Israel Folau now ready for AFL

any reports on the game that moved to Lakeside oval??

ICF and Wookie Ray Gatt in The Australian reports this morning that: DOCUMENTS handed to The Australian reveal Football Federation Australia would have incurred a loss of as much as $8.39 million for the 2010-11 financial year had it not received "special assistance" funding from the federal government. In what could prove an embarrassment for soccer's peak body and raise serious concerns over lack of transparency, The Australian has been given an email which confirms FFA received additional government funding of $7.5m - "for supporting football in the lead-up to the 2015 Asian Cup" - over and above the normal grant from the Australian Sports Commission. The extra funding was also noted in the findings of the Smith Report - a federal government inspired inquiry in to the running of Australian soccer. It shows how much FFA has received in special assistance since 2003-04, including $12m for 2010-11. The email, dated last month, from the Office for Sport, Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport also shows a $1.25m grant to FFA from the ASC for development programs in the Pacific and India - programs that have been run by the ASC for a number of years. ...The Australian revealed exclusively last November that the FFA had recorded a loss of $891,000 - a figure FFA trumpeted as a good result after it had recorded a $5.8m deficit for the 2009-10 financial year. Concerns about a lack of transparency have been raised among some insiders because FFA made no mention of the special assistance funding in its 2010-11 financial report. The report reveals that, unlike in previous years, revenue was not broken down into separate areas but, instead, grouped under "operating revenue". The 2009-10 financial report included FFA receiving $21m from broadcasting rights, $27m from sponsorships and $11m from gate receipts and catering. This level of detail is missing from the 2010-11 report. Apart from the fact that other major sports, including AFL and NRL, will raise their eyebrows at the continued special treatment of FFA by the federal government, questions are also being asked as to how FFA spent the $7.5m and what it did with the $1.25m ASC grant.

Good link, and i note that the Mayor gets a spiel as well, .... very positive.

NAB Cup comes to the Hills: http://www.hillsnews.com.au/news/local/sport/football-australian-rules/nab-cup-comes-to-the-hills/2451454.aspx

Well for a start get ready to do a lot more runing, they actually score in that game, they dont just pass the ball from one side of the gate to the other, you'll have to get used to ACTUALLY being tackled we dont like divers in this game, oh and dont expect to get applause for almost doing something, you actually have to do it, not look like you were trying, You'll have to be just as good with your hands as your feet and if you make a go of it kiss good bye any private life. So be my guest.

How is this comment NOT considered trolling? Anyone can play any sport, but AFL level isnt the same as kicking it around the park, any more than a fat guy playing indoor soccer once a week can make a world cup soccer team.

memberships have risen every year. I dont believe club membership totals have ever dropped since they were recorded. So as far as new memberships go and the AFLs business model - its not going too bad, and your "in fact" is utter garbage, not based in reality and is yet again poorly researched opinion.

Since accounts havent been released yet by the AFL (due in March like they are every year), and the Suns probably wont release them (being currently AFL run they'll be included in the AFL results, your making assumptions without evidence. Again. The Swans have generated the odd profit here and there, and they do benefit from equalisation polices the AFL has in place for all clubs as a result of uneven fixturing, and other things. Please show me the hundreds of millions in government handouts that dont go to stadiums that arent owned by the AFL. Go on show me a shred of evidence to support this. This is NOT reflected in AFL annual reports going back to 2006 - which youd know if you bothered to ever do any research. The total sum of funds awarded ton the AFL is FAR less than the funding received by the FFA for its general operations. If it wasnt for government handouts we wouldnt have a national soccer league of any kind.

cause the Gold Coast Titans didnt do it first or anything.

Actually thats not what I said at all. I said that the article title doesnt reflect the article content. I know first hand that the Roar changes submitted article headlines to whatever they deem apropriate, in this case, the subject matter has almost zero to do with his AFL playing ability, mentions almost nothing about his progress to this date - and since, as you say, hes been preparing for two years then theres plenty to form an opinion on. You havent. Article title suggests Folau is ready for AFL in the title, and then discusses everything but his preparation. Lots of stuff about his league career. A comment from Williams and Sheedy. Id suggest you know nothing about his preparation, despite it being available in news reports, youtube videos and other media. Nothing about positions played, marking, goals, awareness - and theres any number of articles on the subject where folau himself talks about it. Nothing about his NEAFL season or his 2012 preseason. It is about time he got his chance to show if he's ready. Its about time you wrote an article that actually reflected that.

Check his profile. It tells you how many soccer based articles he wrote before he started on his AFL crusade.

Hey ICF Latest membership Syd Swans 18545 GWS. 4516 Lions 13109 Suns. 9169 Total = 45349 NRL Members outside NSW/QLD/NZ. = 7027 AFL memberships have grown in Sydney 1582 in 4 days, NRL. has grown by 727 in same time (although they dont seem to update their site daily). Not bad results for Sydney given its only begining of Feb, wait till March Syd Swans aprox 45 days which if current trend continues mean Swans membership by 1st round = 33495. GWS = 5465. Almost 40k AFL members in Syd about the same as RL in Syd! Not bad.

Put your name in the draft - you only have to contend with 18 year old kids - they'll earn $100,000 in the first year, rising to $300,000 by the third year - not bad for a professional footballer in Australia - you just have to put your name in the draft, you've only got 18 year old kids as competition.

The AFL is on track to increase memberships this year by 8%. That's pretty good considering last season they reached an all time high figure of 650,000 members. To put that in context, that's double the memberships of all other football codes combined.

The AFL and clubs are doing all right, together they are approaching revenues of $1 billion per annum - that ain't bad. In that context, for 3 or 4 clubs to have losses of a couple of mill - it's a drop in the ocean - and at the other end, you have 5 or 6 clubs making millions of dollars in profits per annum - in fact, they are making far too much money than can be spent, given the salary cap and draft - they have to blow it on sending their team to Arizona for altitude training a couple of times per year.

AR, Mormonism is a christian religion