World Footy News

The second annual AFL Europe Algarve 9’s tournament was again held in Vilamoura, Portugal, on the weekend. The Algarve is the region in the far south of Portugal, on the Atlantic Ocean, and is a tourism mecca with some stunning coastal scenery. It is also a new home for Australian Rules football after holding the 9’s event for the past two years.

Last year’s winners, The Flying Dutchmen, the Netherlands (DAFA) national team returned to the scene of last year’s success hoping for back to back titles. But it wasn’t to be. This year the team from Portugal took the honours.

Final score:
Kernahandles (Lisbon Dockers) 147 d Flying Dutchmen 52

 

The Irish Independent newspaper reports that Kildare product, Sean Hurley, will join the club for the 2015 season. Almost buried under the activity of Free Agency and Trade Week, the news is welcomed by the Dockers’ community.

 

According to the Independent, “Kildare footballer Sean Hurley is the latest footballer to try his luck Down Under by signing for AFL side Fremantle. Kildare manager Jason Ryan confirmed that the Johnstownbridge player will not be part of the senior panel next season.”

 

 

“Hurley made his debut for the Lilywhites in 2011 and participated in the draft combine two years ago. He had a trial with the Dockers at the end of 2013 but is now hoping it will be a case of second time lucky.”

The Madrid Bears Australian Football Club has hosted an international match over the weekend with the Manchester Mosquitoes headed south for a visit to Spain. The match was played at the Rugby fields at the Autonomous University of Madrid (AUM – Universidad Autonoma de Madrid).

For the Madrid team, the opportunity for some of their players to play another competitive match so soon after the Euro Cup in London would be invaluable for the game’s progress in the country. For the Mozzies, they would still be riding on the crest of a wave after winning the AFLCNE premiership just a couple of months ago.

On the day it was the Manchester Mosquitoes that were far too accomplished for their Spanish rivals.

Final Score: Manchester Mosquitoes 17 12 114 d Madrid Bears AFC 2 7 19

The Farum Cats have played off in ten of the past eleven Grand Finals in the Danish Australian Football League, for seven premierships, including the last four in a row – the last three of which have not included a single Australian player in the team. One of the club's founders, Ian Hill, takes a look at the history of the club and how their domination of the league has come about.

The Farum Australian Football club was first formed in the 1994-1995 DAFL off-season. Jim Campion and I had been playing for a few years with Copenhagen-based clubs in the league which was at the time mostly all about the three big-city teams based in the Danish capital. Farum is a regional town of 20,000 people located 20 kilometres north-west of central Copenhagen. Jim was living there (still does) and I was working there and living 12 kms further west in a small village called Slagslunde (still do). The commute to Copenhagen for training and games was not unreasonable, but in that off-season, Jim and I thought we would have a go at starting a new club in Farum (the actual reason behind it all is another story in itself).

The team was originally called the Farum Lions. There was a soccer team in Farum wearing red, yellow and blue at the time. That, and the FFC logo amounted to a synergy which led us to select the Fitzroy jumper and emblem, ignoring the fact that the AFL Lions were in their death throes at the time.

The Footy players from Bengal had not yet gotten over the festive spirit when they were served up another delightful treat. They got some true Aussie Footy flavour as 4 of the finest Footy players from Essendon Football Club of the AFL came down to have a joint training session with the players at Bongaon, West Bengal. The training was a part of the club’s ‘Embracing India’ initiative and true to its name, Joe Daniher, Dyson Heppell, Zach Merrett and David Zaharakis embraced the occasion in style.

Around 200 enthusiastic players from Bongaon, Kolkata, Howrah and Khardah turned up for the chance of a lifetime. Some had made a 10hr long round-trip to attend the training and their efforts did not go in vain. A few players had even made the trip from Ranchi, Jharkhand to grab this opportunity. The players were put through their paces Aussie style, and their skills with the Footy impressed even the professionals. “I was really surprised how many young boys and girls turned out for the AFL India super clinic," Daniher said."They had some pretty impressive skills. Zacka and I took them through a few drills and they didn't miss a beat, we might have even met the next Dyson Heppell or Jobe Watson today."

 

Kevin McSorley, Development Officer for Australian Rules Football League Ireland (ARFLI), has taken the game of Australian Rules football and transformed it from simply a sport to a subject of study, opening the game up to a legion of students. The club he has established in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland, has used the Start-up Club Program (SCP) grant to attract interest (and recruitment) to the game through an entirely different medium – education.

“The NRC Eagles are the college team of North Regional College, a technical college for students aged 16 plus. The team had competed in the Fitzpatrick Cup but my direction is focused more on skill development and game understanding than competition as the other similar teams in Ireland, such as DCU and UCC Bombers, are university teams meaning my students in the 16-20 year old bracket (mostly 16-18 years old) would be competing against much older players.”

The following article by Thomas Kean appeared in the Myanmar Times in September during the lead up to the Asian Championships in 2014. The work of Julian Clark has become legendary throughout Asia, and elsewhere, and this story examines his background and influence on the game, as well as his latest achievement – bringing the game to the nation of Myanmar.

 

“This is my advertisement, mate,” says Julian Clark. He tugs at his Cambodia Eagles polo shirt with one hand, a mug of cold beer recently poured from the tap at Savoy Hotel’s Captain’s Bar in the other. “My job is to use this to recruit people.”

 

 

Julian “Big Rooster” Clark, a veteran of 20 Australian Rules football seasons as an expat, has made something of a career out of nurturing new teams wherever his work as an engineer has taken him. 

 

Who would have thought that an eight week old club could reach the grand final of a long established competition in their maiden outingω Well, that’s exactly what happened in Dubai when the BM Bulls, the newest team in the AFL Middle East competition, reached the Grand Final against the Dubai Dragons. It was a highlight of a great day for AFL Middle East, and a carnival which has fans and organisers alike looking forward to a huge season for 2014/15.

 

 

Congratulations go to the Dubai Dragons. Keen to make a statement after missing their chance at a third consecutive premiership last year, losing to the Doha Kangaroos, the Dragons went through the event undefeated to add more silverware to their collection.

 

The Philippines Australian Football League proudly hosted the 2014 Asian Championships last weekend where teams met to decide which was the best Australian Rules football nation in Asia. Described as “the pinnacle of the AFL Asia calendar”, it was the Singapore Wombats who revelled in the glory of being 2014 champions.

 

The event was somewhat sandwiched between the battle for European supremacy (Euro Cup) and North American bragging rights (USAFL Nationals) but drew a strong and enthusiastic following for a great day’s football.

 

 

Following are the results from the 2014 Asian Champs that were held in Clark, Philippines on 11 October 2014. 

 

Touring teams provide AFL New Zealand High Performance players with the best opportunity to test and push their skills, and VAFA were certainly effective at that. With the annual two game series this year the Ammos certainly provided some lessons to the Kiwis in how to play footy.

However, the experience gained by the New Zealand players will be invaluable in their journeys as AFL players and athletes. Many of the players in this side will go on to be Senior New Zealand Hawks representatives, a few already have been. For now, many players within the squad will be returning to club matches around the country, and will be in a fantastic position to apply what they have learnt through regular time on the field.

In the first game of the series played in slippery wet conditions, the VAFA were unstoppable moving the ball into the attacking area, and were simply too classy despite a valiant effort from the New Zealanders.

The International Cup held in Melbourne sadly lacked a NZ Women’s team but the NZ U 18 Kahu recently completed their two game series for the AFL International Youth Girls’ Cup against the Australian U 18 national side, The Breeze.

Though the results were totally one-sided it provided the Australian girls with a chance to represent their country and a way for the New Zealanders’ to benchmark their development.

The first game was played with a fiercely competitive spirit, with both teams playing their hearts out until the final hooter. The result was a large win to Australia, with the talent and class of their players evident throughout the game. At no stage though did the Kahu ease off on the pressure, and they made it clear to the Breeze that they were in a contest.