IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

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IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Wednesday, July 16 2008 @ 12:22 pm ACST
Contributed by: Brett Northey
Views: 15,258

The Australian Football League has released the much anticipated draw for the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. The AFL had felt a two division format was most likely (effectively separated between elite and developing nations), with anywhere between 12 and 18 teams on the cards. But with the final number of teams coming in at 16, and most of them wishing to play in the main draw, a late decision was made to merge them into one division. This gives the tournament a very fair structure, with 4 pools of 4 teams, each side playing the others within their pool once, with the top team in each going through to the main semi-finals (and similarly lower finishing teams playing off against each other).

The previously alluded to Multicultural section outside the main draw has also been released, with "Team Africa" representing Melbourne's recent African immigrants and playing three matches, against each of South Africa (as a practice game for them), Tonga (unable to commit to the full draw) and "Team Asia".

The pools:

Rank	Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
1	New Zealand	PNG	USA	Ireland
2	Samoa	Great Britain	South Africa	Canada
3	Japan	Nauru	Denmark	Sweden
4	India	Peace Team	China	Finland

All the rounds, times and venues are listed below.

The pool rounds:

Round 1 - Wednesday, 27 August		Melbourne
Match-up	Pool	Venue	Time
Ireland vs Sweden	D	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	11:00am
New Zealand vs Japan	A	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	11:00am
Canada vs Finland	D	Royal Park - Western Oval	11:00am
Samoa vs India	A	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	1:00pm
Great Britain vs Peace Team	B	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	1:00pm
USA vs Denmark	C	Royal Park - Western Oval	1:00pm
South Africa vs China	C	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	3:00pm
PNG vs Nauru	B	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	3:00pm

Round 2 - Fri 29 / Sat 30 August		Melbourne
Match-up	Pool	Venue	Time
Ireland vs Finland	D	Royal Park - Western Oval	11:00am Fri 29th Aug
USA vs China	C	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	11:00am Fri 29th Aug
Great Britain vs Nauru	B	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	11:00am Fri 29th Aug
PNG vs Peace Team	B	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	1:00pm Fri 29th Aug
Samoa vs Japan	A	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	1:00pm Fri 29th Aug
New Zealand vs India	A	Royal Park - Western Oval	1:00pm Fri 29th Aug
Canada vs Sweden	D	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	3:00pm Fri 29th Aug
South Africa vs Denmark	C	St Mary's, Geelong	12:00pm Sat 30th Aug

Round 3 - Monday 1 September		Warrnambool
Match-up	Pool	Venue	Time
Ireland vs Canada	D	Reid Oval	11:00am
New Zealand vs Samoa	A	Walter Oval	11:00am
Sweden vs Finland	D	Mack Oval	11:00am
USA vs South Africa	C	Reid Oval	1:00pm
PNG vs Great Britain	B	Walter Oval	1:00pm
Japan vs India	A	Mack Oval	1:00pm
Denmark vs China	C	Reid Oval	3:00pm
Nauru vs Peace Team	B	Walter Oval	3:00pm

The finals:

Top 4	5th - 8th	9th - 12th	13th - 16th
1st Pool A	2nd Pool A	3rd Pool A	4th Pool A
1st Pool B	2nd Pool B	3rd Pool B	4th Pool B
1st Pool C	2nd Pool C	3rd Pool C	4th Pool C
1st Pool D	2nd Pool D	3rd Pool D	4th Pool D

Round 4 - Wednesday, 3 September		Warrnambool
Match-up	Final	Venue	Time
3rd Pool A vs 3rd Pool D	3	Mack Oval	1:00pm
4th Pool A vs 4th Pool D	1	Reid Oval	1:00pm
2nd Pool B vs 2nd Pool C	6	Walter Oval	1:00pm
4th Pool B vs 4th Pool C	2	Mack Oval	3:00pm
3rd Pool B vs 3rd Pool C	4	Reid Oval	3:00pm
2nd Pool A vs 2nd Pool D	5	Walter Oval	3:00pm
1st Pool A vs 1st Pool D	7	Reid Oval	5:30pm
1st Pool B vs 1st Pool C	8	Reid Oval	7:30pm

This now means:

Round 4 - Wednesday, 3 September		Warrnambool
Match-up	Final	Venue	Time
Samoa vs Sweden	3	Mack Oval	1:00pm
India vs Finland	1	Reid Oval	1:00pm
Nauru vs USA	6	Walter Oval	1:00pm
Peace Team vs China	2	Mack Oval	3:00pm
Great Britain vs Denmark	4	Reid Oval	3:00pm
Japan vs Canada	5	Walter Oval	3:00pm
New Zealand vs Ireland	7	Reid Oval	5:30pm
PNG vs South Africa	8	Reid Oval	7:30pm

Round 5 - Friday 5 September		Melbourne
Match-up	Rank	Venue	Time
Winner Final 1 vs Winner Final 2	13th/14th	Royal Park - Western Oval	10:00am
Winner Final 3 vs Winner Final 4	9th/10th	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	10:00am
Winner Final 5 vs Winner Final 6	5th/6th	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	10:15am
Loser Final 3 vs Loser Final 4	11th/12th	Royal Park - Western Oval	11:45am
Loser Final 5 vs Loser Final 6	7th/8th	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	11:45am
Loser Final 7 vs Loser Final 8	3rd/4th	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	12:00pm
Loser Final 1 vs Loser Final 2	15th/16th	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	1:45pm

This now means:

Round 5 - Friday 5 September		Melbourne
Match-up	Rank	Venue	Time
Finland vs Peace Team	13th/14th	Royal Park - Western Oval	10:00am
Great Britain vs Samoa	9th/10th	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	10:00am
Nauru vs Canada	5th/6th	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	10:15am
Sweden vs Denmark	11th/12th	Royal Park - Western Oval	11:45am
USA vs Japan	7th/8th	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	11:45am
Ireland vs South Africa	3rd/4th	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	12:00pm
India vs China	15th/16th	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	1:45pm

Grand Final - Friday 5 September		Melbourne
Match-up	Rank	Venue	Time
Winner Final 7 vs Winner Final 8	1st/2nd	MCG	5:10pm

This now means:

Grand Final - Friday 5 September		Melbourne
Match-up	Rank	Venue	Time
New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea	1st/2nd	MCG	5:10pm

MULTICULTURAL CHALLENGE MATCHES
Match-up	Date	Venue	Time
Team Africa vs South Africa	23rd August	Gosch's Paddock	10:30am
Team Africa vs Team Asia	29th August	Royal Park - McAlister	3:00pm
Team Africa vs Team Asia	1st September	Warrnambool - Mack	3:00pm
Team Africa vs Tonga	5th September	Royal Park - McAlister	1:30pm

* Fixture subject to change.
** Some matches were moved ovals to present the anticipated best match/closest match on the best oval for spectator viewing (these changes will be reflected in this timetable once determined).
*** Grand Final was originally scheduled for Saturday 6th Sep but moved to Friday 5th when there was no AFL final scheduled for the MCG.

What do you think of the draw?

Later today we'll present an analysis of the draw and invite reader feedback.

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools | 10 comments | Create New Account

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IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: Sean Finlayson
on Wednesday, July 16 2008 @ 02:39 pm ACST

What happened to the USA's jumper ? New design looks crap. Their old one looked so good, so why change it ?

Not a great way to start the tournament ... Expect to see some whallopings in round one. Ireland will embarass Sweden, ditto NZ over Japan, Canda over Finland, Samoa over India, Britain over Peace Team and South Africa over China.

Some terribly inaccessible times for spectators also. Good to see at least one night match scheduled. You'd think if they had the lights, they'd consider using them for more matches.

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: Ian Hill
on Wednesday, July 16 2008 @ 03:11 pm ACST

Ireland v Sweden won't be so bad. Recently Denmark went down to Ireland by 20 points and only "comfortably defeated" Sweden. The real worries will be New Zealand v India (a good cricket match up, but hey, this is Australian Football), PNG v Peace Team (so much for the peace), USA v China (an interesting match-up politically, but OUCH!), and Ireland v Finland (omigod).
They're going to need a mercy rule.

Also I think teams should be pooled with neighbouring teams as little as possible. There are five European teams so surely only two of them should have been in one pool with the other three spread out. They have Ireland, Sweden and Finland in one pool - particularly disappointing those two neighbours who already meet regularly. What's the point? Should have swapped Sweden and Japan.

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: conyers
on Wednesday, July 16 2008 @ 03:39 pm ACST

I agree with Ian, you should definetly seperate the regions similar to the FIFA world cup. You can still have seedings so this should not have happened.
I am happy that they went with 1 division even though i think the bottow teams in each group will be taught a lesson.
Pool C will be interesting, obviously China will be out classed but the other 3 games could go either way depending on how much South Africa has improved.

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: Michael Christiansen
on Wednesday, July 16 2008 @ 03:49 pm ACST

agreed US jumper looks like a training top - the old one was impressive, almost awe inspiring.

I like the Denmark Rnd 2 match down in Geelong - further cementing that relationship.

The 1 division, well - - if that's what was requested, then, that's what they get. I hope the Chinese and Indian teams have had a crash course in (surviving) getting tackled, bumped, etc.

Agreed Pool C looks for 3 out of 4 to be a ripper pool, NZ look clearly ahead in Pool A (unless it rains, heavily, which might suit the lower to the ground Japanese unit!!). Ireland, one would assume would still be well ahead of Canada (the N-W delta juniors aren't old enough yet), and PNG, gotta be clear favourites, although one would hope the Brits are developing better 'home grown' talent.

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: Erik
on Wednesday, July 16 2008 @ 05:01 pm ACST

Must admit that I don't think the setup is ideal. I mean if you lose one game you are more or less certain "only" to play for 5th. to 8th. spot. In 2002 and 2005 you could still make 3rd spot.
And I agree with Ian and the lot. Why travel 16.000 K (in Swedens case) only to play your next door neigbour Finland who they have played within the last month?
Surely it would be more interesting to messure your progress against other teams from around the world.

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Honey?? Pass me that muffin will you?

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Honey?? Pass me that muffin will you?

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: John Enright
on Wednesday, July 16 2008 @ 07:33 pm ACST

No offense to the Americans but the new jersey is horrible... They should have stuck to the original design - it was a lot nicer!! I think the Canadian and Finnish jerseys are far and away the nicest!!

Have teams got clash strips? I think our clash strip is is a white on black with the same graphics!

John

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John Enright
http://www.arfli.com

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John Enright
http://www.arfli.com

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: Julian Clark
on Wednesday, July 16 2008 @ 08:10 pm ACST

You are right - particularly the Finland jumpers !!!

Apparently the creator of the Finland jumper also had Miss Australia wearing one of his creations in the "traditional national costume" section of the recent Miss Universe competition.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hanoiswans/2645590778/sizes/o/

Now that's publicity !!!

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John Enright
http://www.arfli.com

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: Troy Thompson
on Friday, July 18 2008 @ 09:11 am ACST

Geelong Addy story today on the game at St Marys.

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John Enright
http://www.arfli.com

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: Michael Robinson
on Tuesday, August 19 2008 @ 10:52 am ACST

The game this Saturday between Team Africa and South Africa will be played at Gosch's Paddock (Collingwood's training ground) Cnr Punt Road and Swan St Richmond from 10:30am

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John Enright
http://www.arfli.com

IC08 draw - 16 teams, 1 division, 4 pools

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Wednesday, August 20 2008 @ 11:22 pm ACST

Thanks, your info is correct. There's now 4 such matches scheduled:

MULTICULTURAL CHALLENGE MATCHES
Match-up	Date	Venue	Time
Team Africa vs South Africa	23rd August	Gosch's Paddock	10:30am
Team Africa vs Team Asia	29th August	Royal Park - McAlister	3:00pm
Team Africa vs Team Asia	1st September	Warrnambool - Mack	3:00pm
Team Africa vs Tonga	5th September	Royal Park - McAlister	3:30pm

---
Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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