World Footy News

AFL club Collingwood today announced that Irish pair Marty Clarke and Caolan Mooney have opted to return to Ireland and, possibly, Gaelic football (But we also hear the Belfast Redbacks might be able to find a spot or two on their list in 2015).

Clarke will be fondly remembered after two stints with Collingwood and a career of 73 matches. The Irishman, with his counter-attacking bent and lengthy kick, made a certain impression when he debuted in 2007.

The call of home drew the popular Clarke back to County Down at the end of the 2009 season and he was absent through the grand final years of 2010 and 2011, but a welcome return in 2012 saw him play a further 27 matches across the next three years. Unfortunately, due to form and injury, he was able to play just one match in 2014.

Mooney followed Clarke’s lead to leave County Down for the life of a professional Australian footballer with Collingwood. With the asset of withering pace, he played four matches in 2012, his first season. Two more appearances followed in 2013 but his progress stalled this year and he was unable to add to his six match tally.

With the 2014 AFL International Cup complete here are the Men's World Footy Rankings, the unofficial world rankings according to worldfootynews.com

Rises/falls have been calculated compared with our last complete release, for 26th April 2014 after Denmark defeated Sweden (there were no more matches that qualified by our criteria prior to IC14).

Canada and Japan are the big risers. Canada has climbed 6 places, winning four of their five IC14 matches, where fortunately for them the rating gap of each opponent was less than +/- 2.95 and as in three of these matches Canada achieved +40 point wins the rate exchange was the maximum of + 3.00 in each case. Their only loss was to their perennial nemesis USA where they lost only 1.04 rating points. The Northwind gained a total 10.91 rating points over the course of the tournament. No doubt the Revolution will be keen for another 49th Parallel Cup battle to climb back above their Northern foe.

Japan won three from five, two of these winning matches reaped maximum +/-3.00 rate exchanges whilst they dropped only 0.46 rating points in the loss to Tonga seeing the Samurai climb from 19th to 16th place. Japan added a total of 6.78 rating points during the Cup.  Japan had previously played a lot of teams well up the ladder and their rating points had suffered as a result, so their rise can be seen as something of a correction.

The AFL finals kickoff Friday night in Melbourne with the two Qualifying finals and two Elimination finals to be played this weekend.

The full international broadcast schedule can be seen below.

The AFL tonight confirmed the fixture for week one of the 2014 Toyota AFL Finals Series, to be as follows (all times are local):

Friday September 5

Second Qualifying Final, Hawthorn v Geelong Cats at the MCG, 7.50pm


Saturday September 6

First Qualifying Final, Sydney Swans v Fremantle at ANZ Stadium, 2.45pm

Second Elimination Final, North Melbourne v Essendon at the MCG, 7.15pm (series ticket match)


Sunday September 7

First Elimination Final, Port Adelaide v Richmond at the Adelaide Oval, 2.50pm

We will publish the International Broadcast Schedule once it is confimed. 

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A collection of our photos from the final round of IC14 matches (excluding the Men's Top 4 and Women's Grand Finals - see earlier stories).

During this year's IC14, long-time Canadian footy identity Bill "Vilheĉjo" Frampton reported on matches in Esperanto, the world's most-spoken constructed international auxiliary language.

Created in the late 19th century by Polish opthamologist Ludwig Zamenhof, Esperanto was intended to become a worldwide second language. Somewhat like international Australian rules football, Esperanto has never quite made it into the mainstream, but has developed a passionate community of fluent users who are estimated to number anywhere up to two million worldwide, including around 1,000 native speakers.

For anyone who wants to take a look at his report on the Aǔstralia Piedpilkludo Internacipokalo 2014, Bill's site can be found here.

You couldn't help but notice the great AFLPNG jumpers when you saw them at IC14 - thanks to David Lake coach of the PNG Mosquitoes for giving us some background to the new design in the following submission.

Papua New Guinea launched a whole new look for their country at IC14 in Melbourne in August this year.

Earlier this year they met with Tribal Sport Design Director Sam Lake to establish a new look that would display all things that make PNG countrymen stand proud and tall.

After displaying a similar look for an extended period they made a decision to fast track into a modern new look that took in the ‘bird of paradise’ and southern cross stars off their national flag. it depicts the Southern Cross and a Raggiana bird of paradise in similar positions to the national flag.

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As grand a day as the Grand Final Saturday is of an International Cup – perhaps the greatest day is the final Friday. Not only are many of the best matches of the tournament to be witnessed but with the tournament coming to an end on the field each of the sides savours the contest and camaraderie all the more. And when the final siren sounds for each side the focus shifts. Around Royal Park on the sun drenched Friday afternoon there was to be seen a thriving barter trade in footy guernseys. Eventually the crowds traipse off – the players in particular prepare for the evenings event – the traditional International Cup Gala dinner. The dinner now held at the Palladium Room at the Crown (Casino) Entertainment complex has been described by The Age senior writer Martin Flanagan (the 2011 dinner) as one of the best footy functions he’d ever attended. And he was back for the 2014 event and like he – those of us lucky enough to attend feel privileged to do so.

Thanks to photographer Brendan Waites for the great shots of the IC14 Men's Grand Final in the gallery below.

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You can check out more of his work at  www.brendanwaites.com.au

The AFL have published the finishing positions for both the Men's and Women's competitions for the 2014 AFL International Cup. Note a slight amendment as they initially listed China and Indonesia in the opposite order. We've included a short explanation of how the positions were arrived at. For a full pathway to the final positions see our complete results and ladders page: IC14 Results and Ladders

 

Men's top 4 played off for 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th.
Men's Division 1 played off in ladder pairs for 5th/6th down to 11th/12th.
Men's Division 2 was decided by final aggregated ladder positions as shown below the main ladders below.
Women's Division played off in ladder pairs for 1st/2nd down to 5th/6th (and 7th remained as per their ladder position).