Editorial

In late March, the Victorian State Coroner's office, after an inquest concerning the death of former player Shane Tuck, made recommendations for the health and safety of players, mainly with regard to concussion protocols The AFL replied in an official statement and will implement the recommendations as part of the ongoing process of the prevention and management of concussion and other head trauma in Australian Football. (Ed. note: left unsaid is that the AFL, like many professional sports leagues, would really rather not talk about the long-term health effects of the sport or the numerous results of post-mortem exams which show even players from recent decades with significant long term brain damage.)

The recommendations are:

Just a quick note to readers that we have moved our location on Mastodon, were now at: AusFbAssocNA on federated.press

The change was necessary because our previous host was shutting down. All followers have already been moved or redirected. 

As always, donations and volunteers are needed. 

Do you want to be an AFL Journalist or Photographer?
Write match reports with fellow media reps?

AFANA is looking for individuals with good writing or photography skills to cover AFL matches in the following locations:
Brisbane
Sydney
ACT/Canberra
Tasmania

We also need AFLW journos for the next AFLW season. AFLW journalists may also cover some AFL matches as needed.

If you would like to join our staff, send an email expressing your interest to aussiefb[at)afana[ dot }com

Our journalists receive AFL media credentials and their reports and photos are featured on our website at afana.com. Standards of behavior and dress in accord with AFL requirements are expected. Use of our online submission system is mandatory and all submissions subject to editorial review.

We look forward to you joining our staff in 2023!

Editorial note: As some fans will know, AFANA has not posted to Twitter in about 19 months. This was the result of two factors: insufficient volunteer staff made worse by the pandemic and the endless abuse and noise on Twitter. In recent months, the disruption and chaos at Twitter itself has finally meant the end of our use of that platform. 

We are now moving to Mastodon. You can find us at: @AusFbAssocNA[at)dummy[ dot }cafe. If you are not familiar with Mastodon, you will find it easy to use and there is more info at this article by Ed Bott on Zdnet: Ditching Twitter for Mastodon.

We encourage our visitors on social media to consider Mastodon as an alternative platform. We will be gradually removing any links here to Twitter over the coming weeks and months.

An editorial from Brook Kilpatrick, AFANA's staff member in Adelaide, with contributions by Chris Kowald, in Perth. 

American sports fans have reacted to “The Australian Dream” after ESPN recently aired the Australian AFL documentary that focuses on the racism encountered by Sydney Swans legend Adam Goodes. 

US website “Brinkwire” has reported an “outpouring of support” for Goodes after viewers learned of the “incessant taunting and booing” that was directed at Goodes throughout the tail end of his career. (https://en.brinkwire.com/news/americans-claim-racism-is-worse-in-australia-after-espn-screens-the-adam-goodes-documentary/ )

The cutting quote that some Americans claim racism is “worse in Australia” is certainly cause for discussion, and it cannot be denied that indigenous Australian AFL players such as Adam Goodes have experienced the worst of it at various stages throughout their career. Australian football greats such as Maurice Rioli, Phil and Jim Krakouer, Nicky Winmar, and current player Eddie Betts have all spoken about the racism they have encountered throughout their football lives, with some such as Betts, actively being involved in campaigns to educate with a view to eradicating such abhorrent behavior. Betts recently called out a person who posted an image of a chimpanzee on his Twitter page. Winmar recently forced an apology from three Melbourne journalists who claimed Winmar's iconic gesture was not related to racial issues.

Another note to alert everyone that AFANA is closely tracking any developments the AFL makes to their season plans going forward. For now, everything downunder is suspended and the league is desperately trying to manage the financial impact. Fox Sports in the US is airing re-runs from March all month on Fox Soccer Plus but no other channel at this time. TSN is not airing any AFL coverage so far as we know in Canada. Our TV schedules are up to date through the end of April. Other pages like the radio page, draw pages, etc. will be updated as things become clearer. 

Fans have also asked for an AFANA financial status report. It's still unstable in the long run but thanks to some limited sales commissions from WatchAFL and severe cost cutting, we will survive for the next few months for sure. As long as the season is shut down, that revenue will cease after May and we'll reassess where we are in early June. We badly need donations, particularly monthly commitments to cement our long term survival. We know that all of the chaos brought about by the COVID-19 virus puts added financial pressure on each of you as well. If you are fortunate and can spare some dollars please consider a donation using either of our donation buttons (GoFundMe or PayPal) at the top of the page. Consider $10 a month but any amount helps. Thanks for your support.

The AFL announced on Sunday, Australian time, that the season would be suspended following the conclusion of round one. Our staff, reporters, photographers, and staff working on areas like TV and radio schedules, tipping contents, etc. are hard at work on news articles and schedule changes occurring as a result. We'll be posting more here today and tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Just a quick note to alert everyone that AFANA is closely following any changes the AFL makes to their schedule, whether it ends up being a shortened season as indicated overnight or is ultimately canceled. That will have a ripple effect on our TV schedules, radio page, draw pages, etc.  As the dust settles we will make the necessary updates or notes but it might take awhile for everything to trickle down to the entire site and the networks to catch up.

Fans have also asked about where we are financially. It's still precarious and we badly need donations to pay the bills and debts. We know that all of the chaos brought about by the COVID-19 virus puts added financial pressure on each of you as well as on our long term viability. Please continue to consider a donation using either of our donation buttons at the top of the page. Thanks for your support.

AFANA has learned that WatchAFL subscription rates are rising on March 1. Fans are urged to subscribe today or tomorrow. The rates are as follows:

Side note: To further exacerbate our cash flow situation, our commissions on weekly and monthly orders through our links on this site were effectively cut. We will see an increase on annual subscriptions, which should help.

The site move is complete. If you have any problems, please report them using our Contact page. We are beginning to update the site for the 2020 season. TV schedules and info should begin to appear this week.

AFANA.com will be intermittently off-line from Monday morning, February 10th, 2020 as we transition to a new hosting provider.