World Footy News

Footy has been reborn in the Spanish capital, with the Madrid Bears coming out of hibernation to take on the city's newly-formed second club, the Móstoles Kangaroos, at the Andrés Torrejón Sports club in Móstoles.

The match held on the 21st of February marked the first round of the Liga de Fútbol Australiano de la Comunidad de Madrid, with the two sides playing for the 'Wombat Cup'.

The opening encounter saw the Bears run out 94-54 victors, although locals report a definite improvement from the less experienced Kangaroos players over the course of the game. Among the Madrid Bears squad on the day were a number of players from the Spain Bulls side which attended the IC 2005 in Melbourne, a positive sign after the club disappeared from the radar of the international footy community over the past few years.

The next match planned between the Bears and Kangaroos has been scheduled for this coming Saturday, dubbed the 'Dingo Cup'. Also on the cards is a proposed 5-team national league, which would see the two Madrid area teams take on the Catalan clubs of Barcelona and Valls and the new club of the Catalan-speaking microstate Andorra in tournament play as the year progresses.

In the meantime, the Bears' new website at MadridBears.com is under construction and has some info up for Spanish-speaking readers.

The Australian Indigenous youth team, known as the Flying Boomerangs, have bounced back to decisively win the second and final game of their tour of Papua New Guinea. The match was played in Lae, around 300 km north of the capital (Port Moresby), being PNG's second biggest city at around 90,000.

It's thought that the PNG youth side that faced the Boomerangs in Lae was mostly drawn from around that area (Highlands and Momase, which mainly covers the northwest of the country), rather than being the players that defeated the visitors by a point in game one. This showed on the scoreboard, with the Aussie boys winning by 38 points.

Flying Boomerangs 7.10 (52)
PNG Kupundas (Highlands and Momase) 2.2 (14)

The first ever season of International Rules games in France is over. This year has seen five IR games being played on French soil.

The main event of the past few months was the inaugural Paris International Rules Cup (PIRC), where the Paris Cockerels (Australian football) competed against the Paris Gaels (GAA). The Cockerels lost 3 of the 4 matches to the Gaels, which proved to be too strong. But each of the games saw the Aussie Rules players gaining more confidence with the round ball and putting more pressure on the Gaels. This would ultimately lead to the Cockerels' first victory in the PIRC, beating the Gaels 6-2-12 (54) to 2-5-10 (43), under the IR scoring system of 6 points for a goal (under), 3 for an over and 1 for a behind.

But Paris is not the only place where IR is being played in France. The Bordeaux Bombers started their 2009 season with an IR game against the newly formed GAA team of Charente-Maritime. The more experienced Bombers outplayed their opponents and eventually won the game.

The chance of the Gold Coast Football Club being awarded a licence to compete in the AFL from 2011 took a big step forward during the week, with Queensland's Premier, Anna Bligh, committing her government to contribute $60million to an upgrade of Gold Coast Stadium (Carrara).

The global financial crisis has been seen as a major threat to the 17th licence bid, and reported plans for a $300million stadium were shelved. But the announcement from Queensland's Labor government is thought to have all but guaranteed the state will secure its second AFL club. It's believed the AFL will also contribute significantly to the stadium, and hopes to gain Federal government funding as well.

The only concern in that area is that a state election is imminent, and the National-Liberal opposition has not yet matched Bligh's promise - this has reportedly upset local candidates given that the business community is looking forward to the significant money an AFL club would bring to the area. A Queensland study on the economic impact of a Gold Coast-based AFL side found that when the club was up and running at full capacity it would generate more than 400 local jobs and economic activity of $34 million a year – 92 per cent of which would flow to non-AFL businesses.

The tip is that the licence will be awarded to the Gold Coast at the AFL Commission meeting later this month. That would be good news for PNG's Amua Pirika, who is playing with the club as they head into the TAC Cup Under 18 competition.

In a positive sign for international footy, Papua New Guinea's Under 18 "Kupandas" defeated the Indigenous Australians (the Flying Boomerangs, believed to be an Under 18 side also) by one point in the first game of the two match tour of PNG.

PNG Kupandas 9.12 (66)
Flying Boomerangs 9.11 (65)

We'll have more details later, but for now, more information can be found in a report on the AFL website here.

The series now moves to Lae, about 300km north of Port Moresby, for game two on Sunday.

Following on from our article on Wednesday that the New Zealand Under 20 Championships have attracted scouts from several AFL clubs, it was reported in Melbourne's The Age today that four clubs will be represented. Those clubs were named as Hawthorn, Geelong, Sydney and North Melbourne.

The story (Forget Irish, clubs turn to Kiwis) singles out Hawthorn as particularly keen to establish a recruiting network to take advantage of the international scholarship program. The article, by Jake Niall, also mentions the Kiwi heritage of the Hawks' Trent Croad, Brent Renouf and Shane Savage, and suggests the reigning premier has been in discussions with the NZAFL to assist with the continuing establishment of junior footy.

In many ways New Zealand and PNG have led the way in international footy, with South Africa rising fast and the Gaelic football connection delivering plenty of Irishmen to the AFL. But there has been a sense that NZ may fall behind at junior level, so hopefully a good showing this weekend will help them gain the momentum needed to keep competing with the likes of the Papuans and Africans.

In an exciting development for reigning International Cup champions Papua New Guinea, they have just begun hosting a top class touring squad from Australia, their first such opportunity to see one of their representative squads play international competition on home soil.

Two youth matches will be played between PNG and potential future AFL champions from Australia, under the banner "One Tribe Challenge". An Australian indigenous youth team will take on the AFLPNG under 18 team nicknamed “Kupanda” (spear in the Melpa language of the Western Highlands Province of PNG). The Australian team, known as the “Flying Boomerangs” will play two matches in PNG with game one in Port Moresby at the UPNG oval on March 13 and game two at the Lae Show Ground on March 15. The Australian indigenous team is the same concept as the Boomerangs side that has played South Africa in the past, proving more than their match, and will be a wonderful test for the Papuan junior program.

The NZAFL have recently advertised on their website for people to run Auskick centres. The programmes would run for eight sessions and target the after school timeslot of 3.30-5pm.

Though this is different to how things are generally done in Australia, obviously things need to be tinkered with in development markets.

One of the key barriers to getting children involved in developed countries is that, more often than not, children are already committed to their traditional sports of a Saturday or Sunday morning when many Australians would expect clinics to be held. Therefore to get an initial participation of some longevity rather than one-off clinics a timeslot must be found that may capture enough interest.

On the 14th and 15th of March 2009, the New Zealand AFL will hold its Under 20 National Provincial Championships (NPC) in Christchurch at Westminster Park. The tournament will involve representative teams from Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury and has already created interest in AFL circles with several talent scouts to be in attendance.

From the players participating, a New Zealand talent squad will be selected and will compete as a team in the Senior National Provincial Championships in Auckland in October later this year.

The tournament favourites will be Auckland, who are expected to dominate the weekend due to the depth of talent available from a domestic league that boasts two senior grades and a stronger pathway for those looking to aspire to greater heights within the code. Over the past five years the average age of players in the competition in the Auckland region has dropped dramatically. The mix of a few experienced Australian expatriates and fit and willing New Zealand youngsters seems to be a recipe for success. Given the run-down from the teams that follows below, it appears Canterbury will finish second and Wellington will struggle to compete at all.

This recipe has resulted in an abundance of new, fresh faces from New Zealand’s shores eager to replicate the outstanding skills and intensity shown by very good Australian players. More and more players from minor leagues in Australia are making their way across the Tasman to participate in the New Zealand domestic competitions that start straight after the end of the Australian season.

Read on for a run-down of each of the competing sides.

In a sign that the controversial hybrid game is decreasing the gap between Aussie Rules and Gaelic Football, West Dublin Saints FC (who compete in the ARFLI) have announced they will play St. James Aldergrove GAA club in International Rules Football.

The match is scheduled to take place on Saturday March 14th at the GAA club's home ground. After the Saints had hoped to play the hybrid game against Trinity College GAA in February, the match was called off due to bad weather. They still hope to play this match. Despite this, West Dublin are pleased to play the Belfast based team in March. West Dublin have consistently performed well in Ireland's Aussie Rules competition.

For more information visit the West Dublin Saints

The Scottish Australian Rules Football League (SARFL) offered its first taste of football in 2009 last Saturday when Glasgow and Edinburgh faced off in the annual preseason friendly fixture at The Meadows, Edinburgh. The SARFL has also announced the date of the 2009 Haggis Cup, with the welcome mat out for teams around the region.

Fresh off the back of a disappointing 2008 both on and off the field, the first hitout of the year suggests that 2009 will be a very different proposition for the SARFL. A number of new players featured for each side, both locals and Australians, with many more expected to be available as the season proper approaches.

Edinburgh won the match by 5 goals, showing much cleaner skills with boot and hand on the route to goal and in taking better advantage of scoring opportunities. However, Glasgow's less experienced side held their opponents in the second and last quarters with solid work both in defence and in the middle of the park, some poor finishing costing them on the scoreboard. What the game showed is that while Edinburgh still holds a clear advantage over Glasgow, 2009 should see a much more competitive season.

Added to this is the very welcome news that the northern city of Aberdeen will be fielding its first side in the SARFL this year, breaking the Glasgow/Edinburgh rivalry and monopoly which has endured up to this point.

As with any overseas league which does not have a large Aussie expat community, recruitment is key to the health of the SARFL, and a number of recruitment initiatives are being used this pre-season, and are expected to lead to greater stability and competitiveness within the league and individual clubs.

In other SARFL matters, it has been announced that the Haggis Cup will again be held in 2009, this time on 23 May. The host city will again be Glasgow and any sides wishing to compete are welcome to email info@sarfl.org.uk to express their interest.

Thanks go to Eddie McAvinchey for this story.

The organisers are still counting, but possibly as much as £10,000 (AU$22,000) was raised as London’s ex-pat community came out in their droves to show their support for the communities devastated by the Victorian Bushfires, for a special Australian Rules Charity match organised by the six Premiership Division clubs of the AFL London.

Over 3,000 people turned up at Clapham Common, in inner London, to see the North of the River side clubs (West London Wildcats, London Swans and North London Lions) play the South of the River clubs (Wandsworth Demons, Putney Magpies and Wimbledon Hawks). Many of those who played in, and watched, come from some of the hardest hit areas.

Volunteers collected donations for the Red Cross Bushfires appeal and proceeds from the sales of food and drink were also donated in the specially organised event. “The ex-pat community here in London really saw this as an opportunity to stand together and show those in Victoria and Australia that despite the distance, we don’t forget and feel just the pain just like those at home. Sport, as Australians know, brings people together in a very special way” said Peter Romanis, President of the West London Wildcats.

The match itself was played in good spirits, with glorious sunshine and London’s warmest day of the year, making conditions perfect for football.

There are numerous other fundraising activities taking place over the coming weeks across London at the Australian themed Walkabout pubs. The Shepherds Bush Walkabout donated ₤1,000 to the charity match.

For the record, the South of the River defeated the North of the River by 19 points.