World Footy News

In part two of our preview of teams for the 2008 EU Cup, we take a look at Eastern Europe's first footballing nations, Croatia and the Czech Republic, as well as the growing leagues further west in Catalonia and France.

The French, Catalan and Croatian squads will be all-local, with the Czech Lions also fielding a larger local contingent than previous years, together with a diverse range of other internationals.

All four sides have seen some great growth in the last twelve months. The French have gone from two clubs to four around the country, with a few more in the works. The Catalans have returned to a four-team domestic league, with an expansion group in the tiny Catalan-speaking mountain nation of Andorra possibly joining the LFAC next season.

Making their EU Cup debut, the Croatian Knights are bringing a full squad plus spares to Prague, with the Zagreb Hawks forming a second "Saints" squad for scratch matches over the season. The Czech AFL has seen the start of domestic footy, with the Prague Tigers and Prague Lions playing three matches against each other over the past month.

With the maximum number of Australians this year reduced to 6 per squad of 15, these four sides may find themselves a little higher up the table than last year.

The annual Bali9s tournament hosted by the Bali Geckoes at the Canggu Club will be played on November 1st. This year’s tournament will see four teams from the Indonesian region competing, Bali Geckos, their fierce rivals the Jakarta Bintangs and newly formed clubs the Borneo Bears and Timor-Leste Crocs.

Played in a 9-a-side, lightning premiership type format, each team will play the others with the two top teams playing off in a grand final.

Whilst the far more experienced Bali and Jakarta sides would be favoured to win through to the final, both Borneo and Timor Leste could take heart from the efforts of debutants Laos in the recently concluded Asian Championships, who proved that novice teams could cause upsets.

The Bali9s has been a prestigious trophy since its inception in 2002, the inaugural winners being the Bintangs. That year’s tournament took place just a week before the tragic Bali bombings in which 202 people lost their lives, 88 of them Australian. The 2003 edition which marked the one year anniversary of that event was particularly poignant, being attended by luminaries such as the then Prime Minister of Australia John Howard, and for the football fanatics, Ron Barassi, Mick Martin and Dermott Brereton. Jason McCartney played for the Geckoes on that day, but even he could not stop Bateman’s Bay from annexing the trophy.

The tournament has a lost some of its lustre in recent years, being usurped by its sister contest, the Bali9s Masters, a similar event for teams comprising the over 35’s. However, this year's competition, involving teams from the same geographic area, should be hotly contested and may become a fore-runner of an annual competition involving the same four teams.

USFootyNews.com is running an All-Star Ballot during the month of October. To vote just click on the link below and enter your top 6 USFooty players. Your votes will count to creating a USFootyNews.com All-Star Team that will be announced in November.

Choose a Key Forward such as a Full Forward or Center Half Forward, a Key Defender such as a Full Back or Center Half Back, two Midfielders such as a Center, Ruck Rover, Wing, or Flanker, a Ruck or tall player, and a Rover or small player.

You may choose from the list provided or enter a name on your own. Note that if you enter a name, please provide the full name and club for the player in the space provided.

Also enter your name, your favorite USFooty club and your email address.

Good luck and good voting!

Click HERE to VOTE.

The 2008 MAAFL Premiership race, as is normally the case, came down to the last game and Chicago United have successfully defended their 2007 title by again being crowned the premier club in the Mid American Australian Football League.

Interestingly the United team did not have to take the park on the last weekend of competition but just had to sit back and see if Nashville could snatch the cup from their grasp at the death knock. It wasn't to be for the Kangaroos though as they went down to Minnesota Freeze leaving Chicago on top of the ladder on percentage over the Milwaukee Bombers.

Story by Wayne Kraska for USFootyNews.com.

WorldFootyNews.com and USFootyNews.com have teamed up to present the USFooty Top Ten Poll for 2008. This is the 6th edition of the poll and the last before the USFooty National Championship Tourney.

1. Balt/Wash Eagles (8-0)  (7 # 1 Votes)
2. Denver Bulldogs (3-3)  (3)
3. NY Magpies (6-3)
4. San Diego Lions (3-2)
5. OC Bombers (5-2)
6. Golden Gate Roos (1-1)
7. Chicago United (6-1)   (UP from 8)
8. Nashville Kangaroos (6-3) (DOWN from 7)
9. Dallas Magpies (4-0)
10. Milwaukee Bombers (4-6)  (IN)

The Western Bulldogs are broadening their recruitment base, announcing plans to take a group to Fiji to trial as many as 5000 young Fijian athletes at the end of this month.

Bulldogs recruiting manager Scott Clayton last night confirmed that at least one player, but possibly as many as four, will be signed under AFL international rookie rules.

3000 copies of the poster at left have appeared at Coca-Cola outlets around Fiji, with open trials to take place in Labasa and the Fijian capital Suva.

The name "Oslo Trolls" was first heard in the international footy scene a few years back, but the team remained an enigma until August this year, when they hosted Sweden's Karlstad Dragons in the first match of footy in Norway in the modern era.

The team is now preparing to play their second match and first-ever road trip on October 4, making the drive east to Karlstad. The Trolls will kick off a three-team tournament against the Dragons and Falun Diggers, teams who will become regular adversaries if plans to join the AFL Sweden West next year come through.

Dave Foletta from the Trolls is looking forward to 2009 being Norwegian footy's "Break-Out Year". WFN spoke to him recently about their plans.

As previously reported, Ireland's key defender Mike Finn (pictured left) was named the top player of the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. He squeezed past Sweden's Andreas Svensson and joint 2005 winner, Samoa's Fia Too-too, both on 7 votes. Below are all the players who received 4 or more votes, which were awarded on the 3-2-1 system by umpires after each match in the 5 round competition.

Remarkably, Finn scored votes in 4 of the 5 rounds, only missing out in Ireland's 98 to nil defeat of Finland in Round 2, a match in which he was rested given his heavy workload, playing in a final the next day for local club Heidelberg. A quick check of their website reveals Finn came 6th in their seniors best and fairest, a great effort at a quality club in a premiership year. Heidelberg play in the Northern Football League (formerly known as the Diamond Valley Football League) in Melbourne. He was also recently married, so it was a huge month for the Irishman.

Europe's 9-a-side EU Cup is just around the corner, with the tournament taking off at the Slavia Sports Centre in Prague on the weekend of the 11th and 12th of October.

12 teams will compete, with England, Catalonia, Sweden, Finland, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Germany returning from last year's tournament in Hamburg. Scotland will also return, having competed at the first EU Cup in London in 2005.

Croatia will make their EU Cup debut, after impressive showings at the CEAFL and the Central European Tri-Series over the past few years.

The EU Crusaders will again be the banner of the cup's 12th side, featuring reserve players from other teams and players from other locations in Europe. This year, the mix might even include some new blood from Poland and Latvia, hoping to kick start clubs in their respective countries.

In the first of three articles previewing the EU Cup teams, we spoke to the teams from Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and defending champions Sweden.

The Geelong Cats went into the 2008 AFL Grand Final as hot favourites to go back to back. But it was the underdogs in Hawthorn who ultimately hoisted the cup. The game was a very tight tussle in the first half in front of a packed MCG crowd of just over 100,000. Kiwi born Trent Croad went into the game with a foot injury but was forced off the ground for the game after doing further serious damage, which looked like it might give Geelong the advantage, but Geelong captain Tom Harley also left the ground after a head clash with Mark Williams just before half time to even up that ledger. Luke Hodge across halfback dominated for most of the day after it initially looked like Max Rooke might have his measure.

Footy in the South Pacific is spreading, with eight countries to date now having either an organised league or informal games played. This year saw footy surface in Vanuatu for the first time, as well as renewed interest in rebooting footy in Fiji. Footy in the Solomons saw a revival led by Australian peacekeepers late last year.

Together with the four Pacific nations at the IC, plus Tonga who couldn't make the full draw, this gives eight nations with some footy presence in the region. All of them are now being investigated as part of the creation of AFL Oceania. The ninth link in Pacific footy could now come from a country traditionally somewhat separate from the Australian sphere of influence, the French overseas territory of New Caledonia.

Laurent Caravel, a Parisian who was previously involved with Australian football in France, is in the New Caledonian capital Noumea and wants to see footy formalised in the island nation.

There is an interesting article on the AFL website about New Zealand stand-up comedian Cal Wilson's journey to becoming an Aussie Rules and the St Kilda Football Club supporter.

Wilson, originally from Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand is co-host of the radio show "The Wrong Way Home with Akmal, Cal and Ed". She has also appeared on "SkitHouse", "Rove Live", "Thank God You're Here", "Spicks and Specks", "The Wedge" and "Dancing with the Stars".

In 2006, she did a sell out show about her distaste for New Zealand's national sport of rugby union and newfound love of footy. Her show was called "Up There, Cal Wilson".

Although her Saints didn't make the Grand Final and her favourite player Robert Harvey has since retired, and the Falcons unsuccessfully defended their International Cup title, fellow Kiwi Trent Croad, a veteran at Hawthorn finally got to show his silver fern on the premiership dias.

The article on Wilson recently appeared on the AFL website and titled "How a Kiwi comedian learned to love St Kilda".