World Footy News

Each year at the AFL Europe Axios Euro Cup one team seems to have its moment in the sun – a year where they reach a new height which surprises some but thrills many. In 2014, Wales finished fifth when they surprised England in their playoff. In 2013 the story was host nation France reaching the final. Norway had the European footy world talking when they won the Euro Plate in their debut year.

The “feel good” story from the 2015 event in Umag, Croatia, could well be Austria. Their seventh placing overall was their best performance ever at a Euro Cup. Michael Jud, captain of the Austrian Avalanche national team has been through the lows in the past, but was delighted to talk about this high.

“Before the Euro Cup we didn't know how to feel about it, because our year was not the best one when it comes to training and games because we had to cancel a lot of sessions due to heavy rain. Furthermore, quite a lot people were almost fully booked with working, studying and becoming fathers.”

The USAFL Nationals are set to get underway in Austin Texas this weekend.  USAFL matches have been underway since early in the year but for most clubs all those games are the warm-up for this tournament.  This year 36 men's teams and 9 women's teams from all over the US will battle it out in warm conditions at Onion Creek Soccer complex in Austin.

The Austin Crows will be favourites in their own backyard to take the title as they did here two years ago, their most likely rival in the final is set to be the reigning champions the New York Magpies.  Don't be surprised though if Austin's neighbours in the Dallas Magpies can work some magic to make it an all Texas affair in the final.  In the Women's Division the Denver Lady Bulldogs are looking to go 6 in a row but will face stiff competition from the other four teams in their division.

Read on for all the details on the schedule of events, the pools, my predictions and the USAFL Weekly Report show schedule for the Nationals. 

Following in the wake of fellow AFL listed countrymen, Majak Daw at North Melbourne and Aliir Aliir at the Sydney Swans, two more Sudanese footballers have set their sights firmly on succeeding at the highest level. Their results at the recent AFL Draft Combine prove conclusively that they will give everything they have to give and more.

Mabior Chol and Gach Nyuon (pictured) are both very similar in many ways. Both were born in Sudan and both saw their families flee their home countries and spend time in camps elsewhere. Gach’s family spent time in refugee camps in both Kenya and Ethiopia before his journey brought him to Melbourne as a seven year old.

Mabior’s family also fled, via Egypt. Leaving the war in Sudan as a two year old, violence saw his family leave Egypt when he was eight for Brisbane.

The Northern Territory Top End summer footy season roared back into life last weekend with four Premier league matches to kick off 2015. The NTFL (Northern Territory Football League) got off to a flyer with a triple header at TIO Stadium in Darwin, with the showcase of the round being the traditional Grand Final rematch from the previous season – Wanderers against St Mary’s.

The feature match was a thriller, and treated the crowd to an exciting come from behind win to last year’s premiers – Wanderers. The St Mary’s crew skipped out to a five point lead by quarter time, despite only having three scoring shots to eight. The adage of bad kicking being bad football was on display as Wanderers squandered opportunities whilst the Saints made the most of theirs kicking three straight to Wanderers one goal seven behinds.

The 2015 Euro Cup is now but a memory and the players, officials, supporters and families have started the journeys home. In another year from now we will start again, somewhere. But now we have a chance to look at how each nation performed at the event.

 

Denmark:

As close to faultless as a team could get. Won their Pool B matches against Austria and the Peace team by huge margins, then mauled the host team, Croatia, in the semi-final stage. Gave England a decent headstart in the final before powering home and away by 21 points. Little more could have gone right to make this two years of Danish dominance.

 

The women’s team fell only at the final hurdle, proving too good for Norway, Croatia and France, However, they went down heavily in the final to England suggesting a gulf between their own best and the best women in Europe.

 

The Danish men’s footy team has etched themselves into the history books by becoming just the third team to win back to back titles after England (2008/09) and Ireland (2011/12). The Danes were terrific in taking out the title in Umag. The women’s title was taken by the England Vixens, defeating the Danish girls in their final.

 

In a tough final, heavily effected by strong winds, the England team raced to an early lead before the Denmark team charged back into the game, eventually running out comfortable winners by 21 points.

 

 

Host nation Croatia held on in a thriller against Ireland for the third place battle. Germany finished in fifth place, taking out the Euro Bowl by defeating the team from France in another thriller by just three points. The Netherlands defeated the European Crusaders in the battle for ninth place to be the winners of the Euro Plate.

The Sydney Swans tonight announced they have signed Irishman Colin O’Riordan as an International Category B rookie.

O’Riordan, who turns 20 next week, is an exciting prospect who hails from Irish county Tipperary.

The 187cm talented junior was recently named Gaelic football’s young player of the year and he’s also an All-Ireland minor winner in both hurling and football and has twice earned All-Ireland honours.

Irishman Tadhg Kennelly is a favourite son of the club in modern times and along the way they have also had Brendan Murphy, Chris McKaigue and Tommy Walsh come to the club from the Emerald Isle.

Kennelly oversaw the talent combine in Ireland late last year that was the first step in getting O'Riordan into the AFL system, but all clubs have the chance to both be at the combine here as well as see O'Riordan at the combine in Melbourne.  With Internationals the draft does not come into play in terms of who gets to sign them, it is first to sign them can then officially take them in the national draft.

Meanwhile in Fiji it’s been a big Fiji Day and AFL Fiji joined in the party by holding a Fiji Day Cup Under 15s competition at the FNU Nasinu Campus in Suva. 8 boys teams and girls from 6 schools also participating. Many of the kids have been participating in Bula Kick programs, as well as in conjunction with the Fiji National Sports Commission/Ministry of Health running the Tailevu Wellness program. The Fiji Day Cup is an important stepping stone for new and young AFL Fiji talent with the possibility of national representation in the Oceania Cup up for grabs.

Less than a year ago the B M Bulls had not played their first competitive match. They were about a week away from the 2014 AFL Middle East Pre-Season Cup and were a complete unknown quality to everyone. History says that the Bulls went on to record enough wins on the day to reach the Grand Final against the Dubai Dragons.

Back then it was the Dragons team which prevailed, but the signs were clear from their first competitive day that the Bulls would not take long to develop into a competitive unit.

Today that view was vindicated when the BM Bulls reversed last year’s result and have defeated the Dubai Dragons in the 2015 AFL Middle East Pre-Season Cup.

It’s all happening in Papau New Guinea this weekend – from Gary Ablett at Boroko (Port Moresby) to the AFL Lae mens and womens grand finals.

In Port Moresby, AFL PNG is holding a Niukick Gala Day at the AFL Oval at the Bisini Grounds in Boroko. AFL Gold Coast Suns captain Gary Ablett Jnr will be joined by former NBL basketball star Jason Smith. Running this morning 9AM to noon, locals are invited to learn to kick, mark & take a spekky from the best AFL player of our time.

In Lae, the second largest city in PNG and capital of Morobe Province, the action takes place at Eriku Oval today (Saturday 10th October).

 

As the AFL season in Australia moves into the trade and pre-draft stages, two more young Irish prospects have announced themselves at the current  NAB AFL Draft Combine. At the end of last season AFL clubs willingly added Irish talent to their 2015 lists with Conor McKenna going to Essendon, Sean Hurley to Fremantle, Padraig Lucey to Geelong, Cian Hanley to Brisbane and Paddy Brophy to West Coast.

 

Whilst the North American experiment is in a state of limbo with Eric Wallace being delisted by North Melbourne and the possibility of Mike Pyke retiring, the Irish contingent continues to blossom. The following article from www.afl.com.au introduces the progress of two more Irish candidates.

 

 

IRISH prospects Darragh Joyce and Colin O'Riordan have created plenty of interest at the NAB AFL Draft Combine, with the teenagers considered strong chances to earn international rookie contracts

After the trauma and tragedy of Cyclone Pam earlier this year - for AFL Vanuatu the footy has helped provide a focus to return to normality. The season reaches its conclusion this weekend and that in itself is a victory given the starting point. Along with the AFL Vanuatu decider - this week has also seen AFL Vanuatu again playing host to a contingent from Adelaide's Concordia College.