World Footy News

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)?

The Australian Football League has released the much anticipated draw for the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. The AFL had felt a two division format was most likely (effectively separated between elite and developing nations), with anywhere between 12 and 18 teams on the cards. But with the final number of teams coming in at 16, and most of them wishing to play in the main draw, a late decision was made to merge them into one division. This gives the tournament a very fair structure, with 4 pools of 4 teams, each side playing the others within their pool once, with the top team in each going through to the main semi-finals (and similarly lower finishing teams playing off against each other).

The previously alluded to Multicultural section outside the main draw has also been released, with "Team Africa" representing Melbourne's recent African immigrants and playing three matches, against each of South Africa (as a practice game for them), Tonga (unable to commit to the full draw) and "Team Asia".

The pools:

All the rounds, times and venues are listed below.

Leader News has published a story which profiles young Sudanese ruckman Luak Bol, one of a number of other multicultural players in the new Murrumbeena Colts in Melbourne's Southern Football League Under 18s league.

A copy of the article, "A club for all nations", can also be found on the Leader's website.

Australia consistently ranks in the top four medal winning nations in the Olympics, something proudly celebrated by most Aussies. But has the time come for Australia to willingly accept a slide down the Olympic ladder? I think the answer should be yes. And it's intimately related to the health of Australians and the untapped potential of Australian Football.

Widely adored Sesame Street character Elmo recently met his match - the one AFL player who seems to be happier than the energetic little red... whatever Elmo is.

It's not often the AFL crosses paths with such a truly global megastar - check out Elmo and the ever-smiling Western Bulldogs' Brad Johnson on the AFL Bigpond site (for those that don't struggle with Bigpond; certainly Internet Explorer is recommended for the site).

Elmo meets Brad Johnson

The final list of nations competing for the 2008 Australian Football International Cup has been finalised. Here they are:

New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
United States
Ireland
Samoa
Britain
Canada
South Africa
Japan
Nauru
Denmark
Sweden (debut)
Finland (debut)
China (debut)
India (debut)
Israel/Palestine Peace Team (debut)

Tonga was unable to make the final commitment due to issues such as player availability for the full duration of the tournament; we hope to have a chat to TAFA staff later. They are however expected to make an appearance outside the main draw as well as there being some practice matches for a few of the main combatants and teams representing some of Melbourne's ethnic communities.

The West London Wildcats have taken out the 2008 Brit Cup, Britain's annual locals-only tournament. The Cats have won their share of Brit Cups before, taking five of the past six, but the real talking point of the day was the dominant debut of the ARUK Southern Redbacks, drawn from players across the ARUK's 9-a-side southern league.

After a close 5 point loss to the Wildcats in their first match, the Redbacks lifted with strong wins against Wandsworth, the Swans and Putney to make the final.

Led by best on ground Donny Mullen, the Wildcats were too strong in the final, with 16-year-old George Merrick doing a superb job in the ruck. Merrick is part of the junior Great Britain Bulldogs squad that will play 3 matches in Australia during the AFL International Cup. Joining Merrick with the Wildcats in the final were Ollie Ash (also a junior Bulldog) and Paul Avery (coach of the junior Bulldogs).

The Cup featured eight sides, with four from London (West London, Wandsworth, the Swans and Putney), three from regional England, (Reading, the Southern Redbacks and Nottingham) and the Wales Red Devils.

Next Sunday July 20th will see the grand final of the inaugural London under-16s league, with the game being held at Clapham Common. This year will also see the first appearance of the junior Bulldogs down under, with games planned against school sides from Geelong and Warrnambool so far. The Junior Bulldogs squad was named recently, available at AFLBritain.com.