— This Saturday night the AFL Sydney Swans will be playing the Geelong Cats at the Olympic Stadium in outer Sydney- Nothing unusual about that –It is a normal fixture. It appears the Swans General Manger has failed to pass on to the rest of his staff that it the game will be used as a West Sydney Club promo. AFL NSW have invited 500 West Sydney business people along to have a listen and a meal at the official launch by the AFL and Kevin Sheedy. Link-- http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/swans-fuming-over-turf-grab/story-e6frexx0-1225759987283 International Expansion--- In good news for international footy The Australian newspaper is reporting that AFL Essendon Bombers have signed a small forward from Papua New Guinea –David Meli a 16 year old from Port Moresby, but currently playing at the AFL Queensland Southport Club in their senior open age team. He is a product of the revamped AFL Oceania youth program and the AFL Q juniors scheme. Meli joins another Essendon international rookie –Irishman Michael Quinn who has managed 3 senior games. In the AFL International Rookies sit outside the Salary Cap and can be kept for 2 years and do get renumerated. With two new teams coming in expect more promising internationals to get picked because 90 new players total will be required by those clubs and the overall talent pool gets a bit thin at times. The Gold Coast Club have already signed up another PNG team mate - Amuka Parika. The touring US Womens team lost to the AFL Cairns Womens League team yesterday in game 2 of their program. We thought the US girls would be impressed with the billiard table surface venue. The playing conditions in the US are usually open parklands of varying dubious quality. Link— http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_...task=DETAIL&articleID=9721107§ionID=53234
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities Australian Actor Eric Bana is a fanatical AFL St Kilda fan. He has been promoting our game on US Talk shows recently. Link to Video--- http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25918876-19742,00.html
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities Gold Coast Expansion--- The new Gold Coast Club will play in the VFL League in Melbourne in 2010 prior to joining the AFL proper in 2011. This is a good move – The standard will be higher than the AFLQ and more travel experience involved. It appears that their star recruit ex NRL star Karmichael Hunt may join them earlier than planned – The GCFC Coach Guy Mckenna had his first session with Hunt on the Gold Coast this week and was impressed with his skill. Every kid in QLD now knows about his move- Some new ones will get curious about our game – Priceless publicity. That is the ultimate market we are aiming at. Link-- http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rf...n-vfl-next-year/2009/08/12/1249756351716.html Here are some media figures on the publicity worth for the AFL on Hunts move. Courtesy of an NRL news site of all places. Link--- http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/nrl/story/0,27074,25921674-5016540,00.html
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities West Sydney Expansion-- The AFL has officially launched the 18th club. This move is going to be very interesting in the next 12 months in that region A new website has been created and the link is in the article. The website has a section on the large geographic area it will cover and lists 14 localities they are targeting some of which have local Aussie Rules Clubs operating. Link-- http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/82794/default.aspx
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities International Expansion— The inaugural touring US Women’s National Aussie Rules team have wrapped up their tour of Australia. They played 4 matches for 4 losses but did improve in each match and also attracted the attention of the local footy media wherever they went which is usually hard to do for overseas teams. Women’s US footy was only established in 2005 and to get a tour up and running was an outstanding effort. Link— http://www.usfootynews.com/content/view/703/224/ Aussie Rules football has been played in Asia since the 1990`s by expats and is currently going through an expansion phase. A feature this time around is the establishment of teams consisting of local juniors in certain countries and Auskick programs are well underway. The annual Asian Champs covering Seniors and Juniors will be held in Early September in Malaysia. We think AFL Asia will be set up eventually with China to be prominent ultimately in a future years with currently 4300 players participating in all programs and a purpose built ground near the city of Tianjin. People on the ground in China say it will take 5 years to stabilize and spread the game further but the potential is there. Link--- http://www.asianafc.com/
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities International Expansion ---- The famous New Zealand All Blacks Rugby Union team travelled to an AFL Sydney Swans training session recently. The connection was made through the All Blacks kicking coach an ex AFL player. The always present NZ media were perplexed/mystified by the Swans players “Blood” policy expression which cannot be repeated here. That illustrates the cultural “differences” between the two countries. We thought it would have been obvious to anybody. Link-- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25953692-5013406,00.html Aussie Rules football has expanded in France in 2009 after four years of struggle to establish a foothold. It is now recognized by the French Ministry of Sport and is receiving assistance. The game they play is 9 a side on Rugby grounds where available. Very few expats play and the sport is driven by enthusiastic Frenchmen. The video below shows some highlights from various games and at the end of the video a map comes up with the established clubs around the country. Link— [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWDNjldOyks"]YouTube - Australian Rules in France - Football australien en France[/ame] James O`Connor a member of the Australian Wallabies Rugby Union squad played Aussie Rules football in his younger days. The article speculates on a code switch which is unlikely and O`Connor credits his great kicking skills to his Australian Rules football background. Link— http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/spo...een-gun-oconnor-a-mark-man-20090820-eqqg.html Finally this a promo ?? video of our game put together by expats in New York where also joint moves are being made to establish a proper ground with other sports. Link— http://www.good.is/post/aussie-rules-football/
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities The AFL Executive appears to be heading to a radical financial overhaul of all its money streams with which they plan to even out the playing field among its to be 18 clubs. The Details yet to be released but will include the next TV deal payments from 2012. If this does happen it will place the AFL as a league in a strong position well into the future. Some very interesting figures at the bottom of the article on how some clubs spend their football dept moneys. The AFL Sydney Swans figure at the top of the spending which will surprise the media and supporters of the opposition codes in that city who are saying the Swans are a sinking club. The Swannies are ok financially it seems and West Sydney will indirectly help them. Link --- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25958004-2722,00.html International Expansion--- Here is a good news story from England about a new club in Huddersfield who are really switched on and expanding and incl junior/school programs. There is some potential for our game driven increasingly by locals in the “Little Green Isle.” Article courtesy of worldfootynews.com Link— http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/20090820194608502 Gold Coast Expansion— The Gold Coast Club has set its sights on picking up some high profile players for its squad. We say good luck because traditionally in the AFL the best players do not move. Link— http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25958838-19742,00.html Here is some more info on future AFL Sydney Swans recruiting and their now cashed up position - So much for a club heading for oblivion in a Rugby/Soccer heartland. Link --- http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/swans-cashed-up-after-exits/2009/08/20/1250362165242.html
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities International Expansion--- The video link below is a trailer of a Documentary being made about Aussie Rules football in the USA. Various teams are featured - The team in the Essendon Bombers jumper are the Orange County Bombers in California who have been established for several years. As a side note current overseas jumper designs are trending away from traditional strips to more innovative types except where AFL clubs get involved directly with new teams, which only happens occasionally now. link--- [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MptJwvYM4J4&feature=email"]YouTube - YELLOW MAGIC Trailer[/ame]
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities Recently a forum reader Richard L asked about future fixturing in the AFL. AFL boss Andrew Demitriou has shed some light on future plans in this area from 2012 on with 18 teams involved. The whole objective will be to maximise the TV coverage after the first 17 rounds have been played (Teams play each other once). This is groundbreaking stuff for the AFL and is welcomed by the networks. Link-- http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25986908-19742,00.html The 2009 AFL Premiership Cup is now on display at AFL House. That is what the 16 clubs are striving for- It does not look much different from other Cups in other competitions but it has huge significance for the club that grabs hold of it on the last Saturday in September. Link-- http://images.slatterymedia.com/photogallery/collection:AFL 2009 Media - 2009 Premiership Cup 250809
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities International Expansion--- Another AFL International recruiting source has opened up. A US College NFL player being trialled as a potential Ruckman by AFL Collingwood. Good tall Ruckmen are very scarce and there is big demand for them. Note we said “Good”. Link— http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,26011911-19742,00.html Despite all the talk of the Global Financial Crisis and its flow on in Australia AFL attendances remained solid for the 22 rounds just dropping slightly. 2008 – 22 Rounds – 6,511,255 – All time record 2009 – 22 Rounds – 6,370,350 With the finals coming up and no clear defined favourite now that Collingwood lost on the weekend there is intense interest in the final series and the crowds will reflect that. There will be capacity crowds at the four games this weekend and international viewers will spot that. Club memberships also rose overall for 2009 with the usual ups and downs in the various teams. Here are some scoring highlights for the 2009 season from the excellent Footystats web site – Link below. Some interesting points in the figures particularly the lowest scoring per team for 12 seasons. We think the rolling zone defence is responsible for this – The long time kick and mark stop start traditional game has since long gone replaced by very mobile fast teamwork capable of moving the ball quickly and accurately up and down the ground and the fans seem to love it Some clubs use more handballs than kicks and others the other way around which was for many years generally two kicks to one handball always. The coaches also exploit the interchange to the max now enabling them to rotate up to three players at a time to keep the pressure on in the midfield. Another telling highlight the drop in Hawthorns scoring power. Scoring Highlights--- Scoring in 2009 – 91.4 points per team per game – is the lowest since 1997 Adelaide has kicked the season’s highest total; and had the lowest score kicked against it Brisbane is the most accurate team in the AFL Carlton’s club stats show that in almost every category 2009 was its best season since it was last in the finals – 2001 Collingwood has won six matches by 50 points or more, its best in any season since 1991 Essendon is only the second side since 1917 to make the finals with a less than 50 per cent W-L record Fremantle managed the lowest VFL-AFL score since 1961 Geelong’s defence has allowed its opponents to kick more accurately than against any other club Hawthorn’s scoring power has fallen by a greater amount year-on-year (2008 to 2009) than any other club Melbourne’s W-L record of 12-54 over the past three seasons is less unsuccessful than Geelong’s (57-9) has been successful (if, dear reader, you understand this one, you should be awarded a PhD) ... Link— http://footystats.freeservers.com/Daily/Diary.html
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities We spotted this series of photos depicting the "Birdman" from the Adelaide Crows in action- This guy has a fantastic leap . No 24 - Brett Burton In our game you are able to climb up an opponents back using your boots and knees only to take a grab.(Catch). Since the rule was brought in in 1908 decades of spectacular marking has resulted. We thought the current game was getting too quick for this feature but it has made a comeback. Brett Burton is playing tonight (Australian time) in the Adelaide v Essendon match. Keep an eye on him he may do the right thing. Link-- http://www.realfooty.com.au/photogallery/2009/09/03/1251570801925.html International Expansion-- The mushrooming of clubs and small 2/3 team leagues in Europe continues with Italy, Norway, Iceland getting on board recently. The organisers of the 2009 9 a side EU Cup have had to cap the country entries to 16. This is all from a 4 country base in 2004. There are heaps of Australian born players of Italian heritage who have played/playing the game. The new Italian league will tap into that link later. It appears there are 2 Italian players/Commentators help host the Eurosports AFL TV cover which is interesting to say the least. News courtesy of worldfootynews.com
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities Any International sports fans wanting to see the Grand Final on TV there is a current list of some global locations below. Everybody welcome at those locations. http://www.afl.com.au/tvradio/overseasgfpartyfinder/tabid/14881/default.aspx All time total record crowds flocked to the AFL opening final round. Note the Australian Prime Minister attended the Brisbane game and got right into it. It seems he is R.U fan but did not attend the Wallabies v S Africa which was just down the road at the same time. http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/84350/default.aspx AFL Executive boss Andrew Demitriou reports that AFL participation levels rose again in 2009 to all time record numbers. Total Numbers - 733,000 up from 692,000 in 2008. This puts the total in front of the AFL projected figure of 700,000 by 2011. Lot of work now going into schools across the country with the Football Ambassador roles in those locations. Flagship Junior program - Auskick up to 170,000 up from 163,000 in 2008. This was an unforseen result given the Financial crisis affecting a lot of parents. Gold Coast Expansion--- The very wealthy AFL Queensland Club – The Southport Sharks have tipped 11 million in to the new Gold Coast Football Club. This along with the GCFC major sponsor forms a solid base for the future. Crossover memberships between the two groups are envisaged. Link— http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/09/04/133715_gold-coast-afl.html West Sydney Expansion--- The new WS club has formed a far ranging partnership with the University of West Sydney. What the immediate outcomes that will be likely be are – Increased player numbers in the area and spreading the word amongst the Students who come from far and wide to attend. This is all part of a professional plan to set the club up in a non AR region by the AFL which has deep pockets. Link— http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_...task=DETAIL&articleID=9918863§ionID=56131
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities The first round of the finals have been run and won. The AFL Record online gave a 98 page preview of the finals and other stuff. Link---- http://www.aflrecord.com.au/displayrecord/id/29 International Expansion---- South Africa has been receiving a lot of attention for several years now as a potential Source of recruits for the AFL Clubs. A new inaugural program introduced into the Kwa Zulu Natal Province is slowly producing results. This Province is supported by the powerful AFL West Coast Eagles club based in Perth who are working at the grassroots level screening for talented players. The spin offs are the introduction of our game into new recruiting streams. Link--- http://www.aflsouthafrica.org/index.php?nav=news&view=63 The Durban University of Technology in the above Province has taken up the sport this year with several players emerging from that institution. According to their Website they cater for a variety of sports and Aussie Rules footy (Although not shown) has now joined the list. This of course highlights the huge potential for our game in South Africa. We know that AFLSA decided for this year to call a halt to expansion to enable them to Quote “Bullet Proof the various schemes in place”. When they move forward again hopefully all the kinks will be gone. --------------------------------------------------- In Europe Croatia will be hosting the 2009 9 a side EU Cup to be held on October 3,4,5. This comp has had a surge in countries competing this year. No less than 16 will front up at the venue and the organizers Aussie Rules Europe had to place this limit because of venue restrictions. 9 a side footy is ideal as a starter game for newcomers to the sport and does eventually lead to at least 16 a side outcomes, which means dropping the 2 wingers. Sometimes start up teams can initially with luck have 18 players in squad and 9 a side can provide vital early match practise by splitting the group. (Officially the AFL recognizes teams down to 14 a side in the laws of the game) Link to attractive brochure promo— http://www.aussieruleseurope.com/eucup2009/eucupnews.pdf ---------------------------------- We have been watching with interest the Senior Aussie Rules league in Port Moresby in PNG. This season the governing body of Aussie Rules AFLPNG took over the admin of this comp and attracted major sponsorship in a 3 year deal. This saw the league expand to seven clubs offering pathways for the U18`s and U 16`s that do not make it to AFL Queensland. Prior to this season the comp was wracked with problems of bad crowd behaviour etc. This situation is not confined to our game it also plagues other sports in that country. Since the changeover it appears that things have settled down somewhat. Link— http://www.postcourier.com.pg/20090910/thhome.htm Although in expansion mode our sport faces stiff opposition over there with NRL Club Gold Coast Titans to assist with junior development now and a long term plan to get a PNG team into the NRL. Also FIFA this year have agreed to tip in 7 million Kina to promote the round ball game. Rugby League (280 teams) and Soccer football have semi professional leagues in operation as well.
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities International Expansion--- We have found out some very interesting news about Aussie Rules footy in Europe. It appears that NFL Europe unsolicited approached AFL Germany (6 clubs -8 teams) and offered them assistance to develop Aussie Rules over there – Definitely no strings attached it seems. It is believed that NFL over there is a huge business and has televised matches. What does the NFL get – Absolutely nothing in return it appears. The NFL sympathised with the difficulties faced by a struggling sport and it was a gesture with the best goodwill in mind. The NFL can see the merits and the benefits of the sport. What does the AFL Germany get – Quite a bit relative to prior this move. Office space – Administration and marketing support. Register the game as official sport in Germany – Govt grants- National Olympic recognition – Coaching Certificates etc etc This is a big indictment on the Victorian led AFL Executive who despite being approached by AFLG several times rejected their requests, but who still want to control the game as Keepers of the Code. We need a FIFA type set up. However it seems the vast distances from Aust to Germany was a factor said the AFLG, and self sufficiency was the way to go. Also AFL Sweden could be in a very similar deal with Swedish Rugby. We think this is fantastic for the International game long term and will have side benefits not realised yet. It is a bit hard though starting 100 years internationally after the other codes. Could this happen in the USA – That is the question that many fans will be asking now. Is anybody from the USAFL Executive reading this.????? -----------------------------------
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities ah! Brings back memories of the first grand final I saw. I was in Prague and a pub there offered a beer & breakfast deal for about £10. Getting up at 6 am when you are on holiday, not to mention having a beer at 6.30 am, is rather unusual, but I enjoyed it rather more than the Port Adelaide fans did.
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities CORRECTION ON ARTICLE The Actual Gridiron Group is NOT the NFL as such but is the link below. The impression given by the source was the NFL itself. However will still be a boost for the game. Link-- http://www.ifaf.info/about-ifaf
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities Apparently some of these parties really get going Richard L - We read recently about how some fans went to a GF party in Europe when the West Coast Eagles beat the Swans in 2006 in a very tight exciting finish. One of the group had to go outside and said the roar during the game in the pub could be heard way down the street at that early time of the morning and the locals were intrigued - Great stuff. The AFL Grand Final party site is now updated and includes Brazil and Israel!!!!! and other additions. The big day is getting close folks and incidentally a night AFL Grand Final is edging closer due to an anticipated 30 -50% increase in domestic viewers recent research has shown. http://www.afl.com.au/tvradio/overseasgfpartyfinder/tabid/14881/default.aspx
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities We cannot recall when our TV game coverage overall has now spread into so many countries - The big exception is South America and the AFL has promised to attempt to rectify that in 2010 because clubs have formed there despite all of the odds being in Soccer Football mad countries, although Rugby Union is established also. Here is the official AFL International TV Guide page for the rest of the finals. Link--- http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/84552/default.aspx
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities There's no point getting carried away though. For many places coverage has more to do with ex-pats and the growth of cable sports channels. Other than in the UK (and Australia), I've seen AFL in Prague and in Tokyo. In Prague they took the UK Setanta feed, and in Tokyo they were showing an Australian feed. The presence of bars showing the games in a country therefore doesn't necessarily indicate the game is televised in that country (by that country's tv channels). And even the presence of AFL on some country's sports channels doesn't necessarily indicate that much of a demand, sadly. The more sports channels there are, the more sports they need to fill those gaps. 20-25 years ago (I can't recall exactly) the game was shown nationally in England on one of the main free to air tv channels. Now, while it's true that hardly anybody had a clue what was going on, the game was far more in the public consciousness back then than now. It would be interesting to see how the AFL viewing figures compare on ESPN to its rather meagre figures when tucked away on Setanta 2. Sadly ESPN's figures don't show up yet of the official barb.co.uk viewing figures stats.
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities Actually we were surprised at how many different international networks were now involved compared to 5 years ago for a almost invisible sport numbers wise compared to the other codes. That was the point we were making. Someone must be watching besides expats though. The 2008 9 a side EU Cup final in Prague was live streamed on the net from Prague and attracted 30,000 viewers which is better than none.
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities We thought we would make a comment on the 2010 National Draft which will be dominated by the new Gold Coast Club. We have extracted the following comment from a larger article by Patrick Smith. --------------------------------- "It is becoming very evident that the threat of taking the best 17-year-olds out of the draft and sending them to the GC17 has caused a blowback and has a massive effect on the recruitment programs of clubs. We have been warned the Gold Coast is going to have enormous concessions and believe that the ones for West Sydney are going to be far greater. Clubs who have young lists are going to be in a better position in the future than those who have older lists, as it may prove a nightmare to find good young talent for many years to come." ------------------------------------- The last line of the comments are very prophetic and this will be the opportunity for International footy to step up hopefully in 4 years or earlier. First up the AFL Clubs will scour the State Leagues continually to find players up to 24 years old who may fit their bill. Several players in the WAFL are under scrutiny already. Then the attention will turn to overseas. The GC Club already has 2 PNG recruits on its initial list - Other clubs have young Irishmen signed or to be signed. However the current Irish system has produced only a couple capable who can play consistently at a good level, the others have been going back home. It maybe a bit early for the 10 year in the system international kids (6 to 16) to surface as a mass but they are coming in dribs and drabs. Currently according to the 2008 AFL International Census there are approx 8000 youth players in regular comps and approx 32000 kids in junior or Auskick type programs. Small numbers indeed to other codes but huge growth for our game from a very very low base in 5 years. This of course means another 5 years approx for the mass to come through. Of course Smith has overlooked the overseas content of our game but most AFL writers do- It has just not sunk in about the potential that is coming from that source. Despite all of the setbacks and negative comments it attracts International Footy does have a future and it will have its rightful place in our game.
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities International Expansion--- One of the more exotic locations our game has spread to is the United Arab Emirates. There is a considerable Expat presence in the region and it was only a matter of time that an Aussie Rules league started. AFL Middle East was formed in 2008/2009 with the AFL`s blessing and kicked off with 6 Clubs based in the area and which proved to be successful. For 2009/2010 there will be another club added to the existing 6 bringing it to 7. Several of the teams have also started the Auskick junior program, and at least one club is to get into the local schools in its area. One of the M.E. Clubs the Dubai Heat won the Asian Championship again this year in the face of some stiff opposition from the other long established teams in Asia. The new season bounce down is on October 9 and continues for 7 rounds until Feb 26 with the Grand Final on March 12. They are the cooler months in a very hot region of the planet. The long term aim is to expand wherever and whenever it is feasible for the league to do so. Other Middle East countries have been mooted. An AFL exhibition match was held in Dubai in 2008 and increased interest. Another match is speculated for 2011?????. The Geographical breakdown of the 2009 AFLME is as follows— Three teams from Dubai (Dubai Heat – Dubai Dragons – Dubai Dingoes) One “ Doha Kangaroos One “ Muscat Magpies One “ Abu Dhabi Falcons One “ Bahrain Blues (2009 newcomers) The clubs all appear to have healthy memberships and support structures so the future is assured as it can be. ----------------------------------- AFL News--- It appears that the 10 AFL Clubs in Melbourne will have a healthy financial future after years of doubts and talk of relocations for some of them. TV deals signed by the League guarantee that 16 Clubs will be in existence up until 2011 –Although not mentioned, this has also driven the talks discussed in the article below. The AFL executive has reached agreement with the MCG and Etihad Stadium operators that sees greater money returns to the Melbourne based clubs from 2010. We can again see the benefits of having an Independent Executive and Commission to run the game because they can cut through the red tape that plagues some football codes in Australia. Link--- http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26106114-5012432,00.html
Re: AFL Expansion now has three possibilities Another Irishman in the AFL has gone home because of homesickness, and other factors we suspect. It appears that his form dropped off after a promising start 3 years ago. We have been promoting for a long time now "Born to the Game recruiting" either domestically or Internationally. Link--- http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/85276/default.aspx We have just visited the AFL Grand Final Party finder page. It has been updated for the approx 110 locations around the world. That is not 110 countries but venues in some exotic locations. Click on the link below then click on the next link at the bottom for an expanded list which easier to read. http://www.afl.com.au/overseas gf party finder/tabid/14881/default.aspx