World Footy News

Following today's launch the International Cup teams paraded from Federation Square to the MCG. Decked out in team uniforms and following their nation's flags and banners the 18 countries marched joyfully to the home of Australian Football, the MCG.

Once inside they all queued expectantly until the nod was given and onto the hallowed turf they went. The parade of nations allowed all those who have come so far - not only to Australia but in their footy journey's to represent their countries - to have the amazing opportunity to walk the boundary with their team mates ahead of today's AFL match between Melbourne and Hawthorn (an official crowd of 37,082).

The IC14 launch took place this afternoon at Federation Square in front of the competitors of the many countries and nationalities competing in the tournament, as well as international footy fans, friends, family and interested onlookers.


All twenty five teams, 18 men's and seven women's, were represented at the launch however the most of the Chinese team will not arrive in Melbourne until tomorrow morning.

The teams were welcomed by Senior Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy-Wandin and presented with a branch of a gum tree and invited to each take leaves from it.

We've been using live streaming audio of some matches. You can access it via the embedded player below. The player should either play live or the latest recording from earlier in the day.

Note that there are now numerous episodes listed - the horizontal bars icon accesses all our recordings.

Also note we will not be streaming audio of the Grand Finals.

In a story that has been splashed across the mainstream media of Australia, AFL players have been taxed by the New Zealand government for matches played in Wellington over the last two years.

The first-ever match on foreign soil to be played for premiership points saw the Swans take on the Saints in a historic clash in 2013. The Saints then returned to Wellington in round six of this year to take on the Lions.

However, it has been revealed that the players who took part in the matches were taxed a portion of their match fee because the Kiwi government deemed them to be ‘entertainers.’

Bringing both mens and womens squads to Melbourne for the International Cup, including travel, uniforms, and over 2 weeks of accommodation and food - is no small undertaking for any nation. For AFL Fiji the support of others is crucial and the opportunity exists via 'MyCause' to make a donation to assist.
Donations can be made at Bring Fiji to AFL International Cup.

With the 2014 International Cup now just hours away players from all teams are just itching to get out on the fields in and around Melbourne to show their skills and seek rewards for their efforts. The Chinese team is certainly out to make a mockery of their 15th seeding and are keen to pull off upsets galore.

 

Below is the Chinese squad, featuring names and their team local team. The team will be captained by Shaoling Chen from the Guangzhou Scorpions. He is part of a group of 23 Scorpions in the squad, along with one from the Beijing Bombers, one from the Dongguan Giants, four from the Southern Dragons and two from La Trobe.

The Port Adelaide Football Club is delighted to announce that it is the major host sponsor of the China national team for the upcoming AFL International Cup tobe held in Melbourne from August 10-24.

The AFL International Cup is held every three years, with teams from 23 countries around the world competing in this year’s tournament; all players must be nationals of the country they are representing.

The participation of a representative team from China for the 2014 competition had previously been in jeopardy due to a lack of funding.

Most of the team are students from universities in southern China where the game is growing rapidly through the South China AFL competition.

worldfootynews.com is pleased to announce a friendly tipping competition for the 2014 AFL International Cup.

This year's competition will be different to 2011 when you had to tip each match. This time around we're asking competitors to predict the finishing order for both the men's and women's events.

For a bit of extra incentive we'll organise a prize, to be advised later.

The competition will be open to everyone that is a member of our site (including WFN staff, but they are ineligible to win the prizes). Not signed up? It's free, we don't spam you with adverts, and it allows you to post comments (purely used to stop spammers). Sign up here. You can also sign in with your Facebook credentials.

Apologies for the late notice so please hurry to get your tips in - competition closes 9am Australian EST Sunday 10th August.

Read on for the details of how to enter.

With less than three days to go before the matches begin we're pleased to announce that all our 2014 AFL International Cup previews are complete.  They've been published over the last few weeks but you can conveniently access them from our IC14 clickable graphics area on our home page or go straight there by clicking the images below.  Please note squad lists have been added where available.

Women's: 

Men's: 

Not all the action of the International Cup happens on the field. This Saturday at 1.30pm the tournament will be launched at Federation Square in Melbourne.

Where previous launches have been somewhat “locked away” from the public and/or the squads, the 2014 version will be out in the open for all to see and attend.

All the teams will be present (the travel gods willing) for the official start of the football carnival that will see 15 days of footy and will include 18 countries, 62 matches, 18 men’s and seven women’s teams and 18 venues.

In four attempts at the International Cup the Great Britain Bulldogs have finished 6th, 6th, 9th and 7th.  But this time around there's confidence that the squad is the best yet to represent Great Britain, with youngsters coming through and increased big match experience through the European Championships and the Euro Cup.

Footy in Britain

The game has seen a steady increase in activity since the last tournament and expanded markedly in central England and Scotland. The quality of the game has increased, with more youngsters getting involved and staying with the game, many of whom travel into London to get increased exposure to the full 18’s game, as well as the 9’s they play regularly with their regional clubs. The Bulldogs squad has maintained a good level of activity leading up to the 2014 International Cup and been increasingly professional in preparation, testing and conditioning work, with Physio extraordinaire Claire Shapland taking a lead in optimising this regime.

Elsternwick Park - the fine home of the VAFA (Victorian Amateur Football Association) played host to International Footy when the New Zealand Hawks dropped by to take on Ormond AFC in a pre International Cup warm up game. Scheduled for 6pm, or there abouts, the weather unfortunately closed in and light drizzle grew gradually more steady. After the customary Haka - eventually the game got under way and the Hawks shook off the cobwebs and by early in the second quarter had kicked a couple of goals clear and wouldn't be headed running out comfortable if inaccurate victors.

Team	Goals	Behinds	Total
New Zealand	6	16	52
Ormond	3	2	20