Recent news

by Lisa  Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

The AFL concluded its annual exam of each club's Total Player Payment (TPP) estimates for the 2007 season ahead of the preseason draft and gave the nod to eight clubs to participate in the draft: Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, Kangaroos, Port Adelaide, Richmond, and St Kilda.

Adelaide, the Brisbane Lions, Fremantle, Geelong, Melbourne, Sydney, West Coast and the Western Bulldogs each submitted a full Primary List of 38 Players. The selections allocated to each of the eight clubs was as follows:

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Saturday, November 25,  was a big day for footy as it was the national draft. This year's pool of talent was one of the richest in several years with all 16 clubs quite pleased with the players they selected. Not unexpectedly, of course, was South Australian youngster Bryce Gibbs being at the top of the heap and going to Carlton. Of all the delisted players who nominated for the draft, only two were selected - Tiger David Rodan and Saint Matthew Ferguson. The rest still have the option of nominating for the preseason draft.

All clubs were required to submit a second listing of players to the league at the end of October as part of their preparation for the November draft. Below are the changes made by each club:

by Johnson Leung reporting for AFANA in Melbourne

Carlton star Anthony Koutoufides has become the first AFL player to win the Australian version of Dancing With The Stars, performing with professional dancer Natalie Lowe to defeat teenage chess prodigy Arianne Caoili and dance partner Carmelo Pizzino in the Grand Final. Koutoufides and Lowe scored 108 points across the three rounds, with Caoili and Pizzino receiving a score of 96 from the judges. When combined with audience votes through the previous seven days, it was enough for Koutoufides and Lowe to take out the title in the fifth season of the Channel Seven celebrity competition.

by Lisa Albergo, reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Mal Michael, who told the Lions in early October that he wanted to retire, has done an about face, saying he wants to return to football. To that end, he has already signed a two year deal with the Essendon Bombers.  The Dons have committed to selecting him in the preseason draft. However, the move has infuriated Brisbane and the Lions have called on the AFL to block Essendon's bid.

Michael still had one year to run on his Brisbane contract, but the club did not pay him out and thus the Bombers and Michael believe the Lions have no claim on him.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

GEEL   5.3   8.5   10.7   13.10 (88)
PA     3.1   6.3    8.6   10.7  (67)

GOALS: GEEL - Gamble 4, Egan, J.Hunt, Byrnes, Bartel, Batchelor, Stokes, McCarthy, Prismall, Milburn; PA - Cassisi 2, Mahoney 2, D. White 2, Bentley, Willits, Ebert, Giles.

BEST: GEEL - Bartel, Prismall, Stokes, Gamble, S.Hunt, West, Playfair; PA - Pearce, Salopek, Wakelin, Ebert, Mahoney

INJURY: PA - Wakelin (hamstring)

Port Adelaide registered the game's opening goal through Greg Bentley, but the Cats responded with the next 5 for a comfortable lead. Port clawed its way back with two late goals to trail by 14 points at 1/4 time.

by Johnson Leung, reporting for AFANA in Melbourne

Schedules for the 2007 AFL premiership season and the pre-season National Australia Bank Cup have been revealed in Melbourne. The main features of next year's regular season are the re-introduction of Sunday twilight games and Rounds 15-22 will not be repeats of Rounds 1-7, meaning some teams will clash twice within seven weeks. The 2007 fixture was compiled using state-of-the-art scheduling software which is also used by the National Football League in the US.

2007 NAB Cup Schedule
2007 AFL Draw (schedule)

Sunday twilight matches, last held in the early 1990s, will be played on every weekend of the home and away season for the first time (23 in total), a move aimed squarely at building the AFL's television audience.

by Johnson Leung, reporting for AFANA in Melbourne

Last month's AFL Grand Final between the Sydney Swans and the West Coast Eagles soared into the list of top ten most popular programs for 2006, with an astonishing 91 per cent of people watching commercial television at that time tuning to the game broadcast on Channel Ten.  The GF attracted an average audience of 3.15 million, with 1.184 million watching in Melbourne, 765,000 in Sydney (23 per cent drop from last year's decider), 330,000 in Brisbane, 326,000 in Adelaide, and a record 550,000 in Perth.

With the peak audience of 3.944 million viewers, the Grand Final is the second highest rating program on Australian television during 2006 (to date),

by Johnson Leung, reporting for AFANA in Melbourne

Overseas footy fans will be able to continue to listen to Saturday afternoon matches on Radio Australia, as part of a new three-year radio rights deal. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's international shortwave service will broadcast a combination of first and second choice matches on Saturday afternoons, despite ABC Managing Director Mark Scott's public concerns about the government-funded broadcaster being relegated to a "secondary caller" on Saturday afternoons.