World Footy News

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.

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.

worldfootynews.com readers have often told us of their frustration with the quality of the Bigpond coverage of AFL matches, with connectivity a major issue for those living outside of Australia. We're pleased to promote Aussie Sport TV, a new service launched to provide coverage of "Australian Rules Football (AFL), National Rugby League (NRL) and V8 Supercars video content - including extended match highlights as well as feature content on a team by team basis, round by round analysis and specific news desk programmes for each sport. Fans living overseas can get a better view of the action than ever before". worldfootynews.com will be paid a commission for any subscriptions to Aussie Sport TV that occur via clicking on their advertising logo on our site.

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Proving that the so-called Irish experiment is just that, an experiment, young Carlton recruit Michael Shields has joined the growing list of Irishmen to return to his homeland without making a success of an AFL career. The transition to a full contact, professional sporting environment can be too much for many prospective players. Some Australian draftees find the demands on their minds and bodies too great, so it's no surprise the toll is even greater for recruits drawn from a different sport on the other side of the world.

Although the announcement of the loss of the rookie-listed player is not likely to slow the search for international talent, it does come at a time when Sydney's Tadhg Kennelly continues to warn that AFL clubs are not equipped to handle the needs of such recruits.

Kennelly himself, injury permitting, becomes the third Gaelic recruit to play 150 VFL/AFL games, following Jim Stynes and Sean Wight (Scottish born/Irish raised). It's a great achievement, particularly as he has struggled through injuries this season, in one match dislocating his shoulder and knee in separate incidents, and last week popping his shoulder twice. But like Stynes before him, Kennelly battles on without missing matches.

Meanwhile the somewhat far-fetched but seriously considered idea of Western Sydney having a Sydney Celtic theme has been firmly dismissed by the AFL. The new side will look to embrace the new migrant communities of the area, which are by no means heavily Irish.

New Zealand held their final training camp over the weekend of July 4th-7th under adverse weather conditions, which is nothing new in the Land of the Long White Cloud! A strong defence of their title is expected and they have named an even squad with players from across their four football regions.

Speaking with 2005 Cup winning coach and now NZ Media Liaison Officer Jim Lucy, he said “Personally I feel it is a good squad, very fit, with a good game plan and an even spread of experience and youth. Our average age (is) 24 which is the same as last campaign but probably has a few less ‘oldies’ and a lot more experienced players. Having 5 guys based in Australia honing their skills is a real bonus”.

The Swedish Elks will make their International Cup debut this year, after an eventful past few years saw them explode from one club in Helsingborg to regular footy being played in over a dozen cities across the country.

The Elks won last year's EU Cup and have a fierce rivalry with Scandinavian neighbours Denmark and Finland. Now they want to take on the world's best and prove they are the real deal.

Coaching the Elks in Melbourne and Warrnambool will be Cameron Crooks, a native Melburnian who played club footy for Tullamarine and played elite junior footy alongside a number of current AFL champions.

The 2008 Australian Football International Cup draw puts 16 teams into 4 pools of 4. We look at how the seedings unfolded and a few of the issues surrounding what is, however, a pretty fair system.

It's a standard tournament format and makes for a good system, but does have two major drawbacks. It pits some of the world's least developed football nations against the very best (outside of Australia). And assuming the form hasn't changed markedly since 2005, it's unlikely that the first three rounds will see any blockbuster matches between the top teams - in fact there will be some awfully large losses dished out.

Based on expected form, it looks like a fairly clear run for the big four from 2005, i.e. New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the United States and Ireland. The toughest semi-final position to win may well be in Pool C, where the Stars and Stripes of the US Revolution will have to contend with the rising stars from South Africa. If they have improved the Africans may challenge the Americans, but if not the Danes may even give the South African Lions a run for their money. Other likely pivotal matches include Round 2's Samoa versus Japan, and Nauru versus Great Britain.

This article contains a close up look at the jumpers for each country - many of them seen publicly for the very first time today.

Vote in our poll (on the right at time of writing) - which is your favourite design (other than your own country's if you have an affiliation)?