Analysis by the numbers (team by team review) – Axios Euro Cup 2014

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Analysis by the numbers (team by team review) – Axios Euro Cup 2014

Authored by: Leiha Shrubsall
on Tuesday, October 07 2014 @ 09:17 pm ACDT

Evveryone keeps asking me about Denmark! How and why etc...?! When they hear how strongly they performed they want to know more. Is there a bit of a background story you could do on how they developed the team? Or a post cup review? The grand final was a delight to watch. Well done Denmark!
The Denmark women's team were also quite good given that for some of them they have only played 2-3 matches ever! Good things to come from them too, I'll be watching that space!

Analysis by the numbers (team by team review) – Axios Euro Cup 2014

Authored by: Ian Hill
on Wednesday, October 08 2014 @ 03:49 am ACDT

Leiha, Denmark is one of the oldest leagues in the world (outside Australia). Competitive footy started in 1991, after only Canada and Great Britain. But the real reason is that there has been some serious junior development since 1999. Most of the players in the Danish squad first learned the game as kids (including the coach believe it or not) - some as young as 10 or 11. It makes an enormous difference if they have first been exposed to the sport that young.

Analysis by the numbers (team by team review) – Axios Euro Cup 2014

Authored by: Michael Christiansen
on Wednesday, October 08 2014 @ 12:22 pm ACDT

Ian,
For obvious reasons PNG and NZ being close to Aust and part of Pacific pathways have an advantage, RSA due some development focus and the Irish via Gaelic. So the top 4 is a tough nut to crack. The next tier - really competitive - I'd love to think Denmark could challenge for the top rungs of this tier. But - seeing the Canadians and how seriously they (men and womens) are getting into footy - that's a serious challenge too - along with the continued improvement from Fiji and Tonga - let alone GB and the USA.
What's needed for the Danes to go the next level?

Analysis by the numbers (team by team review) – Axios Euro Cup 2014

Authored by: Ian Hill
on Wednesday, October 08 2014 @ 04:15 pm ACDT

Interesting point. You can only go so far inside your own ballpark. Probably regular competition against "the big 4" of Ireland, South Africa, PNG and NZ I guess. A bit optimistic. A good start would be an annual international against Ireland. At some point a few years back we tried to instigate an annual triangular event with Ireland and GB (who are also on a par with Denmark), but the European and International events kept getting in the way - financially I mean. All of this is still amateur so the transport for all of these trips is paid for by the players.
So obviously money would be a good start. But also some sort of formal structuring of alot of nations would also be useful because it would prevent folks from wasting resources on mismatches. It was great for the Danes to with the EC but, like the IC, there was a disturbing number of extremely one-sided games. It has to happen to a certain extent but with 16 countries now in it, maybe some seeding is needed even for humble Europe (div 1 and 2 for example).

Analysis by the numbers (team by team review) – Axios Euro Cup 2014

Authored by: Brett Northey
on Wednesday, October 08 2014 @ 11:44 pm ACDT

Congrats to Denmark, clearly still one of the strongest European nations.

But if you want to explain their success against some of the other European powerhouses we also have to be realistic and acknowledge other factors.

Their junior development is obviously crucial in that.

However it's also been pointed out that Ireland's selection policy was to NOT include anyone who played at IC14, and I suspect England would have treated it as a development opportunity too.

The top nations regard the International Cups and European Championships (full field) as the pinnacle, and the Euro Cup (9s) as a development opportunity for younger/newer players. Probably because Denmark did not attend IC14 I assume they sent the best squad they could to the Euro Cup.

So the Euro Cup is obviously a great tournament but in terms of assessing the strength of nations, you need to consider other factors as well.---
Brett Northey - Co-founder and Chief Editor of WFN

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

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