World Footy News

Andrew Werner, older brother Joe Werner and Joe's wife Katy Werner have decided to follow their sporting dreams to Australia. Joe Werner was a standout basketballer for UW Lacrosse and was also picked up as a tight end for the Green Bay Packers. In 2008 he was offered the opportunity to play for the Kilsyth Cobras in the South Eastern Australian Basketball League. This year, Joe's wife, Katy Werner, a former UW Lacrosse basketballer herself, was offered the opportunity to play for the Lady Cobras.

This week, Joe's younger brother Andrew, pictured at left with Geelong coach Mark "Bomber" Thompson, joins them both in Australia. While Joe and Katy play basketball in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Andrew will be heading to the other side of the continent and the country Western Australian town of Mt Barker to play Aussie Rules.

"My college coach's college coach, when he played in college, is now the director of coaching here at Kilsyth. Last year he called my college coach and asked if I would be interested in playing. When my coach gave me a call I said it was something I definitely wanted to learn more about. The league and club looked great and it has worked out very well. This year my wife was asked to play with the girls team as well as me with the men's team. This past weekend was our first game. Even though the season is just starting we are both loving it. Last year we really enjoyed our time here. The club is a great club and the people here are wonderful. The guys on the team are a close knit group and have welcomed us in as we have been here for a long time," says Joe. For the record, Joe's team won their first game and Katy's team lost although Katy had an outstanding game on debut for the Cobras.

Andrew has played competitive golf for the last 15 years, but took up rugby in college. At St Johns University in Minnesota, Andrew was on the varsity golf team, the club rugby team and made the state U-23 rugby team as a senior. Andrew took up footy last year, joining some friends from St Johns on the Minnesota Freeze.

According to Andrew, "I first got involved with footy upon arriving back to Minnesota after a vacation with my parents Joan and Larry to Melbourne to visit my brother Joe and his wife Katy. During our time in Melbourne Joe and I took in a game at the MCG. I had never really watched or seen a game of footy before. What intrigued me about footy was how the players were able to control the ball off their feet and how they were able to kick the ball with such precision. In college had I played four years of rugby union, but I felt like I was never able to use my leg enough on the rugby field as I grew up kicking and punting on the gridiron field, as well as playing a few years of soccer in high school. During the footy match I couldn’t help but think that this would be a really fun and exciting game to play and I decided that I would give it a try when I came back to the US. A few of my friends from SJU played for the Minnesota Freeze, so I called up Danny Hansen when I came home and asked when their next training session was. I quickly fell in love with the game and was able to get in a couple of games before heading out the Colorado for the USAFL Nationals."

Andrew is heading to Australia as part of a program developed as a partnership between WA Country Football and USFooty. The program is designed to bring American players out to Australia for the season to play for one of the clubs in the WA Country leagues. This year five Americans are heading to Australia, where they will work and play footy. Andrew has a job at a winery and will play for the Mt Barker Bulls.

"I learned about the opportunity to play WA Country footy first from Tony Fairhead this last fall while in Colorado for the 2008 USAFL National Championship. Quite a few of my friends from St. John’s, who I play with on the Minnesota Freeze, had the chance to study abroad and play footy at the campus of Notre Dame in Freemantle. They all had become good friends with Tony during their time there as Tony is greatly involved with the study abroad program there and does a great job of introducing the US students to the game of footy. Tony walked right up and introduced himself and began explaining this incredible opportunity. The following evening I also heard Dale Ballantyne’s presentation during the banquet on Saturday evening about more of the details. The next day I was finally able to chase Dale down and asked him where do I sign?" says Andrew.

Andrew is very excited about the opportunity. "This is going to be the experience of a lifetime for me. Spending close to seven months in Australia to play a sport is dream come true. One of my initial expectations out of this experience is to learn as much as I can about Australian Rules Football. I will have the opportunity to play with an entire team of guys who have played footy all their life. Also, it will be an absolutely incredible learning experience playing for Merv Neagle, former Essendon star, who is coaching the Mt. Barker Bulls, the team I will be playing for. I also hope to enjoy the experience of living in a different country for seven months, especially one as special as Australia. I’m looking forward to becoming a member of the community of Mt. Barker and I am hoping that this exciting experience will help me grow both as a footy player on the field and as an individual off the field."

Joe is also excited about this opportunity for Andrew. "I think it is a fantastic opportunity to him. To get to live in another place in the world and a chance to play a sport that he loves is fantastic. When he came to visit my wife and I last year in Melbourne he really had a good time. Now this year he will have the chance to live in Australia and get the chance to see some of the things that we talked about when we came home, about the differences from the states to Australia; things he might not have had the chance to see when he was here for a short visit last time."

All that said, Andrew is a little wary about what his new team mates are going to make of a guy from Chippewa Falls Wisconsin playing footy.

"I don’t really know what to expect as far as the team’s attitude towards having an American player on the team. I’m expecting that there will be a few different feelings towards having an American player coming in to play their national sport. I am hoping though that through the hard work I put out on the field and my dedication to learning and playing the game to the best of my ability will let the team know that I am there to compete at high level and help the team out in whatever way I can. I am also looking forward to spending some time getting to know the team off the field, as well celebrating all of the many games we’ll be winning this season."