World Footy News

Divisional seedings are out (with some controversy) and the smack talk between US clubs is hotting up in the lead-up to the biggest club championship tournament in the world of Aussie Rules, coming up this weekend of October 1-2 in Milwaukee. 3 divisions of 8 teams will compete in the mens' event, with the women's championship for the first time featuring four teams. World Footy News previews the US Nationals, with some tips from the author.

DIVISION 1 -

Pool A: Denver, Boston, Chicago, San Diego
Pool B: Dallas, New York, Arizona, Milwaukee

San Diego have moved back to division 1 after controversially being seeded in division 2, with many pundits rating them one of the best teams to play in the USA in recent times after their performance at the second western regional tournament of this year. Eventually their place was traded with the Orange County Bombers, who it appears volunteered to move back into division 2. Presumably San Diego had been left out due to their poor form at the first Western regionals. The regionals had been designed to sort out issues of seedings, but with teams still sending weaker sides or not attending, problems obviously remain. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call to the West and 2006 will see a more formal league established.

Denver look very hard to beat as always, and would be favourites at this point, but MAAFL premiers Dallas and EAFL premiers New York have plenty to prove. After the seeding controversy, San Diego will need to go very close to justify their elevation - from all reports they will be up to the task.

My tip is a Denver - New York Final, with the Dogs too strong.

DIVISION 2 -

Pool A: Orange County, Philadelphia, North Carolina, Seattle
Pool B: Golden Gate, St. Louis, Baltimore/Washington, Florida

Division 2 will be a tough crowd to judge. OC are always strong, but there are a few wild cards in Seattle and Golden Gate who are rarely seen by other US sides. Seattle performed well in games against Canadian opposition this year, but relative strength between the clubs in the top-left corner and those in the MAAFL or EAFL is tough to judge.

The Florida Redbacks had a great first season in the EAFL, surprising many with their standard in a relatively early period of development. If they bring a strong squad to Milwaukee, they might raise a few more eyebrows yet.

I'm tipping an OC - Florida final, with the Bombers coming out on top.

DIVISION 3 -

Pool A: Cincinnati/Pittsburgh, Milwaukee B, Kansas City/Louisville, Baton Rouge
Pool B: Atlanta/New York B, Minnesota, Vancouver, Golden Gate B/Mojave

Division 3 showcases some fresh development sides, with the Minnesota Freeze, Mojave Greens, Baton Rouge Tigers and Vancouver Cougars fronting for their first nationals appearance. For Vancouver it opens significant doors as they will be the first Canadian side to appear at the nationals, raising rumours about a North American club championship tournament to be created in future.

Atlanta have slipped from division 1 to division 3 in the space of a year, after large chunks of the squad couldn't make it this time around. Baton Rouge are coming with the help of significant support from other US clubs after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana.

My tip for this division is for Vancouver to defeat the Cincinnati/Pittsburgh crew in the final.

Women's Tournament -

After a successful introduction in 2003 and 2004, this year's Nationals will see 4 female sides battling it out for the first US women's championship. The matches will be 9-a-side and feature the reduced tackling rule known as the "wrap-up". Four teams are entered - Atlanta, Arizona, Milwaukee and Florida/Philadelphia. Players from several other cities are expected to round out numbers. As for a tip - no idea with absolutely no history to go by.

For all the information on the US Nationals, visit the US Nationals 2005 website. And for those that don't know, the host city is Milwaukee which is in the state of Wisconsin, known as the cheese state, hence the design of the logo pictured above.