World Footy News

In less than two weeks the AFL Middle East Pre-Season Cup will be held in Dubai at the Sevens Stadium. October 9th signals the start of the new season as teams begin to flex their sleepier muscles and brush of the cobwebs ready to see which club will be the next champion.

Last year’s Pre-Season Cup saw the Dubai Dragons play the newcomers, the BM Bulls, in the final. At the time many thought it might be a “flash in the pan” performance, yet just a few months later those same two clubs went on to contest the 2014/15 premiership. Certainly, a good performance at the pre-season event can be a guide to what might follow.

President of AFL Middle East, Matt Burn, was happy to give a bit of a run down on what followers might expect for the new season.
“I think the Dragons will not have it their own way this season. They are now very much the hunted, more than ever. The Bulls will have learnt a lot from their first season in the competition and have picked up a few handy recruits. The Falcons were the unlucky side last season and have had a big pre- season, training strongly for the past two months. Doha is a bit of the unknown and coach Pitre likes to play his cards close to his chest. The Dingoes have good numbers again and will be their usual strong competitive selves.”

“Unfortunately the Muscat Magpies are not back, again struggling with numbers and the Gaelic players can only commit to one league which will be the GAA for 2015/16. They are still involved with the competition and some teams will travel there for a scratch match and weekend away. There are even plans for an International Rules one day tournament during the season involving all teams including Muscat.”

Captain of the BM Bulls, Andrew Campbell, has watched over his club’s first off-season and likes what he sees. “From the 1st of September the Bulls were back with the footys sharpening up the skills. We have welcomed a few new recruits to the team and are seeing pleasing numbers of around 20 at training – a huge improvement on last year. The group is extremely tight this year and we are expecting this camaraderie to be our strongest asset which will make the Bulls a very tough outfit to overcome.”

“Last year we promised we would come back bigger and stronger and we are doing just that.”

The eyes of the Middle East Australian football world will turn to Dubai for the Pre-Season Cup before moving to the Round One clashes on 23rd October when the Doha kangaroos host the Abu Dhabi Falcons and the BM Bulls take on the Dubai Dingoes in the season’s first local Dubai derby.

The season will conclude next year with the Grand Final to be played on 11th March, most likely at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai.