World Footy News

The Peace Team have won their practice match against the "Unity Team" by six points. The game was held at Brighton Beach Oval last Sunday 24 August 2008. The Unity Team was comprised of footballers from Old Brighton Grammarians, AJAX Football Club and Melbourne's Islamic community. Unity Team 8.11 (59) Peace Team 10.5 (65) The Peace Team's first International Cup match is against Great Britain tomorrow. The game starts at 1pm at Royal Park (Ransford Oval). Onlookers will be keen to see if Kamal Abualthom can reproduce his stunning trial match form in which he booted 7 goals, reportedly from all angles and plays.

2008 is a special year for two Australian icons. Australian Football celebrates its 150th anniversary as does the National Bank of Australasia, a founder of today's National Australia Bank (NAB). NAB is celebrating the occasion with a road tour, "commemorating the people, places and events that have shaped our heritage and history. From 1858 to 2008 and beyond, this is the story of NAB and 150 years in our community."

Over the next two days the NAB 150 Tour will celebrate Australia's own game of football and its spread around The World.

Today the NAB 150 Tour joins the Samoan Kangaroos (supported by members from other International Cup squads) at St. Margaret's School (Berwick, Victoria) for a "Football-themed Day". Michael Roberts, Game Development Manager of AFL Samoa, has worked tirelessly to make the day special for students; with International Cup activities, special guests and Mascot Manor running footy clinics.

On Wednesday, the NAB 150 Tour will join in AFL International Cup celebrations at Royal Park North in Parkville. Once again local school children will have the opportunity to take part in AFL clinics and visit the NAB 150 Tour Truck.

From the NAB 150 Tour Website:The Australian Football Experience is an opportunity for football fans of all ages to learn about Australian Football history and participate in football activities. Come down and join AFL legends, Kevin Sheedy, Robert ‘Dipper’ DiPierdomenico, Nathan Buckley, Chris Grant, Luke Darcy and Neil Daniher, who will all be present to meet and greet their fans and take part in the day’s activities.

Long time readers of worldfootynews.com may recall our good friends Jeff and Paul from the FootyWrap, a regular comedy segment that they uploaded to Youtube each week. Although long overdue, the guys have since made the step up to featuring prominently on the Herald Sun website. But true to their word they have still caught up with the International Cup, and the boost to its profile can't be underestimated.

Read on for Jeff's exclusive thoughts on the tournament ahead and a direct link to their IC video on the Herald Sun website.

After a three year wait since the last Australian Football International Cup, 16 teams converge on Melbourne's Royal Park tomorrow (Wednesday August 27th) for the first round of IC08. Here's a sneak peek at what to expect, and I'll stick my neck out to venture predictions, although admittedly some of the sides are yet to be seen in international action.

The 16 sides have been seeded into 4 pools of 4, and in Round 1 some of the game's minnows face the power of more established footy nations. There are three times slots for the matches, with three games at 11:00am, three at 1:00pm and two at 3:00pm. Entry is free and the Melbourne public are encouraged to come down, pick their favourite team and help celebrate amateur Australian football from around the world.

The AFL today held a press conference at the Telstra Dome to introduce the Melbourne media to the 2008 Australian Football International Cup, its countries and more specifically the captains. While a few of the skippers were literally arriving in the country and negotiating the parking around “The Dome” others mingled with the waiting media. Former Collingwood captain and Australian Football 150 Years Ambassador Nathan Buckley and the AFL Talent and International Manager Kevin Sheehan discussed football’s international operations and the upcoming International Cup and took questions from the assembled media. We have podcasted the full session at our host site or here if you prefer ITunes.

The Oslo Trolls have celebrated the first ever game of Australian rules football in Norway with a thumping win over Western Sweden's Karlstad Dragons. With a side boasting plenty of Australian experience, the Trolls ran away to a 155-point victory, finishing 33.20.218 to Karlstad 9.9.63.

A big local crowd turned out at Oslo’s Ekeberg Rugby Ground to witness this historic day of Aussie Rules Footy, and the newly-formed local side bounced out of the blocks, posting the first eight goals of the match before the Dragons could manage a few majors late in the first quarter.

The Dragons side featured a few impressive new recruits, but were missing some of their more seasoned Swedish talent in Australia on International Cup duties.

The big win to the Trolls should give the club great impetus for building a permanent team in Oslo. The Dragons will take some lessons away from the game and regroup, and will look forward to a more competitive showing against the Trolls next time.

Source: Stuart Roberts from the Karlstad Dragons AFC. Full report available on the Dragons' website.

While it is not unusual to find the odd Australian Rules football related story in overseas media, it is extremely rare to find sections in news or media sites dedicated to the sport. Happily this situation is slowly changing.

The Japan Samurais defeated Box Hill North on Saturday at Elgar Park in a warm up for their International Cup campaign. It looks like the Japanese team put four fairly consistent quarters of footy together. Samaurais Coach Richard Laidler offered his thoughts on the 56 point win, "It was a good stretch out for the boys. It was not a full game (only 15 min quarters) but we learnt a couple of things which we could fix before the International Cup. Also we would like to thank Box Hill North to give us a bit of run before the Cup."

Japan Samurais 3.0, 6.5, 11.7, 14.11(95)
Box Hill North 1.0, 2.1, 5.3, 6.3(39)

Goals Japan: T.Mori 6 , T.Kase 4 , H.Toyama 2 , M.Tanaka 1 , G.Tanaka 1
Box Hill North: Not Available
Best on ground was S.Yokoyama

Earlier this month on August 7th, the AFL celebrated the 150th anniversary of what many believe to be the first match of Australian Football between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College which was held on August 7th 1858.

Though there are minor historical discrepancies, the match is about as close as the sport's governing body could get to reliving the early history of the game while at the same time promoting the spectacle of modern day professional AFL football.

In a positive sign that the Australian Government is starting to see the potential economic benefits of promoting the Aussie code of football internationally, former Labor opposition leader and now Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, has talked up the opportunities in a foreward of the IC08 Record, available for download from the AFL's www.ic08.com.au website here. The Minister's comments follow.

Under cloudy skies and a little late, the International Cup got underway with the first of the Multicultural Challenge Matches yesterday. After some morning drizzle, the rain held off and did not have a great influence on the match.

Gosch's Paddock, the training home of Collingwood Football Club, was in great condition. A small crowd made up of regular international watchers, families of Team Africa, the South African squad and entourage and a few forward scouts from opposition teams saw the game stall slightly.

There was no siren to sound, but shortly after some consultation the umpire tossed the ball up and it was on. The South Africans dominated from the start. With quick handball and plenty of numbers getting around the ball the South Africans put an early goal. It was Jayce Zidel who finished well after quick handball from a pack saw him kick truly from 35m out.

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Ireland's coach Roger Clarke and player David Walsh are interviewed on Ireland's third national TV station about the upcoming trip to Australia. The footy discussion starts around the 2:30 mark.