World Footy News

The players from the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide arrived in London today ahead of Saturday’s AFL European Challenge exhibition game. AFL Europe reported that the players also got their first look round Kia Oval, the venue for the game, for some pre match training runs.

Meanwhile Port Adelaide’s new coach Ken Hinkley and Bulldogs’ coach Brendan McCartney were at the pre-match press conference.

Both clubs have fielded young teams for the tournament and are expected to use the opportunity to debut new recruits.

Despite this, Port Adelaide coach Hinkley said he told his players, “Just go out and play the game of footy. You’ve got to go after the game in a fair dinkum way, because it’s a contact game. If you’re not prepared to play footy, you’ll end up in real trouble. Hopefully they get through the game okay.”

On the opposite side, Bulldogs coach McCartney added, “With young players, the more you see them, the more you learn about them. To see them go away for eight weeks and then to come back and their body shape changes; they’re a bit bigger in the leg and a bit stronger in the hips – you can see their progression and that’s really important.” McCartney also described the exhibition game as a “unique experience” for his young team. “It’s brilliant to have the opportunity to come away with your club, experience the world and showcase the great game,” he said.

“When you get here and you see this place and you breathe it, you see how special it is and you want to be an active part of it. When we got off the bus this morning it was a reminder that this is a special place and we’re lucky to be here.”

He also had one final message for the European players taking part in the All-Stars curtain raiser: “We don’t have our recruiters here, so I might watch it-just in case!”

The Elastoplast AFL European Challenge match will consist of 4 x 25 minute quarters with no time added on. Teams will field teams of 16-a-side, with up to seven players on the interchange bench. No substitutes will be used.

Tickets are still available and can be purchased at the gate or online at http://www.kiaoval.com

There will be no live broadcast of the game, but a replay of the game will be available to watch on BulldogsTV on-demand by Monday the 5th of November.