World Footy News

The second AFL Middle East season is drawing to a close. The last round is still to be completed, but the Grand Finalists have already been determined. Ironically these two clubs, reigning champions the Dubai Heat and their neighbours the Abu Dhabi Falcons, will also face off in the final round.

AFLPNG’s Coca Cola Talent Path model has again delivered with six new signings to AFL Clubs under the international recruitment drive.

Richmond, Essendon, and the Brisbane Lions did not let the opportunity slip when attending PNG’s Coca Cola Talent Camp late in 2009, signing players to International Scholarships.

Gideon Simon (Western Highlands) and Nathan Malbak (Morobe) have been snapped up by the Richmond Tigers, Ezra Kautu (West New Britain) has been signed by the Brisbane Lions and Victor Rame (West New Britain) was taken by the Essendon Bombers (pictured below). Also recruited were Brendan Beno (Autonomous Region of Bougainville) who was wooed to the Lions, and Max Lavai (NCD) who was swooped on by the Bombers.

Beno and Kautu had actually been signed a few weeks earlier, but it was not widely publicised.

The World 18 that will head to Australia for the NAB AFL Under 16s has received a timely boost on two fronts. Recently retired Sydney Swans star Michael O'Loughlin has agreed to coach the inaugural team, having recently coached the Indigenous Boomerangs squad against South Africa. In addition, and no doubt in acknowledgement of the tough battle facing the World side, the AFL has slightly loosened the criteria for selection, in terms of age and opening the door slightly to Australian based immigrants.

When team Italy run out for the Harmony Cup at the Western Bulldogs' home base of Whitten Oval, former Bulldogs champions Danny Del-Re and Tony Liberatore will be among them.

Legendary tagger Liberatore won the Brownlow Medal in 1990 and went on to play 283 games for the Bulldogs before retiring in 2002. Del-Re is best known as Footscray's leading goal kicker in the 1992-93 seasons, kicking 8 goals against Geelong in the 1992 qualifying final. Joining them onfield will be Adam Iacobucci, who played a handful a games for Collingwood in 2005 and 2006.

Acting as mentor and coach for the team will be former Essendon ruckman Steven Alessio, who performed the same role for the team at the 2005 Multicultural Cup.

Team Coordinator Phil Spinella spoke to WFN about their preparations.

The Czech Australian Football League last year kicked off its first domestic season, with the Czech Lions squad divided into two teams dubbed the Marauders and the All-Stars.

In 2010 the CAFL has announced that Prague local league will expand to four teams, with the creation of the Prague Dragons and Prague Kings. The Marauders have been renamed the Prague Cats, and the side that played as the All-Stars in 2009 will run out as the Vinohrady Hawks.

CAFL president Mike Gouteff spoke to World Footy News about the development plans for footy in the Czech Republic.

The Croatian Association of Australian Football will shortly kick off its 2010 season, with local clubs Zagreb Hawks and Agram Power joined by new side the Velika Gorica Bombers.

Kolja Koracak from the CAAF says that after a draft is held in early March, the season will see each team play each other three times, with the team with the best record declared premiers. The inaugural Croatian Cup, a one-day 3-team tournament, will be held in autumn.

The Croatian national team has made some strong showings at European tournaments in the past few years, the high points being a runners-up at the 2008 EU Cup in Prague and hosting the 2009 EU Cup in the town of Samobor.

In 2010 the Knights will again be taking to the road, with both the 16-a-side European Championships in August and 9-a-side EU Cup in October booked into the calendar.

A new website has been launched at footycroatia.com where all news and info about Croatian footy will be found in future. A YouTube video from the Knights' preseason training is available here.

A side drawn from Melbourne's Indian and Sri Lankan communities is currently in training for the 2010 Harmony Cup, with around thirty keen players vying for a place in the final squad.

The side is predominantly born-and-bred in Melbourne, although there are a handful of international students also involved. Some of the Melbourne-based Indians who strengthened the Indian side at last year's International Cup will also be in the squad.

While the Indians won't have anyone with the AFL-level experience of some of their Harmony Cup opponents, team coordinator Vishnu Rishi is confident they will be a competitive outfit.

As befits a cultural and linguistic region that crosses numerous national borders, the Lliga de Futbol Australià de Catalunya (LFAC) became the first Tri-National footy league in the world last year, with clubs from the Spanish (southern) side, the French (northern) side and Andorra.

This year, the LFAC is planning to expand to five clubs, with the Cornellà Bocs, Belfry Valls, Andorra Crows and Perpignan Tigers to be joined by new club Cossetans Alt Camp.

The Catalans look set to continue as a stand-alone entity in European Aussie Rules, having been admitted as full members of the EAFA at the foundation meeting in Frankfurt in recognition of the fact that they had been operating as an independent organisation for a number of years and receive considerable support for their national representative team from the government of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia.

The LFAC's Pere Casan Bonet says the Catalans were disappointed to miss out on the EU Cup in 2009 and are already taking steps towards mounting a challenge for both the 16-a-side European Championships in August and the 9-a-side EU Cup in October.

Recently a whole new lot of talented AFLPNG Coca Cola Talent Path Scholarship participants left Papua New Guinea to show their wares in a variety of Queensland competitions.

With the Coca Cola Talent Path Program already producing four AFLPNG players who are now listed to AFL Clubs (Meli, Susuve, Barry and Labi) the 12 unattached players sent down on Australian-based scholarships will be aware that opportunities may arise, especially with the formation of the Greater Western Sydney organisation under the eye of the globetrotting Kevin Sheedy and the very well-credentialed Graeme Allan, formerly in charge of recruitment at Collingwood and Brisbane. In fact, rumours are that several more AFL signings are imminent.

After their debut season last year, mainly dedicated to the development of the Italia Azzurri national team, culminating with the participation at the EU Cup in Samobor (Croatia) in October 2009, the AFL Italia have worked hard during the off-season and have come up with the numbers to begin a 4-team national league in 2010.

Nicola Giampaolo and Armando Colombo made the official announcement on a meeting held in Busto Arsizio on Saturday February 13th, just before the National Training Camp in Milano.

The 4 teams are to be based in Milan, Rome, Genoa and Lugano, the last of those cities being located just over the border in the Italian-speaking area of Switzerland. The home and away season will see the teams play each of their opponents twice, followed by a final-four system with the two best-placed teams on the ladder having a double chance.

Grand Final day will be September 4th in Roma, and the Italian Aussie Rules community are sure that it will be a great event with a good turnout.

Team GWS, the planned new AFL club for Western Sydney, has put the call out to the public to help decide its name.

To coincide with last night’s historic match between Sydney and Carlton at the club's future home, Blacktown Olympic Park, Team GWS has unveiled its campaign ‘NameTheTeam’ and associated website NameTheTeam. The new club is also looking for advice on its colours.

The website offers suggestions of Giants, Rangers, Pride and Stallions, but also allows visitors to send in their own suggestions. No doubt they'll receive plenty of sarcastic ideas like West Sydney Bogans, but hopefully some create locally inspired possibilities will emerge. Or who knows, maybe one of our international readers will come up with the name of the AFL's 18th club.

New Zealand national newspaper, the Sunday Star-Times, recently profiled the work of AFL NZ CEO Rob Vanstam in a very positive article for the game in New Zealand. The interview discussed raising the sport's profile and providing pathways for young Kiwis. Amongst Vanstam's comments was "But to get a higher profile, if we've got guys from New Zealand who go on to play AFL in Australia, that's certainly going to promote the sport in this country and make it a viable option or alternative to rugby."

For more, read Aussie Rules chases Kiwis in tight shorts.