World Footy News

International Rules - A Fifty Year Tradition and the cynics of the press

It is now over 50 years since Harry Beitzel took the Galahs to Ireland and New York, and since they defeated one of the top GAA teams at their own game, in the biggest shock to hit Gaelic football in a long while.

Every few years we have had series, playing exciting versions of the hybrid game, International Rules, which combines Aussie Rules with Gaelic football. The next instalment begins tonight.

At the 2008 USFooty National Championship Tournament in Colorado Springs CO, USFootyNews.com held a little ceremony for their 2008 Goal Kicker of the Year and MVP of the Year. Chris Moerman, the Nashville Kangaroo full forward, kicked 43 goals to win the Goal Kicker of the Year award. Kelly Nelson, OC Bomber and Revo mid-fielder, received 12 votes to win the 2008 MVP. Terry Miniken of Coopers Brewery graciously provided the boys with a six pack of Coopers Ale and a Cooper's T-shirt each.

Moerman had an outstanding year with Nashville. He had an incredible averge of just over 6 goals a game in his 7 games. This included 13 goals against Baton Rouge where he was also named best on ground.

Moerman's coach, Marty Thompson, pointed out that even with this 13 goal haul he had numerous assists. Thompson said things slowed down a little as the season wore on because word got out and teams started to double team Moerman. Still, even in his last game against Minneosota, Moerman kicked 6 goals in Nashville's desperate attempt to win the MAAFL Championship.

Kelly Nelson also had an amazing year. Nelson played 6 for Orange County and 3 for the Revolution in Melbourne at the International Cup. He was named in the three best in 5 of OC's six games and had three best on grounds. In Melbourne he was named in the best for three games and was best on ground in the Revo's dismantling of China. Highlights included a best on ground in OC's defeat of San Diego and two goals for the Revos against Japan in their last game of the Melbourne tour.

To see the full count of goal kickers and vote getters for 2008 go to USFootyNews.com Stats page.

Congratulations from USFootyNews.com to both Chris Moerman and Kelly Nelson and thanks to Coopers Brewery for their support.

The Sydney AFL have defeated the NSWGAA in the International Rules match in a thriller to win the first Mike Raftery Cup.

Before a great crowd, the Aussie Rules players won by a solitary behind in a closely fought game.

Sydney AFL: 4.3.10 (43)
NSWGAA: 3.6.6 (42)

Editor: to refresh people's memories, it's 6 points for an "under" in the goal net, 3 for an "over" between the main posts, and 1 for a behind between the outer posts, as per normal Australian football.

Sydney's Aussie Rules team featured several talented players on AFL scholarships including Geelong's Ranga Ediriwickrama, Melbourne's Ted Strudwick and St Kilda's former recipient Blake McGrath who all had good games.

Following the success of the clash, officials of the AFL Sydney and NSWGAA are currently in discussions to make this a regular event.

A full report can be read in AFL Sydney takes out International Rules clash.

AFL club St Kilda today announced that it has delisted several players and among them is South African born rookie Luke van Reenen.

The 201cm ruckman, who started playing football in suburban South East Melbourne was yet to debut at AFL level and had an ordinary run of games and injury (Injuries slow internationals) with the Casey Scorpions. At 20 years of age and without a senior game to his name it is unlikely that van Rheenen will be picked up in the upcoming drafts.

The Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper today reported that AFL club the Western Bulldogs have rookie-listed (not strictly true) young Fijians Inoke Ratu and Solomoni Loki, after conducting trials in Labasa and Suva during the weekend. Ratu is described as a 19-year-old 197cm tall with good pace and an excellent leap, while Loki is a 16-year-old seen as a potential midfielder.

Both will remain in Fiji under a $1000-a-year commitment from the Bulldogs, but will follow a strict development program and visit the Bulldogs' home base Whitten Oval in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray several times. The article also mentions the pair will play in a new Oceania zone of the International Cup - a piece of information we'll be sure to investigate in the very near future.

The full article can be read at Dogs' Island Delight.

Note: It appears this is the first use of the International Scholarship List. Canadian Rugby International Mike Pyke, recruited by the Sydney Swans, appears to have been obtained via Sydney's normal rookie list.

A genuine European Championships, under IC eligibility rules and played either 16 or 18-a-side on full-sized fields, is a hot topic of discussion at the moment. In addition to the "original three" of Ireland, Great Britain and Denmark, the "next generation" of Spain, Germany, Finland and Sweden have also played test matches on full-sized pitches under all-local content rules, all except Germany having now appeared at the International Cup down under.

The Spain Bulls, drawn from the Madrid Bears, have since disappeared from the spotlight somewhat, but the Catalan league has continued to show healthy growth and has a large pool of local players for a potential full-scale national squad.

A number of others are within range of mounting a competitive 22-man all local squad. France definitely have the numbers, particularly if they can get one or two more clubs off the ground in the near future. Croatia performed very strongly at this year's EU Cup with an all-local squad of almost 20.

Some have also suggested inviting the Israel-Palestine Peace Team to any future European Championships to help try and cement footy in the region.

All of this adds up to an 8 or possibly even 10-team European Championships being feasible within the next few years. The details of ARFLI president Ciarán O' Hara's suggested model and the completion of his main AFL Europe proposal follow.

In the second half of O' Hara's AFL Europe proposal, he suggests a structure for a triennial European Championship, for the first time bringing together the teams of the older established leagues in Europe with the newer countries that have competed separately in tournaments like the CEAFL Championships, the Eastern European Tri-Nations and the rapidly growing EU Cup.

We will also be bringing you some information in the next few days about another concept for the European Champs that was discussed at the EU Cup conference in Prague last weekend.

On October 11 and 12 2008, the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs hosted the 12th annual USFooty National Championships. Unfortunately, while Colorado Springs promised beautiful surrounds it delivered a very very cold, foggy, windy and somewhat wet Nationals. A low cloud cover hang over the weekend threatening rain and actually delivering rain during the afternoon games on Saturday. The big winners on the weekend were the Vancouver Cougars who went home to Canada with the first John Harrell Memorial Trophy to cross the US’s northern border.

In second division, the Seattle Grizzlies were able to quiet the other Canadian team in the mens, the Calgary Kangaroos. The third division championship was taken by a resurgent Kansas City Power. In Division Four, the Ohio Valley combination of Louisville and Cincinnati takes home a National Championship and the big responsibility of hosting the 2009 USFooty Nationals in Mason, Ohio. In the Women’s, the Atlanta Kookaburras lost their first National Championship to yet another Canadian team, the Calgary Kookaburras.

Soon after the launch of AFL Oceania as an AFL administrative zone, and AFL Middle East as an AFL-affiliated league, now comes a proposal for AFL Europe. Its author, Ciarán O' Hara, explained to WorldFootyNews.com that it was formalised recently with the IC08 after around 12 months in the planning and in some ways is a continuation of ideas stretching back even further.

Aussie Rules has grown past its expat foundations in Europe, and the European leagues (with the exception of the Australian-heavy London footy scene) are now composed of a majority of local players, with a healthy population of Irish, New Zealanders and North Americans adding to the mix.

Those administering the leagues are also increasingly often locals, such as Irishman Ciarán O' Hara, who is a founding member and former President of the Dublin Demons and for the last two years has been President of the Australian Rules Football League Ireland (ARFLI), having held a league office of some sort since its foundation.

He was the European Representative on the AFL’s International Advisory Committee from 2000 to 2002, and was involved with the Atlantic Alliance and attempts to establish a European Australian Football Council in 2001 (that was perhaps before the need was widely realised, prior to so many new nations taking up the game). O' Hara was involved in Ireland's triumphant 2002 International Cup squad as Media Relations manager, and took over as Ireland National Team Manager last year, having held the post for a brief time in 2005 before work commitments meant he had to withdraw. He looked after all of the team's logistics and coordinated fundraising for the Warriors' IC08 tilt, whilst continuing as head of the Irish league and developing the AFL Europe plan.

Apologies for the delay in publishing, as we were focused on the EU Cup. Below is the first part of his proposal, and soon we'll publish part two which includes a suggestion for a full-scale European championship - not the only one currently being discussed. We hope to gather feedback from the European leagues on their thoughts on all these ideas.

On Tuesday 26th August the AFL held an International Forum for international footy stakeholders. Convened in the Legends Room at the MCG, the day ran for about four hours and included at least two representatives from each participant country at the International Cup, as well as other people involved in football and multicultural issues. worldfootynews.com was fortunate to have two representatives involved (Troy Thompson and myself) - we ensured we were primarily observers but our thoughts were also welcomed when the representatives broke into smaller groups. The day was facilitated by the AFL's Travis Jackson, who in 2007 spent time working with AFL South Africa in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. In this article we'll briefly discuss some of the issues raised.

This month AFL Middle East will begin its inaugural season. Below we reveal the fixture and preview the tournament and its six competing clubs.

Presentation of USFootyNews.com Goal Kicker of the Year and MVP to Chris Moerman (Nashville) and Kelly Nelson (OC) respectively. Interviews with Shane Atherton (WA Football), Jenny Sarbacker and Tina Arend (US Freedom), Ryan Richardson and Mark Lambert (KC), Andrew Donlen and Jeff Purcells (Seattle) and Rod Grljusich.

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Last weekend saw the England Dragonslayers win their first EU Cup, defeating very strong debutants Croatia in a dominant display of 9-a-side footy. The tournament was viewed by a crowd of around 500 and was streamed live via the internet, receiving around 21,000 views over the course of the day.

The Sunday following the tournament saw a conference held where team managers were able to put forward their views and plans for the future of footy in Europe, including some discussion of a future European Championship, played 18-a-side with no expats - a topic we'll be covering in more detail in the near future.

A collection of photos from the event can be viewed here.

Following report courtesy of Kirsten Puls.