Dockers Dominate Dismal Demons chris kowald Sun, 07/21/2024 - 07:36 The Fremantle Dockers dominated the Melbourne Demons in a match where the final scoreboard suggested a flattering representation of the Demons' underwhelming performance. The Demons had recently been competitive against the Brisbane Lions in a narrow loss and had beaten the Essendon Bombers last week. Now they have been bumped out of the top eight and face a perilous path as they hope to make the finals. The battle for the finals has all the characteristics of a game of snakes and ladders. One loss can send a team spiral ..read more

Keays Kicks Five to Bust Bombers Troy Thompson Fri, 07/19/2024 - 18:08 It was a chilly Friday night outside, but it was a red-hot clash between Essendon and Adelaide at Marvel Stadium. Under the roof, with no breeze there really should be no scoring end, but 24 of the 34 goals would be scored at the Lockett end. [Ed. note: named for Tony Lockett, a legendary goal scorer.]  It was a match that would have significant runs of play and a nail-biting finish and keep the 36,000, mostly Bombers fans, on the edge of their seats. The Bombers were hot out of the blocks kicking the first three ..read more

Another Concussion Lawsuit and Retirement Lisa Albergo Sun, 07/14/2024 - 17:55 (Ed. note: this article is part of an on-going series which covers concussion related matters in the AFL. To see more of our multi-year reporting on concussions, go to AFANA Concussion Series) Former West Coast defender Brad Sheppard has filed a lawsuit against the club, the AFL, and two club doctors, citing medical negligence which forced him to retire in 2021 due to concussion related issues. Sheppard, now 33 years old, played 216 games for the Eagles and suffered a number of concussions during his career. A ..read more

Lions Roar Into Top Four chris kowald Sun, 07/14/2024 - 09:54 The Brisbane Lions roared back into the top four with a win over a revived West Coast Eagles outfit. In a weekend of upsets, the Lions with six consecutive wins stamp themselves as the current "in form" team of the competition. The importance of Brisbane's win cannot be overstated. A loss would have sent them into ninth on the ladder, fighting with a plethora of other teams for September relevance. Forty-one thousand Eagles' supporters attended the game which was billed as a farewell to recently sacked coach Adam Simpson. The ..read more

Close and Cameron Kick Four Each as Cats Crush Hawks Troy Thompson Sat, 07/06/2024 - 20:18 Hawthorn came to Kardinia Park today having won their last five matches. However, with injuries to key players in Sicily, Ginnivan, and Dear last week, they were left looking vulnerable going into today's match on Geelong's home turf.  The Cats, by contrast, lost Knevitt to illness, and had omitted Irishman Mark O'Connor for today's match. Hawthorn won the toss and elected to kick to the Players Stand. Today the clubs were using the yellow Sherrin ball (typically used at night under lights) on a gl ..read more

Classy Dockers Tame Tigers chris kowald Sat, 07/06/2024 - 12:33 On a cold, wet, and blustery night with winds gusting up to forty-four miles per hour, the Fremantle Dockers showed their class to defeat the desperate Richmond Tigers. The win enabled the Dockers to maintain third position on the ladder and edge closer to the top two teams Sydney and Carlton. The loss consigned Richmond to the bottom of the ladder, but they didn't go down without a fight. The omens weren't good for the Tigers when their team banner was shredded by the wind before they could run through it to enter the field. Und ..read more

Hawks Hammer Indifferent Eagles chris kowald Sun, 06/30/2024 - 08:08 The Hawthorn Hawks won a rare interstate victory against the West Coast Eagles to elevate themselves to a group of five teams who sit half a game out of the top eight. In a remarkable transformation, the Hawks are the only team along with Carlton to have won their last five games. Today's victory was also significant as the Hawks have not won on the road since early last year. Their victory was based on winning clearances, moving the ball out of packs, maintaining forward pressure, and controlling the tempo of the game. West ..read more

Dockers Deny Determined Suns chris kowald Mon, 06/24/2024 - 07:58 The Fremantle Dockers held off the determined Gold Coast Suns in a desperate battle for a position in the top eight. The game was crucial to both teams who were outside the top eight at the start of play. The twenty-point win elevated the Dockers into fifth position on the ladder and pushed the Suns down to twelfth. The Suns started the game with a sense of urgency. In the first ten minutes they had won more contested possessions and made more forward entries than the Dockers to have two early goals on the board to big forwards ..read more

AFANA Needs Your Support! Fundraising Campaign Launched! admincms Thu, 06/20/2024 - 15:11 Over 28 years ago, three men had an idea for a fan-based organization to spread the word about Aussie rules in North America and improve TV coverage. Much has happened since then and we're still bringing new fans to the sport every day and TV coverage is now live, every match and every round.  We need to move forward to better serve fans and to do that, we are launching a fundraising campaign. Our goal is to ultimately raise US$20,000 over the next 2 or so years. We'll start modestly with enoug ..read more

2024 AFL Hall of Fame Lisa Albergo Wed, 06/19/2024 - 17:46 Just days after the conclusion to Round 14, the AFL held their annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Former Hawthorn great Jason Dunstall was elevated to legend status and six past players were inducted. The six new inductees are Michael Graham, Chris McDermott, Ralph Robertson (deceased), Ray Schofield (deceased), Dane Swan, and Kelvin Templeton. AFL chairman Richard Goyder said, "I'm pleased to be able to celebrate tonight and recognize the tremendous achievements of the 2024 inductees and further congratulate Jason Dunstall on hi ..read more