World Footy News

This Sunday sees the 2008 SCAFL Grand Final being contested by the Beachside Sharks and the OC Jets. The Sharks will be looking to make it two in a row, while the Jets will be looking to exact revenge for their four point loss in last years Grand Final. The Sharks Club President (and founder) Adam Howarth will play his last game with the club.

On the Beachside Sharks site Howarth reflected on the work involved "Well, it's been a hard two years getting this club started and finding a way to get us in the position to win a second straight Grand Final. It's tough work and I couldn't have done it without the dedication of our coach, John Fragomeni, and the support of the players and their families." Howarth has played in every game for the Sharks and will be looking to go out in style before handing over the running of the club to the new President.

Over the years readers of worldfootynews.com will have been left in doubt that this author is particularly keen to see the game of Australian football seen in its full perspective, not as the dominant sport in one state of one country, but a game that within a handful of years of being codified had spread around a nation. And now, given the chance to go beyond those shores, it is being steadily embraced in many countries by sporting men and women who love the freedom to run, jump, tackle and kick, all in the one game.

Hardcore international footy fans can check out 19 year old PNG star John James in action, playing for Zillmere Eagles against the Brisbane Lions Reserves (the Suncoast Lions). The match was played earlier this year, and appears on AFLQtube (look for the match AFLQ Rnd 11 Lions V Eagles, first time users will need to download a small software patch). James has quite a few possessions and kicks a goal late in the first quarter, sets one up early in the second, and kicks another in the third. Viewers can see that he has electrifying pace and plays the role of a quick tackling, crumbing small forward, much in the style of indigenous AFL players such as the Davey brothers. Like several other PNG players at the 2005 IC, he almost seems to run too fast at times, missing tackles and slipping over. But overall he's an exciting prospect and played a big role in the featured match. It's also interesting to see the quality of Queensland's top league.

The Finland Icebreakers are making their debut this year, as one of the newer sides in the International footy community.

Footy has been played in Helsinki for a few years, with eight players first appearing as the Finnish Lions at the Prague Cup in late 2005. Since then, the Finns have rebranded the national team the Icebreakers. They formed two local teams last year with the creation of the Helsinki Heatseekers and Salo Juggernauts, and this year have kicked off a three-team domestic league.

Finland has had a few successes, with some CEAFL champion trophies heading to Helsinki, and put in a good showing at the EU Cup last year. However, the IC will be the biggest test yet for a team that only recently played its first 18-a-side test match.

Any of us who've had a go at learning Chinese might have come across the very popular ChinesePod, a regular Podcast featuring lessons in spoken Mandarin with subscribers the world over.

ChinesePod featured a lesson this week on Aussie Rules (or more specifically on a conversation between two Chinese watching a Collingwood game on TV, one of whom likes the game more than the other), available here.

Although the lesson doesn't have a whole lot of specific footy-related vocab, it brings up a bit of a translation question regarding how to say "footy" in Chinese, the folks at CPod called it "Australian-style Olive Ball", whereas the Beijing Bombers and Shanghai Tigers use the translation "Australian-style Foot Ball".

That probably looks a bit bizarre to English-speaking readers, but the explanation is that in Chinese, the word "Olive Ball" refers to rugby, or by extension to anything else with an olive-shaped ball, including American football. Chinese tends to name sports this way, with Badminton called "Feather Ball", Tennis called "Net Ball" and Baseball called "Stick Ball" (which makes you wonder what they call the completely different sports "netball" or "stickball").

This question comes up time to time... In at least a couple of other places around the world there were long discussions on what to call the game in the local language that didn't sound like a league of Australians playing Soccer, not to mention the confusion created if you try to translate the word "rules" into the name.

The good folks of the BJ Bombers and Shanghai Tigers have both been on the CPod message board to set the record straight. Bring on IC08, and the Red Demons can decide for themselves what to call it!

As one of the debut nations at the third International Cup, Finland might not be expected to wrack up too many wins (we'll preview them shortly), but they will be sporting a winning jumper, coming in at number one in our recent poll.

Of 295 votes, the Finns received 51 votes (approximately 17%), to record a comfortable win over Canada with their maple leaf on 37 (13%), Ireland's Celtic dragon with 33 (11%) and Great Britain's Union Jack on 30 (10%). Surprisingly coming in last was Samoa on 4 votes (just over 1%). That seems harsh given the impressive Kangaroo design - maybe it just reflects a lack of either Samoan readers or North Melbourne fans.

Open up the story for a much closer look at Finland and Samoa's jumpers. And for those that follow AFL politics - the "big question" - will Samoa have to wear a clash jumper in the unlikely event they take on Finland? (Controversially North Melbourne are forced to change their jumper when they play Collingwood as it is deemed to clash, even if North are the home side).

The recent debate on the relationship between the international and the national in Australian Football has several scenarios which might encourage fear in Australia.

This 100 Year Plan (below) which I wrote first in the late 1990s and has appeared on various sites and is now slightly revised: (1) shows those fears are groundless and more importantly (2) shows how far internationalisation has come – most of the first 8 points have already been achieved (see also the World Footy News Timeline).

Here I present the revised version.

In August 2008, the US national team, the American Revolution or "Revos" as they are affectionately known, head to Australia to take on the best teams in the world to win the Australian Football International Cup. In 2005, the Revos finished a very respectable third after beating 2002 winners, Ireland twice. However, the Revos were disappointed to go down to PNG in their pool match and will be looking for an improved performance in 2008.

The AFL has released this great new poster to promote the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. Open up this story to see a larger view. They have also updated their official website section: ic08.com.au

Ranga Ediriwickrama, Geelong's NSW Scholarship Program signing, has made headlines in Sri Lanka, the country his parents migrated from. Both the Daily Mirror and Daily News featured a story on Ediriwickrama, who was named in this year's Under 18 All-Australian Team. The New South Welshman is expected to be drafted this year, with the Cats given first preference.

You can read about his football journey to date in Sri Lankan Aussie signs with Geelong.

The inaugural South African National Championships were staged in Potchefstroom from 5th to 8th of July, with the country's oldest footy area, North West Province, fittingly taking out the open age title. Western Cape gave a strong showing in the grand final, before ultimately losing by 32 points. Pictured at left are Mtutuzeli Hlomela, Steven Malinga, Andre Swanepool and Reginald Mokotedi.

Australian football first got its South African start in North West, and that was followed by Gauteng. So just 18 months into the game's push into the additional provinces of KwaZulu Natal and Western Cape it's quite startling to see such competitive results for the new regions. In the high school division the results were even more surprising and a sign of exciting times ahead for the game.

Unbelievably, when the International Cup rolls into Warrnambool in August there is one player who can claim home ground advantage. Kiwi Moss Doran, of the fledgling Waikato competition in NZ, has taken the game so seriously over the past 2 years that he has played for South Warrnambool in the very strong Hampden League. He has also continued to play in the Waikato’s capital of Hamilton for the past 2 seasons to fast track his development.

For more on Moss Doran from Kate Butler of Warrnambool’s “The Standard”, click here.