World Footy News

The seedings for the 2005 International Cup have been released. It is to be held in Melbourne in August. The same 11 countries that competed in 2002 are expected to return, plus Spain making their first appearance.

The tournament will again feature two pools, with teams seeded in each half. It appears that the seeding was based purely on the 2002 results, which although not unreasonable, doesn't make allowance for recent form, such as Canada's competitive match against the United States. However, countries don't need to worry about seeding too much, as they will play every other team in their pool. So at the end of the day, if any nation wishes to win the championship, they will probably have to knock off one of the grand finalists from the inaugural series - reigning champions Ireland or runner-up Papua New Guinea. The round robin matches will be cut-throat, with one loss likely to be enough to prevent a team making the final, which will see the top side from each pool play-off. World Footy News will feature a preview of the Cup in coming weeks. Read more about the 2002 International Cup here.

The pools for 2005 are:

Pool A	Pool B
Ireland	PNG
Denmark	New Zealand
USA	Great Britain
Nauru	Samoa
Japan	Canada
South Africa	Spain

The tournament will start on Wednesday 3rd August and conclude with the Grand Final on Sunday 13th August, as the curtain raiser (prelude) to the AFL blockbuster Carlton versus Collingwood, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. AFL support for the event is thought to be around AU$100,000 and it will be staged in a carnival-like environment, with local councils hopefully involved to provide activities around it. The one risk to the event is the limited finances of most leagues. In many cases players will have to pay their own way or raise funds themselves, but in countries such as Nauru and Samoa this can be very difficult. Hopefully we will see all twelve countries participate, and that number grow in the following years.