World Footy News

In this final instalment of the International Cup vignette series – one player interviewed per team of the 25 teams at the event – we chat with Hao Zhang, legendary player and team manager of the China Dragons. We look at his Australian Rules football journey and his take on the scene in China.

“I have played footy for seven years. I started to play footy on 2007. One AFL promotion officer went to my school and attracted us to play footy and then I begin to play footy. This is my third time playing at the International Cup.”

“I am organizing the local players join this sport in South China right now. We join the SCAFL which includes Hong Kong , Macau and Guang Dong players. Also we have another local league called GDAFL which include GuangZhou, HuiZhou and DongGuan. There are about 100 players. Our team still have a long way to travel. I hope I can help the China team to be better in the future. I also hope I can help AFL to find some potential players in China.”

On purely a win/loss ratio, the Sweden team at this year’s IC14 came out in front with three wins from five starts. On that basis, the Swedes can be justifiably proud of their standing – going down heavily in two games off set by wins against Finland, Indonesia and China. The performance also highlighted some of the new breed of Swedish players, including Timothy Lindgren.

Timothy is a newcomer to the international Australian Rules scene. A product of the Port Malmö Maulers, the 17 year old represents an investment in the footy future in Sweden. Having said that, Timothy has been playing the game for 6 years, so international selection is reward for that commitment. Timothy discovered the game at such an early age due to his teacher also being the national Australian Rules coach, opening up that pathway early in his school years.

The Fiji Vonu players at this year’s IC14 can all be proud of their place in history as representatives of the first Fijian women’s national team at an International Cup. But if at all possible, Siteri Tadrau might be even more proud, being the first woman to captain that national team. Siteri shares some of her experiences with us in this interview.

“[I found Australian Rules football because] my sister informed me that her classmate who is a training personnel for AFL is looking for interested women to train for footy. Since I am a sporty person who started playing Netball since I was a kid and very much interested in keeping myself fit I decided to check it out, joined AFL training in August 2013, and the first day of learning how to handball, kick and mark I instantly fell in love with the game.”

The Big Meat Pie Nationals vs Barbarians annual footy festival day was the place to be in Honiara across the weekend - below is a report from AFL Solomon Islands.

The stage was set at King George VI for yet another historic clash between the Solomon Islands Nationals against the combined expatriate & local side – Barbarians. A hot and dry day would see plenty of rotations and test players endeavour and willpower to win the footy for their team. With several National players unavailable for selection this year the Barbarians were hoping for an upset victory and to claim the trophy for first time.

With the International Cup for 2014 complete and most teams back home recovering and getting back to normal lives, players can reflect on their journey. The Tonga Thunder finished 6th overall after a narrow finals loss to Canada, and can hold their heads high after an event which saw three wins from five games.

One of those players is Kisione Taulani, a young 17 year old midfielder in his first International Cup event. As well as playing for the Tongan national team, based in Nukalofa, Kisione is also a member of the Lauderdale Bombers Football Club in Tasmania, where he hopes to continue to develop his skills in Australian Rules football, and no doubt look to be a long term part of the Tongan national team at the next International Cup and beyond.

Much has been happening in Croatia during a hectic 2014. Some of the reports, such as the arrival of the Slavonski Brod Tigers, have been accurately reported, whilst some reports have been the subject of whispers and opinions. It was time to contact our man in Zagreb – Josip Kravar, President of the AAFC (Association of Australian Football Croatia) - to give us the good word in a wide ranging set of interviews.

New Oval

“It is not true that we have deal with University. Unfortunately we have one year to move from that ground as there will be new gym for University games 2016 that will be held in Zagreb. But, we are just building a new oval in Slavonski Brod and are in negotiations with town council for a new ground in Zagreb. I think now it is just question of place of new oval in Zagreb.”

“We are also in negotiations to go with Croatian Rugby Association and be provided with one sport centre. We are hoping that this will be future for our association and we will play 18 per side next season.”

The movie that brought footy around the world to Australia is now going offshore. Aussie Rules the World will be shown in London and Zagreb in the next two weeks. Details below or go to www.aussierulestheworld.com

The Japanese national team ventured to Melbourne hoping for success, and to leave with three wins from five starts would have bought heart to the players who made the journey. One of these players is Yuki Akita and he took some time to share his Australian Rules football journey with us.

“The first time I saw football was when I first arrived in Australia in 2002. I put TV on and there was a strange sport on a weird shaped field and a ball. I didn't pay too much attention but supported the Adelaide Crows, just because I lived in South Australia.” Though, Yuki does have a favourite quote for this – “Which AFL team do you support?” “I will tell you at the end of September!”

I started playing in 2005 when I enrolled in a University in South Australia. I was 19 years old. I used to hate playing footy, because I didn't understand the rules very well, couldn't bounce the ball or kick the footy properly. I am also short, so often lost the marking contest. However, a life changing opportunity came in the summer of 2005, when my friend invited me to go to training at Modbury Hawks Football Club (SA). It was difficult to start off not being able to kick and bounce properly.”

Here we've put together some statistics on the 2014 International Cup as well as past tournaments.  Some are important numbers, some are useless trivia.

Feel free to suggest some other numbers.

 

The number crunchers will point to sheer statistics. A return of 44 senior games at a cost of millions of dollars. Little room for argument there. Maybe adding on his collection of reserve grade games and his inaugural season in the VFL pushes that number of games higher, but not significantly. No, on statistics alone it is difficult to see success.

Hunt’s situation is also not helped by the prior failure of Israel Folau. Hunt was clearly the superior Australian Rules player of the two, but the inability of Folau to grasp the game and walk away placed Hunt in the red immediately. No matter what he did, possibly short of a Brownlow, he would always be earmarked as part of the failed Rugby-League convert experiment.

His after the siren match-winning goal in Cairns in 2012 was briefly deemed evidence that the idea would work out well, but since that time patchy form, injury and opportunity have seen Hunt’s stocks as a player dwindle rather than rise.

While this weekend sees the annual ‘Big Meat Pie’ footy carnival – the event will be tinged with sadness at the news of the passing of former Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) Special Coordinator Graeme Wilson.

The All Australian selection committee met this week to finalise the selection of the 40 players in the running to be named in the final All Australian team.  Each panel member named their best 22 players (not named in position) and the final 40 were selected from that list. 

One notable omission was Pearce Hanley, the Irishman who has had a great season for the Brisbane Lions despite his team not performing so well.  His stellar season has been widely acknowledged across the football media spectrum.

Some consolation for him today though as the Brisbane paper The Courier Mail broke that story that his 17 year-old brother Cian Hanley would join the Brisbane Lions.  The younger Hanley though won't feature for a while as he just recently suffered an ACL injury in the All Ireland Minor semi-final playing for County Mayo.