World Footy News

With the end of 2012 worldfootynews.com has its annual reflection on the year gone by.  In many ways non-International Cup years are much quieter than their triennial counterparts.  Typically there are far fewer international matches played as nations and players count the cost of travel and have less pressing need to hone their squads.  But still, happily, there has been plenty to report from across the world, in fact too much for us to do justice to (even with over 400 articles published), so apologies to all those that feel they had a worthy story that didn't get the attention it deserved.

Undoubtedly the biggest ongoing success story in 2012 was the South Pacific.  When once it was only New Zealand and Papua New Guinea that gained much attention, now there has been a steady stream of good news from Fiji, Nauru, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Tonga.  But NZ and PNG also had big news stories, especially with the AFL announcing the first ever overseas match for premiership points will be played on ANZAC Day 2013 in Wellington (NZ), and Gideon Simon (PNG, pictured) becoming the first player who learnt the game outside of Australia to make it onto an AFL list.

Despite less press the Irish also dominated the international side of Aussie Rules, with numerous players now successfully making careers in the AFL, whilst back home the men's and women's sides took out the Euro Cup double.

Here's a skim through of some of the highlights from this author's perspective.

After a few years of hard work to get Footy rolling in different parts of the country, finally AFL India successfully hosted the inaugural Aussie Rules tournament in India earlier this month, at Kozhikode, a southern Indian coastal city in the state of Kerala. The tournament saw five teams - the Mahim Cats and Matunga Tigers from Mumbai, North Kozhikode Bombers and South Kozhikode Giants from Kozhikode and Madurai Kangaroos from Madurai, playing each other in a round robin format to qualify for the Grand Final.

A fantatsic show of skills and sportsmanship were on display as the players from different sporting and economic backgrounds and different age groups faced each other, all aiming to lift the first ever AFL India – OGM Cup, sponsored by Perth based mining company OGM, along with its Indian counterpart RP Group of Companies. Eventually it was an all Kozhikode Grand Final, where the Giants were beaten in a close contest by the Bombers, who clinched the trophy.

The tournament was organised by Australian Football Association of Kerala at Malabar Christian College grounds in Kozhikode, Kerala on 2nd December 2012, and was inaugurated by Dr. Muneer, honourable Minister of Social Welfare and Panchayat, Government of Kerala, who handed over the match ball to the umpires.

There is a fairly widely held knowledge that Australian Rules football can be traced back to as early as the 1860’s in the south east corner of Queensland, most particularly Brisbane. It has taken far longer, however, for the game to break into many northern markets.

Even though there were sporadic outbreaks in places like the Atherton Tablelands and Thursday Island, they were generally linked to the stationing of servicemen in those areas and rarely survived beyond the war years, unless absorbed into other competitions. It was not until the 1950’s that competitions began in Townsville (1955), Cairns (1956) and Mount Isa (1957).

But in 1969 there was much correspondence sent between Mackay and Victoria. In a situation which must almost echo the storyline of the movie, The Shawshank Redemption, where Tim Robbins’s character writes to the authorities so often that they give in and send him money for library books, the Australian National Football Council (precursor to the AFL Commission) gave in and sent fifty dollars to Mackay to help pay for stationary to allow the paperwork to go ahead for the creation of another centre of Australian Rules football in North Queensland. Fifty bucks to get started!

AFL South Africa has had an interesting journey over the last 4 years.  In 2008 it was widely considered the darling of the AFL, receiving more funding than other nations, regular AFL-organised tours and leaping to 3rd in the International Cup with a controversial win over Ireland.  Player numbers were booming, partnerships were being signed with mining companies, plans were tentatively in motion to set up footy development for Africa via a university program based in South Africa and an AFL exhibition match was scheduled for Cape Town in early 2009.

Then came the Global Financial Crisis, the postponement (after 4 years let's call it cancelling) of the exhibition match, and a decision to "consolidate" the recent growth.  There was a slide to 5th at the 2011 International Cup and accompanying internal rumblings, the hoped for surge in AFL scholarships and rookies didn't eventuate, the South Pacific began to grab the international footy headlines and at the same time any good news from South Africa became exceedingly hard to extract.

It was starting to look a bit grim for footy in Africa and this author was "sharpening" his keyboard to write an obituary, not for the game as such, but for the shiny vision of AFL SA leading the international charge.  Happily there have been stirrings of better news and assurances that the future is bright.  As first evidence of this we report on a recent string of grounds being converted to allow Australian football to be played on them.  We hope to follow this up with further positive proof of the game's health in the Rainbow Nation.

USAFL have recently announced that Eileen Geogheegan will be taking over from Judith Stein to become the new Freedom captain for 2013.

Geogheegan, representing home club Baltimore-Washington Eagles, starting playing Aussie Rules in 2009 but quickly adapted to the new sport and was chosen as a member of the USA Freedom squad which took part in the inaugural women’s International Cup in 2011. She also represented the Freedom in the IC Draft Combine.

Geogheegan was also named DFAT Player of the Nation for the USA, which she claims is the highlight of her Australian football career so far.

In addition to a new captain, the Freedom also welcome in new coaching staff, including Minnesota Freeze’s Dale Willimas and ex-AFL player and founder of the Santa Cruz/Golden Gate Roos John Ironmonger.

More information on Geogheehan’s rise though USAFL women’s football, including her remarkable transition from soccer to AFL, can be read on the original article on the USAFL website here.

In a story which may have gone under the radar for many international footy fans late this year, the last weekend in September not only saw the Swans defeat the Hawks in the AFL Grand Final, but also the first match played by a Belgian footy side for over five years.

The Belgians travelled to the Netherlands for a 3-team tournament against Dutch sides the Amsterdam Devils and The Hague Storks, the comp dubbed the Benelux Cup. Although the Belgians went down against both Dutch clubs, the scorelines were quite respectable, losing to The Hague by only 5 points.

Belgium was previously home to the Brussels Saints, who back in 2005 won the EU Cup, but the Saints have long since folded and no footy was played in Belgium in the interim. WFN will be eagerly watching developments of Europe's newest side in 2013.

For more on the nascent Belgian footy club, visit the AFL Belgium website or their Facebook page.

The city of Townsville, located 1300 kilometres north of the Queensland state capital of Brisbane, is not generally considered to be a major player in Australian Rules football. In fact, this city of approximately 190,000 people has other features and pursuits which have forced the national game into the background.

Ask most people who are familiar with the northern city what they know of the place and the list is likely to include the Lavarack Military Barracks and RAAF Base, James Cook University, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Castle Hill, Magnetic Island or the North Queensland Cowboys national Rugby League team. Australian Rules football still remains a small niche market, supported by some, but largely anonymous to the remainder of the population.

But 2013 could see that profile change radically as Townsville will become one of the key hubs of Australian Rules football in the country, if only for a short time.

Townsville’s Festival of Footy will run from February to April, featuring some of the best local, state, national and international Aussie Rules in the country at that time.

A little over six months ago a small Australian Rules football club in northern Australia had an idea.

In a deliberate bid to turn around negative perceptions of their club, they looked at social media, specifically Facebook, to begin contacting clubs as possible “friends”. But like anything enjoyable, one or two friends became nine or ten. Before long, the club had hatched an idea of having a group of “Brother Clubs”.

So the term “Brother Club” was bandied about, but many people did not really know what it meant. Some clubs jumped at the chance and became “brothers”. Other clubs, being a little more sceptical, held off in case it was some brand new “scheme” which would ultimately result in a risk to money or image. Both fair points given what is out there on “the net”.

But the “Brother Club” idea is not new and is not a threat. For the simplest comparison, consider the world wide concept of sister cities, where cities around the world come together for geographical, cultural, social or economic reasons to be friends for the small price of a lovely plaque and maybe a small civic event to celebrate it. From there, those cities decide whether they do anything else.

Canterbury Cobras reeled in their third consecutive Championship on the weekend to commemorate a weekend of firsts.

Day One saw the Otago Riot participate in their first ever Senior Championship on the back of their appearance at the March 2012 Under 20 NPC in Canterbury.

The inclusion of a fifth team is the first addition to the programme since 2004 when the Waikato Thunder joined the competition adding to the traditional involvement of Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland.

This growth at the top level in terms of representative teams is a huge plus for what AFLNZ have been doing with their High Performance programs. Without a doubt the Board of Governance must ensure that the elite level achievements in terms of growth are underpinned by healthy local competitions in Wellington, Waikato and now Otago, whether of traditional 18 a side football or of a AFL 9’s nature. The dropping away of the competition in Wellington is of particular concern and one that those with any sense of history should address immediately.

Mid Canterbury Eagles have claimed back to back Premierships in the Canterbury AFL (in New Zealand's South Island) after ensuring the game was over by half time.

The Eagles opened up 21-point lead at the first break and by half time had extended their lead to 47-points, with the Christchurch Bulldogs failing to score in the second term.

The Bulldogs battled manfully and could rightfully use as an excuse the fact that four of their players were under 16 with a couple of 18-year olds new to the game. They sadly missed the bigger bodies of Todd Andrews, their absentee captain and young gun Craig Varcoe (collarbone), along with veteran Jason Beck who was nursing a strained calf. Unfortunately, they came up against a determined Eagles outfit that never took their foot off the accelerator to record a massive win.

Final Score: Mid-Canterbury Eagles 16.13 (109) def Christchurch Bulldogs 5.6 (36)
 

Following on from news that United States backetballer Eric Wallace was trialling with North Melbourne, the Roos have now announced that they have signed the 196cm, 102 kg African American as an international rookie.

North had made it clear he ticked most of the boxes already, they just wanted to check out his character and work ethic in the 10 day trial, and they were very pleased.  Improving his skills and game awareness will be the obvious issues, but so too will endurance.  The decision was reportedly very popular with his new team mates but first Wallace will return home to North Carolina for two weeks no doubt with a lot of organising to do as his life takes a sudden detour to Australia.

Wallace says he fell in love with the game watching Sydney win the premiership and "It really stuck with me when I went home and [I] wanted to be a part of it".  Team mates have reportedly dubbed the powerful athlete "The Beast" and "Big E".

Ironically his signing comes as Collingwood's American Shae McNamara returns home after ending his stint in Australia.

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The AFL's Saints might be headed for Wellington but up north Auckland has felt the power of another group of Saints.  The Mt Roskill Saints have triumphed over last year’s AAFL Premiers Waitakere Magpies in a close fought encounter for the 2012 title.

Waitakere had faced off against the perennial Auckland Grand Final team, University Blues, in the Preliminary Finals and knocked them out of the race. The Saints squad had been more consistent this year and this reliability, often absent from Saints sides in previous years, was to be to their benefit.
 
With a strong forward line capable of high marks and good kicks, mid-fielders fast and tough at the hard-ball gets, and a rock-solid back line that have simply been outstanding all year, things didn’t need to change at all for Mt Roskill in the Grand Final.