World Footy News

As we move toward the start of the 2009 season, USFootyNews.com will be previewing the Top 10 teams in USFooty as voted in the preseason USFootyNews.com and WorldFootyNews.com poll.

At No. 7 is the Seattle Grizzlies. Seattle finished the 2008 season as USFooty Division II National Champions, 6-4 in the regular season and 7th in the last Top 10 poll. Obviously, the victory over the Calgary Kangaroos (pictured) for the National Title, was the highlight of the 2008 season.

Some are calling it the greatest debut since Guns & Roses emerged with Appetite for Destruction. Others are saying that a new dawn has broken. However you choose to describe it, the April 18th debut of the "Aberdingoes" against the Glasgow Sharks was a hugely impressive display from the newest team in the Scottish Australian Rules Football League, dominating the game to win 103-16.

It was a great day for the fledgling club, and an even better day for their fearsome full forward Andy "Plugger Dicko" Dickson who put away 9 goals on debut to stamp his name as a dominant spearhead in Scottish footy. Even more astonishing was that he managed this haul all before the 10 minute mark of the 3rd quarter, when tiring legs and a resurgent Sharks ebbed the flow forward for the Aberdeen side.

This report courtesy of the SARFL.

Despite mixed success with the O'hAilpins, and Michael Shields returning home at the end of last year, Carlton have continued with the Irish experiment, signing up 18 year old Ciaran Sheehan as an international rookie. The Herald Sun has reported that the Blues will bring the Cork youngster over for a while in July once his school year finishes in June. Sheehan is expected to become a midfielder, and comes via camps run by Gerard Sholly, who has reportedly been following the player since he was 15.

The Manchester Mosquitoes have a busy year in front of them, competing in not one, but two leagues. While remaining committed to the AFL Britain's Social League, the Mozzies will also compete on a social basis in Aussie Rules UK's new Central division, together with a growing crop of fellow local clubs across the Merseyside, Midlands and Yorkshire regions.

Manchester president Kat Wheeler told WFN "We have been trying to work with ARUK in the region to get the new clubs off the ground. The Huddersfield Rams are doing really well and have a couple of really enthusiastic people running the show up there. We have some pretty strong links established with the Rams and it's fantastic to have a new local rival! We have had some training together and are planning a few games and social events for the year. The Rams are definitely here to stay."

"We are playing in the AFL Britain social league again but we are also playing with the ARUK Central clubs on a social basis fitting in games where possible and providing a central point for the new clubs to get information and experience."

"This may change next year depending on how that league goes. If a strong enough league emerges we will definitely be in it."

"I've had contact with Liverpool and Birmingham who are looking forward to having a few friendlies with us and apparently Leeds has now sorted out a team. It's going to be interesting to see what happens up here in ARUK this year, whether all these clubs can get it together and get a real league sorted. In the meantime, Manchester are trying to help the new clubs as best we can whilst still being committed to AFL Britain."

The Mozzies won't be hosting a club tournament this year, however they are planning a trip to Ireland, where they will take on new Irish regional club the Mayo Mariners in September.

This year the Birmingham Bears are bringing footy in Britain's second-largest city out of its 15-year hibernation, set to compete in Aussie Rules UK's new central division in addition to friendlies against other local clubs.

Despite being Britain's second-largest city, Birmingham hasn't yet made a mark on the English footy scene. The city had a side known as the Crows back in the early 1990s, but the club disappeared after only a little over a season.

The new side, sharing its colours and Bears mascot with local county cricket side Warwickshire, is lead by local Mat Mitchell, who got hooked on the game while playing cricket with expat Australians. WFN spoke to Mitchell about how the club is progressing in the lead-up to its debut season.

Carlton's fiery Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin is back in the Blues' side for the first time in 2009. Suspended by the AFL and then kept in the VFL after his infamous pre-season indiscretion (striking and kicking a team-mate in an internal trial), big "Carlos" will be looking to make the most of what could be his last chance to remain in the AFL. He has been named on the bench.

The AFL's pseudo-British connection, Brad Moran, has been named as an emergency for Adelaide. Similarly Irishman Pearce Hanley is an emergency for Brisbane. No call up yet for Canadian Mike Pyke at Sydney.

Anzac Day and Australian Football are inextricably linked , more so than any other of the football codes played in Australia. The immortal words “Up there Cazaly” were used to inspire diggers in the trenches in World War 1. The story of one of the game’s great icons, Ron Barassi begins with his father, himself a Melbourne player being killed in World War II and the young Ron being fostered by the legendary Norm Smith.

Another Melbourne player, “Bluey” Truscott, was an ace wartime pilot, twice awarded the DFC, and unfortunately killed in action. Melbourne’s best and fairest award is named after him. Hence it comes as no surprise that games on Anzac Day assume a special significance, the one certainty being that coaches in pre-match addresses will pepper their orations with ‘courage’ and ‘sacrifice’, and unnecessarily remind the boys to ‘remember what day this is'.

South East Asia, which has seen more than its fair share of Australian military action, sacrifice and courage over the years is no exception, and this years Anzac Day sees major ceremonies and football events in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Of particular interest the Malaysian Warriors are hosting the Singapore Wombats (a Changi Cup Clash) and an Australian Army team at Alice Smith School starting on Saturday at 1pm, playing for the Anzac Day Cup.

A huge number of ANZAC matches are scheduled for tomorrow, in locations across the globe.

One town with a very strong connection to the Australian and New Zealand military in the First World War is Villers-Bretonneux in northern France, where this weekend a commemorative match will be played between "les Coquelicots", a team drawn from French nationals and Australians resident in France, and the "Aussie Spirit", a team drawn from across Europe, as reported in Never forget Australia.

The AFL website this week featured a preview article entitled The French Connection with some background to the cup, including an interview with Simon McGregor of the Finland Icebreakers, who hatched the concept along with Cyril Talon of the Paris Cockerels at last year's EU Cup.

The day's festivities will kick off at 10am, let's hope the event can become a tradition.

The Jakarta Bintangs and their junior team the Bulldogs are trekking to Balikpapan to take on the Borneo Bears in what promises to be a memorable Anzac Day of football and remembrance.

Starting with the solemnity of the Dawn Service and the laying of wreaths, the day will proceed to a 3-team carnival featuring the Bintangs, Bulldogs and Bears.

Borneo, a vast jungle covered island, was the scene of some of Australia’s most successful military operations (Operations Oboe – The battles of Tarakan, Balikpapan, Brunei and North Borneo) in World War Two, and the site of one of our greatest tragedies, The Sandakan Death March of which only 6 Australians survived from an initial group of 2000 Prisoners of War.

Melbourne's The Age is reporting that the Western Bulldogs' Fijian recruit Inoke Ratu has still not received a visa to enter Australia for training, and that the outlook is far from positive. Ratu was already struggling to be cleared, given Australia has restrictions in place for family members of people associated with the Fijian military. That policy relates to a coup d’état that overthrew the government, so the recent dismantling of Fijian government institutions is likely to lead to a hardening of the Australian Government's attitude.

Fellow international scholarship holder Solomon Loki, 17, has been to Australia for training. Happily the Bulldogs have reiterated their commitment to both players for the duration of the two year agreement. The article reports that the Bulldogs' Simon Dalrymple will fly to Fiji next week with scholarship program benefactor Shaun Bassett, and that the players are currently on programs of skills and weights training three times a week, under local supervision. We've previously reported that AFL Oceania intends to start a local Fijian competition, and Dalrymple said it was on track for next month (although he was also due to get an update from AFL Oceania).

More details in Dogs recruit refused visa to enter country, by Jesse Hogan.

Last month the AFL website posted an article titled simply Footy in Siberia, telling the story of Dave Henry, an Australian who recently held Auskick clinics and organised an inter-school footy tournament in a number of schools somewhere in Siberia.

The clinics were part of a cultural exchange with over 1000 children taking part in the English component of the program and over 200 taking part in footy clinics. Henry showed the kids videos of Australian football action, then students participated in a number of clinics before forming school teams, playing on basketball courts due to the climactic conditions of the Siberian winter.

Henry performed the clinics solely on a volunteer basis, although he was given some material assistance by the AFL Queensland. Children each received stickers, hats and other give-aways, while schools received footballs and training equipment.

Reportedly the schools are keen to repeat the tournament, but somewhat oddly the article does not mention exactly in which towns the program took place, nor how to contact anyone involved. WFN will endeavour to find out more and get back to our readers on this!

The former Karlstad Dragons are proud to announce a new partnership with the West Coast Eagles, described by the club as "an exciting new association with one of the AFL’s leading clubs".

Under the new sister club association, Värmland’s only Aussie Rules footy club, The Karlstad Dragons, have changed their name to The Karlstad Eagles, and will play in the blue and gold jumpers of the West Coast Eagles. The Karlstad Eagles club song, ‘Down by the Lakeside’, will also be tweaked to accommodate the new name.

The Karlstad Eagles and AFL Sweden President, Jimmy Ljunggren, believes the new partnership will be a real boost for the development of Aussie Rules footy in Värmland: “The kids that have come to this club are really excited by this new relationship with the Eagles, and are already following their games in the AFL.”

News of the Eagles’ new association has already been picked up by Karlstad’s premier newspaper, Värmlands Folkblad, which scooped the news before the official announcement. But Ljunggren thinks it’s a sign of growing interest in footy in the region. “We got a lot of great press last year, and we’re pretty happy VF are following our development,” Ljunggren said.

The Karlstad Eagles hope to unveil their new strip in the season opener on 16 May, a home game at the ‘Eagles Nest’ against traditional AFL Sweden West rivals, the Gothenburg Berserkers.

Stay tuned for more news from Sweden, with the Stockholm league welcoming new side Årsta in an ANZAC Day double header opening round this weekend.

Thanks to Stuart Roberts from the Karlstad Eagles for this report.