World Footy News

Thank somebody for small mercies because the weather prediction was simply horrible for game day Sunday. Apart from the temperature being a little chilly there was only a slight breeze that had no bearing on football.

The centre square was a little slippery from overnight rain and not a good surface for bouncing the ball which some players optimistically later tried doing. Being the in the first round of games there was much interest in how the Vonu would fair against the highly experienced Banshees.

It didn't take long for Ireland to get some system going using their advantage in height and skill to put 3 majors on the board with Leiha Shrubsall timing in nicely for scoring opportunities. Fiji managed to stage mix it in the midfield for a considerable period before Ireland managed 2 more majors through their strong running players. Had it not been for the efforts of diminutive Aloesi Buidravo for Vonu taking some timely marks and general attack on the ball the score could have been much more.

The 2nd game up on Western Oval would see one of the tournament heavy weights in New Zealand take on the Swedish Elks who would seek to fly the flag for Scandinavian footy. In the warm ups it could be seen that the Swedes weren’t quite clean enough in the blustery conditions and this played out as the game wore on. The Hawks coming off a solid warm up game on Wednesday night in the wet at Elsternwick Park over Ormond Amateurs were well prepared should the weather turn, but the game was largely played in sunny but very chilly conditions.

With the temperature dropping a little, with a rising cold wind, conditions were good for football, though the centre squares were slippery from the previous night's rain. Throughout the day, play wasn't affected which was fantastic considering the earlier predictions. The quarter started with the ball locked into a very large Tonga forward line.

As the quarter progressed the Canadians were able to string some good football passages together which looked as they had been well-practiced. Halley Costanza was responsible for bursting through traffic to set up the only goal for the quarter as well as a number of other good movements.

The second quarter saw the Storm apply midfield and forward pressure and manufacture a goal mainly through the efforts of Nelma Ongolea who roved tirelessly around the ground. The Suns steadied and eventually established a systematic classical style of play. They did so with a spearhead in the form of Veronica Fernandez who marked and kicked truly and responsible for two other dangerous-looking points. Eventually this would be shown as the quarter where the Suns won it.

All the matches in Round 1 went pretty much as the Ranking Scheme predicted, that is, higher ranked country prevailed over its lower ranked opponent. Six of the seven matches that had a +/- 10.00 rating gap all produced over a +100 point wins for the favoured nation, although Great Britain’s win over France couldn’t be called close or lineball either, eg 12.17 (89) to 1.1 (7).

The two remaining matches that were expected to result in changes in rating points also were +100 point wins, South Africa 23.22 (160) d. Pakistan 2.2 (14) and Canada 19.5 (119) d. China 0.1 (1). This loss by China as predicted has seen China (31.36 rating points) fall to 18th below Germany (34.09).

Click full story to see the World Rankings standings after today's play.

It was a Melbourne footy afternoon that had everything, sun and wind, a wild storm which had been threatening all day in the third quarter and was accompanied by a South African goalburst.

While Pakistan kicked the first goal of the match in the first minute of the game, aided by a blustery wind blowing towards its forward pocket (the Upfield line pocket). But then the Lions began to roar.

It was an icy Melbourne morning to kick off the International Cup. Tonga was scheduled to play India at Ransford Oval (Royal Park, Parkville) in one of two mens matches launching the 2014 tournament. The early start on a Sunday refused to deter the fans, with a number of early risers by the boundary, supporting both sides. National anthems were played and Tonga performed their war dance.

The USA and Finland have not met in International footy before. In cool and overcast weather this morning it was probably the Finns who felt a little more at home on the Western Oval.

Quarter Time USA 9.1 (55)  Finland 0.1 (1)

 

Photos taken by various WFN reporters at the IC14 launch at Federation Square and treking down to the MCG.

[flickr_slideshow:worldfooty set_id:72157646351404203 width:700]

World Footy News Women’s World Rankings

We haven't yet formalised Women's Rankings since few games have been played, but if exactly the same criteria and World Ranking Scheme is applied to the Fifteen (15) Women’s International Tests/Matches played so far the Women’s World Rankings would look like:

1. Australia
2. Canada  43.72    8 matches played*
3. USA         40.12    8 matches played*

Provisional:

Ireland 49.37 5 matches played #
PNG 33.51 5 matches played #
AIM@ 33.29 4 matches played #

Kevin McSorley has waited a while to get out on the field and debut with the Irish Warriors at an International Cup. Originally selected as part of the Warrior’s squad for IC11, Kevin sustained an injury which ruled him out of making the trip.

But tomorrow, his second chance arrives when the Irish Warriors take on the Fiji Tribe as stage one of the team’s quest to win back to back International Cup titles and win their third men’s title.

But Kevin’s road to Melbourne has been both exciting and varied. “The mix of GAA and rugby gave me the fundamental [football] skills along with the compromised rules series Ireland v Australia. I was introduced at age 19 to the Irish club Belfast Redbacks.”

“A few years with Belfast Redbacks led to Irish trials and Euro 9’s cups in Belfast and Edinburgh winning both. Then the Euro 16’s last year, also playing for European Islands [in the curtain-raiser match] before Bulldogs v Power in London and also the European Titans v AIS/AFL Academy. Now there is this IC14 [which is] a great pathway and [offers] excellent opportunities.”

Cam Holmes takes a look at the World Footy News World Rankings and how they may change during the first two rounds of IC14. More info on how they are calculated and links to the results used to calculate them can be found at World Rankings

Round One
In all but two of Round 1 matches, the rating gap between the competing nations is greater than +/_ 10.00 rating points. When the rating gap exceeds +/- 10.00 no advantage is gained by the higher ranked nation and likewise no points are lost by the lower ranked nation. The Ranking Scheme predicts that the higher ranked nation will win more often than not so in this case it would extremely unlikely for any of these matches to go the way of the underdog.

However if the lower ranked nation does actually cause an upset the points exchange can only be the maximum of +/- 3.00. This has only occurred once in 252 eligible International matches e.g. Great Britain upset Ireland in April 2013. (Rating gap +/- 11.26)

The Ranking Scheme predicts that the higher ranked nation will win more often than not and as WFN World Rankings are calculated using a 'Points Exchange' system, in which sides take points off each other based on the match result. Whatever one side gains, the other loses.