World Footy News

China returns for their second consecutive International Cup and are this time keen to put in a better placing than 15th. With some experienced campaigners and an increased number of Australian sourced players, they will definitely look a much more polished and improved outfit from 2008.

The Country and Australian Football

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is the most populous state in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. The PRC exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly administered municipalities (Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and the capital city- Beijing), as well as two special administrative regions (SARs) – Hong Kong and Macau

Since an AFL development officer was first based in China in 2006, it has been a big few years for Australian Football in the region. There has been consolidation of clubs in the major cities and the AFL has expanded promotion of the game in local schools and universities. The success and impressive crowd turnout of the Melbourne vs. Brisbane exhibition match in Shanghai last year during the World Expo further exposed the potential for expanding the game into China.

The national team debuted in 2008. Since then they played a number of friendly matches against the Beijing Bombers, a total of five International Cup matches and last year an U21s squad played against Japan. The highlight in their short history has been their win over India in their final IC08 match.

Nauru is a tiny Pacific Island nation that has the distinction of being the only country in the world that has Australian Rules as its national sport (assuming that status is disputed/shared by several sports in Australia).  The capital city is Yaren and the population is just 12,000 but the number of Australian football participants is 300.

The the national team is known as the Nauru Chiefs and they are returning after a superb 2008 International Cup.

The Huddersfield Rams will take on the Nottingham Scorpions this weekend in the AFL Britain Central & North West Grand Final. The Rams last weekend defeated the Sheffield Thunder, earning the right to take on minor premiers Nottingham this Saturday July 30th at Manton Colliery in Worksop.

It was a hot summer’s day at Lockwood Park, Huddersfield last Saturday, and as expected the game got under way at high intensity from the travelling Thunder, who sat in 2nd place on the ladder, one position above the Rams. The home crowd saw their Rams go 2 goals down in the first few minutes, with some great work from Thunder captain Garth Nevin and half forward Luke Childs.

The Rams were caught on the back foot and a bit slow out of the blocks compared to the visitors, conceding again to go 3 goals down in 7 minutes. With some harsh words from the back men and the touchline the Rams eventually got going, although not to the level they had reached in previous games.

This report courtesy of Karl Haigh from the Huddersfield Rams.

Former Collingwood and North Melbourne footballer Sav Rocca looks to be moving NFL clubs.  It has been reported that Rocca will sign with the Washington Redskins Friday (US time) and may take part in the first training camp practice on Friday morning.

This comes after a largely successful transition from Aussie rules to become and NFL punter with the Philadelphia Eagles.  NFL teams are frantically trying to get themselves prepared for the upcoming NFL season after their lockout over a pay dispute recently ended.

The hype surrounding New Zealander Kurt Heatherley continues to grow. Well respected AFL junior guru Kevin Sheehan says Heatherley is doing everything right as he learns the game at Caulfield Grammar and with the Hawthorn Football Club.

See the article here for more.

There are almost 2 million people living in Australia who have Irish ancestry according to the 2001 Census, and approximately 250,000 Irish Citizens living in Australia. Australians with Irish ancestry form the second largest migrant group after the 6.3m people with English ancestry.

With strong ties like this, it is no wonder the Banshees will be right at home when they visit Australia for the IC2011, in fact just over half the team are making the long haul journey from Ireland with the rest of the squad already based in either Sydney or Melbourne. Having picked up most players through Australian Gaelic football connections the Banshees already have the building blocks for what will be an impressive line up.

Note this article has been updated since first published on July 12 as we now have height and weight data and at least one change with David Meli into the team).

Defending champs Papua New Guinea have named their squad for IC11. Many things jump out as most obvious about the list - its youth yet experience, lack of height and wide spread from across PNG.

10 players are under 19 with 2 sixteen year old boys from the AFL Academy in Port Moresby. Only 5 players are 25 or older. Bruce Savare (36) and Nicholas Apamumu (35) will no doubt get plenty of good natured teasing from the teenagers in the team. The average age is only around 21 years.

In terms of height it has often been the Mozzies' Achilles heel, and while they are slowly unearthing taller talent it remains an issue when they come up against teams of similar talent. At 194 cm a key player could be Tiernan Carbry (only about to turn 20 and yet returning for his second International Cup), yet he has been named as an emergency. 5 cm (2 inches) taller than any team mate, it looks like PNG's onballers will once again be deprived of first tough in many ball ups. In some ways they will have to be significantly better than their opponents and against sides like New Zealand and a resurgent Ireland that could be a big ask.

Perhaps two of PNG's best, Donald Barry (Brisbane Lions listed) and David Meli (Essendon international scholarship player) were thought to be unavailable, but Meli has now been named (Barry is injured and possibly unavailable anyway). The list is still formidable with 17 players returning from IC08 and a swathe of young guns backing them up. They will surely make the top 4 and probably start favourites to go back to back, with the height issue the main nagging doubt.

The South African Lions are attending the International Cup once again, making them one of just eight nations to make it to all four Cups.

Looking across the list, as per past tournaments, lack of height seems to be a factor that may hurt them when it gets down to the top few teams (except PNG). Their tallest players are Zola Mtiwetafa and Malibongwe Mlami, both 190 cm (nearly 6'3") and the average is 177 cm (5'10"). At least in the case of Zola at 102 kg there would appear to be a solid body.

The average age is a relatively young 23 but there's some very experienced international campaigners as well, such as the Steven Malinga, Benjamin Motuba and the surprise return of Mtutuzeli Hlomela.

Coached by Stewart Edge, who has spent considerable time in South Africa as a high performance coach, the Lions can be expected to challenge for a top four spot once again. 2008 saw a massive rise from 8th to 3rd - will the rise continue? Maybe, but the final couple of steps may be the hardest.

Shae McNamara interviews his Collingwood teammates and tests their knowledge on topic of the USA. Shae has also started his own website and video blog at www.shae-mcnamara.com

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The French Bleus are attending the International Cup for the first time.

The squad has a relatively experienced average age of 26, with Sébastien Artus and widely travelled Pàll Thomas Finnsson both 36. The youngest player is Jory Giner from the club in Strasbourg. They average 180 cm (5'11") and although there are no "streaks" they do have four players in the 190s.

The crucial match will be their seeding game against Tonga, also at their first International Cup (at least, in the main draw) - the winner is likely to go through to Division One and a guaranteed top 12 finish, a great result for either team on debut.

The French are coming to Australia for the first time and whilst their expectations are not high they should give a good account of themselves if as expected they feature in Division Two. But that assumes a loss to Tonga in their first day of seeding matches, and there's no real evidence to make a call either way on that game.

The Coqs, also known as les Bleus, will be coached by Cyril Talon and features perhaps one of world footy's most "widely" capped players in Páll Tómas Finnsson. Not only will he represent France but helped start footy in Iceland (including representing them at EC2010) and also captained Denmark at IC08. He's also a pretty handy player to add some experience to the French team, being named in the IC08 World Team on the wing.

The United States' national squad is headed for Australia determined to break back into the top 4 after slipping out in 2008. The squad features plenty of familiar names from past Revolution campaigns, as well as new talent.

The oldest player is Minnesota's Jason Becker at 43, no doubt a key factor in his longevity being his height at 196 cm (6'5") in a relatively short US squad (by American standards) that has only one other major tall in LA's Bryan Dragus at 198 cm (6'6"). The average height is still a very respectable 183 cm (6 foot).

The average age is a mature 29. The youngest players are 23 year olds Ryan Sutherland, also from Minnesota, and Eric Floyd from Louisville. That's a sign of the Americans' major strength and weakness - it generally serves up a tough, physical brand of footy with mature bodies, but a widespread junior program still eludes them which means there aren't the numbers of exciting youth coming through that we see amongst their rivals in the top echelons of international footy. As such expect a very honest effort but the pace might be too hot at the pointy end.