World Footy News

The Paris Cockatoos have created all kinds of history in the CNFA Grand Final in Bordeaux, France, when they defeated the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes by 20 points – 110 to 90. Not only did they win their first ever premiership, but they did it in their very first season as a club, ostensibly having grown out of the bigger “brothers”, the Paris Cockerels, only last year.

Regardless of how the Cockatoos arrived on the French football scene, it is a remarkable achievement in any sport to reach the highest level of success in an inaugural season. Credit must go to the Cockatoos, the Paris Cockerels and the CNFA for having the foresight to develop another club in Paris, and to do it so well that the new entity was blessed with the talent and belief to go all the way.
In a tight match from the outset, the Cockatoos and the Coyotes threw themselves relentlessly at each other and it was not until the final 10 or so minutes of the match that the Cockatoos were able to get enough of a break to hold the unlucky Coyotes at bay until the final siren.

The result is a potential windfall for the CNFA. With many new clubs developing, such as the Brittany Griffins and the new Blagnac Aviators in Toulouse, and others at varying stages of development, the success of the Cockatoos in their first season send a message of belief to any new club – success is possible.

For the Coyotes it will be a bitter pill to swallow as all Grand Final losses are. But with their first Grand Final experience behind them the Coyotes can now grow from the experience and set their sights on next season confident in the knowledge that they are good enough to get that far and with an ounce of luck can go further.

But for now the Paris Cockatoos are the toast of the Australian Rules football world in France and they have now earned the right to revel in the occasion for a while before getting back to the reality of preparing for a brand new season later this year.