World Footy News

With the end of 2012 worldfootynews.com has its annual reflection on the year gone by.  In many ways non-International Cup years are much quieter than their triennial counterparts.  Typically there are far fewer international matches played as nations and players count the cost of travel and have less pressing need to hone their squads.  But still, happily, there has been plenty to report from across the world, in fact too much for us to do justice to (even with over 400 articles published), so apologies to all those that feel they had a worthy story that didn't get the attention it deserved.

Undoubtedly the biggest ongoing success story in 2012 was the South Pacific.  When once it was only New Zealand and Papua New Guinea that gained much attention, now there has been a steady stream of good news from Fiji, Nauru, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Tonga.  But NZ and PNG also had big news stories, especially with the AFL announcing the first ever overseas match for premiership points will be played on ANZAC Day 2013 in Wellington (NZ), and Gideon Simon (PNG, pictured) becoming the first player who learnt the game outside of Australia to make it onto an AFL list.

Despite less press the Irish also dominated the international side of Aussie Rules, with numerous players now successfully making careers in the AFL, whilst back home the men's and women's sides took out the Euro Cup double.

Here's a skim through of some of the highlights from this author's perspective.

New Zealand was a constant source of good news, especially with both Hawthorn and then St Kilda focussing their attention "across the ditch".  The Hawks added another international scholarship player and also assisted some Kiwis whilst they were in Melbourne training.  Ultimately there was confirmation that Kurt Heatherley will be rookie listed at the end of 2013.  And of course all year there were increasingly confident reports that the first ever AFL match to be staged for premiership points outside of Australia would be held in Wellington, New Zealand in 2013.  It was tremendous late in the year to finally see it announced as in the 2013 fixture and even better was the final announcement towards the end of 2012 that it would be an ANZAC Day match and, if all parties are satisfied, extended for at least two more years, with St Kilda also intending to be active at community level. 

Back to early 2012 and the AFL announced that the AIS/AFL Academy would split into two squads and that the older Level 1 squad would play New Zealand, and it even included several Kiwis heading back from Australia for the match. 

In Europe the AFL Germany now included teams in 6 cities, three of which have local feeder leagues.

The to and fro of Irish players continued with less fanfare and probably in the public eye it has become less of a novelty and perhaps not seen as so significant.  Marty Clarke successfully returned for Collingwood, but Setanta O'hAilpin wrecked his knee at GWS Giants and Irish International Cup winning player John Heslin headed home in his first year at Richmond.  Most probably thought Setanta's career was done and dusted but the Giants have extended his journey into 2013.  Hawthorn rookied Ciarán Kilkenny and there was the Collingwood debut of Caolan Mooney, whilst Pearce Hanley (Brisbane) and Zac Tuohy (Carlton) became accomplished performers.  A highlight was in July when a new record was set for the most Irish players (five) to play in a single round of the AFL.  That could easily extend to 6 or 7 in 2013.  Of course there was a very sombre period after the passing of Jim Stynes from cancer - a great of both Ireland and Australian sport.

In April St Kilda announced they were set to harvest international talent with an academy (we'll have to follow that up for progress) and the European Legion (mostly under 20) and Titans (open) played the AIS/AFL Academy in London and Paris (of course losing very badly but at least connecting with the top level and giving players something to aim for).

Despite their modest performance at last year’s International Cup, the GB Bulldogs can now boast something that most other countries can't answer to: the rise of two of their players, Adam Ballard and Anthony Trigg, through to VFL level. 

Increasing South Pacific talent identification occurred such as a talent camp run in New Zealand for the Oceania region, and the continued participation in the NAB AFL U16 Championships, where it was also good to see the World XVIII and South Pacific sides doing well.

A new feature in 2012 was the efforts of new AFL clubs the Gold Coast Suns and GWS Giants supporting overseas clubs to convert to their branding. Any international sides without Suns or Giants in their region and not too emotionally tied to their current logo might want to consider approaching the clubs to see if they might offer a relationship.

In June we heard about the game's growth in Canada but not just in BC and Ontario but also in the French-speaking Quebec.

The AFL showed that it was serious about finding talent in China, running an academy.  It wasn't just AFL-driven development in China, with the formation of the Dongguan Blues Football Club near Macau.

In August the AFL staged a combine in the US to find elite talent to tempt AFL club recruiting staff.  Amongst the prospects was Eric Wallace who later in the year was trialled by North Melbourne then signed as an international rookie. 

Also active internationally was a Cairns based junior Aussie Rules club called Pyramid Power.  Like a few clubs before them they decided to form a relationship with overseas footy teams but the point of difference here was the huge number of clubs that showed interest and have already formed "brother club" links with the Power.

September saw Ireland win the Euro Cup double, taking out the men's and women's titles, adding to their bulging trophy cabinet.  The tournament also saw the debut at such a large event of Norway.

With the AFL now checking out talent from around the world the next step was to invite some of the best athletes to the AFL Combine staged in Australia with the other top talent from around the country.

October featured another major breakthrough with Richmond signing Gideon Simon to their international rookie list, making him eligible to be promoted to play senior footy in 2013 and making him the first player who actually learnt the game outside of Australia to get on to an AFL list.

The AFL announced their census results which included a 10% increase in internationally registered players (including Auskick-style) to 110,292.  We hope to break out those numbers in more detail in the next few weeks.

2012 also saw a return to London for an AFL exhibition match, with Port Adelaide coming from behind to beat the Western Bulldogs in a thriller, with a curtain raiser of European Islands defeating the European Continent in a new representative concept for the region.   Also in Europe Belgian footy restarted after 5 years hiatus

The US Nationals would've been another great success but were marred by the controversial disqualification of the winning team Dallas Magpies and the title being vacated, meaning no men's Division 1 champion in 2012.  The USAFL deemed Dallas had played an ineligible player who was a key member of the side - Jason Sutherland was an active member of Central District Football Club in Adelaide's SANFL competition (state league level) for their entire season which ended October 7.  Besides losing the title the USAFL Board also directed Dallas issue an apology, which they did but in a way that indicated little contrition.  The Women's title had no such problems and was won by the Denver Bulldogs, maintaining the proud tradition of strong Denver teams.

Perhaps disappointing for the promotion of the game in the South Pacific was the departure from AFL of former Rugby League star Izzy Folau after a two year dalliance with the sport.  His time in the game certainly earnt him a lot of money and gained the AFL a lot of promotional value across Australia and parts of the Pacific, though on field he clearly failed to grasp what was required to play the sport well.

Besides the Academy in China and the formation of the Dongguan Blues, the Japan AFL continued on steadily and the many expat-based clubs came together for their annual Asian Championships, with Hong Kong the winners this year.  In terms of any further significant grassroots gains we didn't hear too much from Asia other than perhaps Timor Leste.  One area that showed promise which we'll have to chase up in 2013 is Indonesia.

Sadly big America Shae McNamara was de-listed by Collingwood, never getting further than a NAB Cup game, despite being quite accomplished at VFL level.  We've interviewed Shae about his time here and should have that up soon.

2012 was also a very successful year for footy in India.  After the rebirth that saw a team get to the 2011 International Cup it was time to get down to the business of sustainable local football in India.  Reclink Australia and Global Community Sports were key organisations in developing local teams and with them AFL India organised its first ever local tournament, with former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh as patron.  Another interesting development tha could prove a crucial link between footy in India and Australia was the founding of the Masala Football Club in Melbourne.  Aimed mostly at Indians living in Melbourne and with ties to key people from India's IC11 campaign, it will no doubt work with AFL India on many projects in the years to come.  The Richmond Tigers also linked with AFL India to support them and launch an Indian / Richmond Tigers supporters group, and another exciting possibility is an AFL exhibition match in India, although nothing is firm as yet.

Canadian Mike Pyke, who started the year hoping for a regular spot as Sydney's number two ruckman, ended the year in such style that at 3/4 quarter time of the 2012 AFL Grand Final the Swans were confident enough to sub out number one ruckman Shane Mumford and rely on Pyke to ruck them home to victory in a nailbiter.  The former Rugby international performed with distinction, knowing he had no real backup, and duly received widespread plaudits after the match.  It was a fairytale almost too good to be true - perhaps the twist will be that this author maintains that Pyke will struggle to reach such heights again with former Crow Kurt Tippett likely to take his spot when his suspension ends midway through 2013 - but as Pyke has shown several knockers already, do not underestimate him. 

The 49th Parallel Cup between the US and Canada saw one of the few full-field matches in men's internationals in 2012.  Once again the Revolution was too strong for the Northwind, maintaining what seems like a hoodoo over the Canadians.  The women of the north are not always so constrained, but this year the Northern Lights went down to the USA Freedom.

Come December and pre-season was in full swing for the AFL but there were still things on in international footy.  A good news story almost turned bad was the Youth Oceania Cup in Fiji.  With nations gathered and games underway Cyclone Evan was suddenly bearing down but fortunately the main islands of Fiji were mostly spared and the tournament even completely with minor changes.  The locals came out on top and the best of the players will now go on to compete for the South Pacific Cup. This will be played against PNG and NZ alongside the AFL Indigenous championships in April 2013.

Late in the year there was also good news out of South Africa with several new grounds converted to Aussie Rules ovals and confirmation that numbers are up.

So, as we often say, a big year in international footy.  Vote in our poll as to what you reckoned was the best international footy occurrence of 2012.

As said earlier, because international footy is now so diverse and widely spread, and our resources spread thinly,  we're bound to miss some significant achievements, either on a larger scale or great local happenings.  Did we miss something special?  Got your own favourite?  Let us know by posting a comment on this story.