World Footy News

The Great Britain Bulldogs have named a squad drawn mainly from England's Southern and Central-North West leagues for their upcoming 2010 European Championships campaign. With the EC2010 coinciding with the AFL London finals series, a number of the GB regulars will be playing for their domestic clubs early August, which opens the opportunities for new faces among the Bulldogs.

GB coach Mark Pitura says the squad was chosen mostly from the teams that competed in the Brit Cup in Southampton on July 3rd, and is a good mix of youth and experience, lead by veterans Adam "Skippy" Bennett from Reading and Rob Fielder from Chippenham.

"As you can see, most players come from regional teams outside of London. A few exciting players to watch are Martyn Hinchey (Southampton Titans) in the ruck, 6 foot 6 Full forward Lee Tarn (Chippenham Redbacks) and goal sneak Mark Todd (Reading Kangaroos)."

The Bulldogs will be hoping for a strong showing at the Championships, having a history as being one of the "Big 3" alongside Ireland and Denmark, and being the only European nation ever to have defeated the Irish.

Eight players in the squad are from the Central & North West League, with Huddersfield providing two players, Wolverhampton three, Manchester two, and Sheffield one.

Six are based in the Southern League, with three from Southampton, two from Chippenham and one from Bournemouth. The Northern League's only representative is Steve Allen from the Newcastle Centurions.

The WARFL have provided three players, with South Cardiff Panthers pair Andrew Attack and Mark Horsman joining Tom Gillard from the Cardiff Double Blues.

The seven AFL London players in the squad are Reading trio Adam Bennett, Mark Todd and Gareth Blackstaffe-Turner, Andy Brockett from the London Swans, Ross Ashman and Paul Francis from Wimbledon, and Harry Triggs from West London.

Coach: Mark Pitura (Putney Magpies)