World Footy News

The HANZ-UP programme is a community based football programme organised between the Hawthorn Football Club and AFL New Zealand. The alliance allows Hawthorn to promote the game in New Zealand, whilst AFL New Zealand has the opportunity like no other international football organisation to engage the local juniors in a variety of football activities, including Auskick programmes, school competitions, and clinics with Hawks players.

 

  

The TV promos before the second International Rules Test at Carrara on the Gold Coast were about ‘intensity’, an Australian team needing to ‘settle the score’. They would do it by pressure, tackling and hitting harder, within the rules.

They also tagged key players, including Tadhg Kennelly who was tagged by Sydney Swans teammate Ben McGlynn.

That reality led to numerous spot fires in the third quarter with three Australians and two Irish yellow carded and off the bench for a time.

In fact, it was Irish skill which still trumped the Australians - better high marking! (as when Kieran Donaghy outmarked Ben Griggs near the Irish goal), astonishing evasive skills, lay-offs of the ball under pressure with the speed of the Harlem Globetrotters, and precise kicking.

Although the Irish did not race away in a scoreless first few minutes, they inched towards a slight lead at the time. Steven McDonnell, the highest scorer in the history of the series, kicked an Over (above the cross bar) from the boundary line in the last minute of the quarter, Ireland taking a 12-8 lead into the break.

As an Irish commentator said, the Irish were handling the tackle better than in the past, particularly important for players who normally play a non-tackling game. In contrast, from early in the game Australia’s Mitch Robinson looked like he was angling for a prize fight next year with Barry Hall.
 

The Scottish Australian Rules Football League has won the rights to host the 2012 EuroCup in Glasgow for the first time, narrowly winning the vote over a bid from Randers, Denmark.

The Scots have a record of hosting international tournaments, such as the long-running Haggis Cup, though this will be the biggest event on Scottish soil to date.

A statement from the AFL Europe read "Both Denmark and Scotland are to be commended for the quality of bids put forward, and we hope that it is a sign of the event going from strength to strength."

More information will appear on the AFL Europe website in the near future.

The end of October saw Welsh champions the Cardiff Panthers set off on their annual end of season tour. Previous tours have included visits to the Belfast Redbacks in 2009 and the Bordeaux Bombers in 2010. Having been crowned WARFL champions for the 3rd year running, the Panthers set off to the beautiful Italian city of Rome as they were courteously welcomed by the 2011 AFL Italia Grand Final runners up, the Roma Blues.

Most of the match day was spent taking in the glorious sights and sounds of Rome, including the Colosseum and Stadio Olympico, in 21C sunshine, and the night was still fine as the 8.30pm kick off arrived under the floodlights of the Roma Blues pitch.

The Blues were the first out of the blocks at the ball up and to the shock of many they almost completely shut out the Panthers in the first quarter, taking a 38-3 lead into the first break. The Panthers however have gone undefeated all season and their experience of playing high pressure games away from home came to the fore as they started to peg the Blues.

Eventually the stiff Rome resistance started to fail under the pressure and the Panthers started to move into the lead and out of sight and eventually they came away 100-71 winners. The fabled legendary levels of Italian hospitality with then put on display as the two teams ate, drank and very much danced the night away in the suburbs of Rome.

A quick trip to the Vatican with an unexpected sighting of Pope Benedict XVI followed the next day before the Panthers flew home to bring to an end what has been a truly remarkable season for the Cardiff club.

Ireland won the football, Australia narrowly won the niggle, but depite plenty of the latter there were no real fireworks.

After a fairly listless performance by Australia in the first International Rules test before a small crowd in Melbourne the main talking points going into the second match were whether the Aussies would lift their intensity in general but including at the man, whether they could regain some respect, whether anyone would turn up to watch, and whether the series has a future.

Certainly the intensity was there, with a match under their belts helping the Australians, many of whom were returning from holidays for the series.  Their skills with the round ball were improved, even managing to take a few good marks, although as always none of the high flying sort seen in the AFL.

For Ireland, who were reportedly banned by management from visiting the Gold Coast's beaches, it was all about winning game two to sweep the series, not just winning on aggregate.

New Zealand's only South Island club premiership has been run and won.  The Mid-Canterbury Eagles have won their inaugural Premiership in the Canterbury Australian Football League defeating reigning premiers Christchurch Bulldogs in a fantastic Grand Final.

Earlier in the day perennial champions the Eastern Blues took third place putting away the University Cougars in a great day for football in Christchurch.

The main game started at a frenetic pace, with players throwing themselves at the contest. It looked early that the Eagles were in control, but they wasted seveal gettable opportunities in front of goal, while the more accurate Bulldogs converted with their limted opportunities. At quarter time the Eagles led by 6-points, with only 2 goals on the scoreboard despite their domination around the ground.

For more see Eagles triumph to claim first CAFL trophy

The annual New Zealand NPC (National Provincial Championships) will be held in Wellington this weekend (November 5th and 6th). Auckland, Canterbury, Waikato and Wellington will battle for national supremacy with recent winners Canterbury and Auckland heavily favoured.

It is expected that representatives from the Otago Club will be shared between the Leagues to allow for their involvement and to underpin future development in the bottom of the South Island.

International Rules has always been a clash of cultures, which I wrote about regarding the sporting exchange's first three decades (later republished on WFN).  Old and new versions of cultural differences were on display at Docklands Stadium on Friday night.

Some past and present events might explain why the first of the two Tests (the second is at Carrara on the Gold Coast, aka Metricon Stadium, on Friday 4 November) resulted in a 44 point victory to Ireland in a one sided game and three Mexican waves from a crowd in search of entertainment.

In this opinion piece, I want to begin by considering the past. Australians have three misunderstandings about the series and its history over a quarter century since 1984 and over four decades since 1967.

First, they tend to assume the professional VFL/AFL players will be superior to the Irish amateurs, which is not true. In fact, most series have been won by the away team due to greater team bonding, team skill and application. The matches have often been exciting and passionate as when 1980s VFL President Allen Aylett was excited by this ‘space age football’.

Irish Banshees World Team representative and Sydney Women's AFL All-Australian representative Marie Keating was one of the female football stars selected to attend this year’s AFL/AIS Academy.

Though usually reserved for the country’s upcoming male talent, many of whom go on to be drafted, for the first time this year’s intake included women selected from this year’s Women’s National Championships and Youth Girls National Championships. Keating was joined by other talented women and girls from across the country.

Marie Keating (SWAFL and Ireland)
Katie Brennan (QWAFL)
Elise O'Dea (ACT WAFL)
Maddison Smith (TASWAFL)
Courtney Cramey (SAWFL)
Chelsea Randall (WAWFL)
Kristy Irvine (NTWAFL)
Aasta O'Connor (VWFL)
Ellie Blackburn (VIC Youth Girls)
Jess Dal Pos (VIC Youth Girls)
Zoe Hart (VIC Development)
 

Australia's AFL players have been humiliated as Ireland ran rampant in Game 1 of the two part 2011 International Rules series.

The Irish now have virtually both hands on the Cormac McAnallen Cup with the series decided on aggregate margin and Australia starting the second match an unprecedented 44 point behind.  Ireland didn't let the AFL selection into the game and were never threatened.

The hybrid sport brings together aspects of Australian football and Gaelic football so that the elite players from each code can represent their countries.  Over the years the concept of a mostly All-Australian side has been diluted due to some elite players making themselves unavailable and also in recognition that some players in the All-Australian side are not well suited to IR.  For their part this year the Irish were disrupted by some county matches continuing so some players been torn between club and country.
 

Dublin, OH - This past Saturday, Oct. 22, the Aussie Rules and Gaelic Clubs of Ohio joined forces to throw the Inaugural Ohio International Rules Football Challenge. The picture-perfect pitch at Darree Park in Dublin - the future home of the 2012 49th Parallel Cup, and '13 or '14 USAFL National Championships - was an ideal setting on a beaut fall day to kick-off this soon to be regular post-season (and perhaps preseason) contest.

Ohio is heavily concentrated in both of these foreign games. The Australian footy-ballers were represented by the Cincinnati Dockers, the upstart Cleveland Cannons, hopeful Dayton ARFC and in-state powerhouse and hosts, the Columbus Jackaroos. The Gaelic lads pulled from past and current players of the Cleveland St. Ignatius, Cleveland St. Pat's, and the first year local Columbus Naghten Street.

The AFL together with the Australian Government has kicked off a unique program that has seen young footballers in Perth from a range of cultural backgrounds take part in the AFL Multicultural All Star Camp to celebrate the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) coming to their city. Minister for Defence Stephen Smith was on hand to officially open the camp at the Fremantle Football Club and meet the participants.

For some of our international readers, here Commonwealth refers to the Commonwealth of Nations, countries formerly part of the British Empire.

Driven by the West Australian Football Commission, the AFL Multicultural All Star Camp ran from Friday October 21 to Monday October 24 to coincide with the start of the Commonwealth Youth Forum.

The featured match was between the Lions and the Catalysts.