World Footy News

The Sweden Elks are gearing up for their third International Cup this year, and although a number of withdrawals from the original list will see them travel with a relatively young squad, a number of familiar faces will be making the trip.

Sweden are hoping to push up the rankings a bit, having finished 12th and 11th in their previous two IC appearances.

National coach Daniel McClaer spoke with WFN about the team's preparations and goals.

Long-time national coach Daniel McClaer will be back at the helm again for this edition, alongside assistant Cameron Crooks. McClaer and Crooks both grew up in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne, playing jrepresentative level junior footy with the Western Jets, alongside a number of players who went on to play in the AFL. Crooks, who coached the Elks in their first IC appearance back in 2008, is returning to live in Australia after spending many years in Sweden, with the timing of his move conveniently coinciding with the International Cup this year.

Previous captain Johan Lantz will not be making the trip. The new captain of the squad will be decided at a meeting of the leadership group, once the Elks arrive in Australia prior to the tournament.

McClaer says "After the IC11, it was decided that at all Elks tournaments the players and coaching staff would go through specific team building and leadership identification tasks to select the leadership group and captains. Giving ownership back to the squad, take responsibility both on and off the field and so on."

The squad was originally selected with the best players that were available, but around 12 of the players originally selected had to withdraw from the squad, mainly for financial reasons.

"This was quite unfortunate, although we were able to replace these players with fresh faces to the Elks squad. Eight players are returning from IC11, and ten from the European Championships squad who went to Dublin. It is a fairly new squad this year," says McClaer.

A few members of the squad have also played or trained with clubs in Australia previously, and at least one (possibly two) Swedes residing in Australia will take part in the squad, both of whom started playing back in Sweden.

"We had an international against Denmark earlier in the year, which was the first time the squad got to meet and play for the first time. We were beaten quite convincingly on the scoreboard, although I was trying to fit players into various positions, so the result to me was irrelevant."

"We tried to arrange another match against Finland in May, but due to a lack of Finns who were available, it was cancelled. Instead, we played Stockholm Dynamite - a united squad from all the Stockholm based teams. We won that game by a close margin, but once again the focus was to see how players responded in various positions. In June we have a national 9’s tournament. Another chance for all players throughout the country to get together and play with and against each other."

"All players will arrive a week early to Australia to acclimatise and train prior to the tournament."

The Swedes will play Canada, New Zealand and Finland in the opening rounds. All three of those have met the Elks in the past - Canada and NZ at the International Cup, and Finland as one of their regular European rivals.

McClaer says the Elks are happy with the format to some extent. "We would have preferred to play against teams that we have not played against in previous ICs, but we will be able to gauge the development of the other nations and ourselves since we have played against NZ, Canada and Finland in the past. We would like to play the USA, as Jay Levesque - brother of former Elk Ross Levesque - has been selected for them and he learnt most of his ‘good’ football in Sweden!"

"Playing in Mordialloc will be exciting for all the players to witness first hand AFL at grassroots level, something that they could relate too. At the IC11 we had a chance for the boys to train with both Williamstown and Manly. The players were super impressed with the professionalism and ability of the Williamstown squad but enjoyed the Manly sessions due to ability to ‘level’ it with those players."

"We think that NZ will be difficult, Canada possible and Finland doable. So we are looking to consolidate our position within the top 10 teams in the world. We have a young and inexperienced squad on an international scene, so to do that would be a success."

Swedes in Australia have been a huge financial support to the Elks in preparations for the IC14, and we look forward to having a long and healthy relationship with them.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Hampus Olsson from Helsingborg started playing as a teenager. As one of Europe's best young players, he has been selected in the European Legion Team on several occasions.

Helsingborg veteran Andreas Svensson will this year return for his fourth IC, having appeared at the 2002 event with Denmark and with his native Sweden in 2008 and 2011. Although now over 40 years of age, former tournament World All Star Svensson still holds his own with the young up and comers.

Newly graduated firefighter Chris Mårtensson is described as having the physique and mindset of a Bull on the field. From a basketballing background, he previously competed on the Swedish version of TV action show Gladiators, where he set the all-time point record for a competitor. He has been involved in every Elks squad since the EM10 in Sweden.

Max Skarlen, from a newly formed team in Norretälje, north of Stockholm, is rated as a great team player, with a lot of heart. He is tipped to be a key tagger and shut down type player in the Elks squad.

FULL SQUAD

Coach: Daniel McClaer (Port Malmö)
Assistant Coach: Cameron Crooks (Falun)
Runner:Per Gustavsson (Södermalm)
Team Manager: Jeremy Darke (Norrtälje)
Team Manager:Ryan Tucker (Norrtälje)
Physio: Rhineaux Sweeney (Brunswick, VIC)