The end of October saw Welsh champions the Cardiff Panthers set off on their annual end of season tour. Previous tours have included visits to the Belfast Redbacks in 2009 and the Bordeaux Bombers in 2010. Having been crowned WARFL champions for the 3rd year running, the Panthers set off to the beautiful Italian city of Rome as they were courteously welcomed by the 2011 AFL Italia Grand Final runners up, the Roma Blues.

Most of the match day was spent taking in the glorious sights and sounds of Rome, including the Colosseum and Stadio Olympico, in 21C sunshine, and the night was still fine as the 8.30pm kick off arrived under the floodlights of the Roma Blues pitch.

The Blues were the first out of the blocks at the ball up and to the shock of many they almost completely shut out the Panthers in the first quarter, taking a 38-3 lead into the first break. The Panthers however have gone undefeated all season and their experience of playing high pressure games away from home came to the fore as they started to peg the Blues.

Eventually the stiff Rome resistance started to fail under the pressure and the Panthers started to move into the lead and out of sight and eventually they came away 100-71 winners. The fabled legendary levels of Italian hospitality with then put on display as the two teams ate, drank and very much danced the night away in the suburbs of Rome.

A quick trip to the Vatican with an unexpected sighting of Pope Benedict XVI followed the next day before the Panthers flew home to bring to an end what has been a truly remarkable season for the Cardiff club.

The awards just keep coming for Ireland.  Having won both the men's and women's 2011 International Cup, similarly both versions of the Euro Cup, as well as being reigning European Champions, what could be left?

Well obviously the upcoming International Rules will be the biggest prize in the eyes of the general public.

But for key Irish Warriors player Michael Finn, the personal accolades keep coming.  He arrived Down Under in 2007 and played in premierships with Heidelberg in 2007 and 2008 in Victoria's Northern Football League, before heading off on tour.  At Bunbury, WA he played for South West Football League club Carey Park, winning the club best & fairest as well as playing a pivotal role in their Grand Final win.

He returned to Heidelberg and this year won the Frank Rosbrook Medal for the best & fairest player in Division 1 in the Northern Football League.

Read more at Finn takes out top prize.

All through AFL trade week it was reported that Carlton's big Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin had asked to be traded.  When no deal was done the Blues de-listed him, ending his 7 years at the club, despite some good form in 2011.  His manager Michael Quinlan has said, "Despite what was reported, we never sought for him to be traded."

“This was a very tough decision for us, Setanta has been a an important part of our club for seven years since he arrived in Australia from Ireland,” said Carlton CEO Greg Swann.

Setanta will now enter the draft hoping to be picked up by another club.  It's also possible for Carlton to re-draft him.  Throughout his career he never quite established himself, with runs of good matches followed by injuries, poor form or bad luck.  Wasteful disposal sometimes turned good matches into average ones.  A particular match that comes to mind saw him very good form only to be flattened by team-mate Brendan Fevola when going for a mark that the Australian-Fijian-Irishman was clearly in the best position for; such events seem to have plagued his career.  Aged 28 he could be an option at GWS Giants as they look to acquire mature players while they develop their gun youngsters about to be drafted.  It would be interesting to see if Setanta could find more consistency at another club.

O'hAilpin joined Carlton in 2005 and played 80 games for the club, kicking 67 goals.

Another two Irish recruits were also de-listed.  They are Sydney Swans rookie Chris McKaigue who has returned to Ireland and Jamie O’Reilly, a rookie at Richmond.

Update 20/11/2011:  Essendon has delisted Irishman Michael Quinn, who played 8 senior games (debuting in 2009) and won a VFL best and fairest, which just goes to show the big step now between the top state leagues and the AFL.

In case this is the last we see of Setanta O'hAilpin, the full Carlton Football Club statement appears below.

The Euro Cup was the perfect opportunity for the latest addition to the world of women’s football, the Swiss Swans, to show off their skills, despite the Swiss team having only formed a few months earlier on the back of the new women’s team in Lugano. Though the girls lost 126 – 6 to the impressive Irish Banshees, the consensus from both teams was that it was a fantastic and enjoyable experience, and despite a few ruffled feathers, the Swans will be back at the Euro Cup next year.

“We already knew that the enthusiasm of our girls couldn't be enough against a strong and more experienced team as Ireland, and we'll give them our congratulation for the great game,” commented Mattia Sacchi, coach of the team. “But it was important to be there and realize how high is the standard required to play AFL at international level. Anyway, me and my assistant Luca Urso, who has all my biggest thanks for his great job, are really proud of each girl, because in a very short time they improved a lot, they did a big sacrifice to come to Belfast, and they gave their best till the last second.”

Ireland's mens and womens teams made it a clean sweep for 2011 as they took out both EuroCup's in the biggest ever EuroCup played on home soil in Belfast.

The men's team won under new coach Shaun McElhone as they beat the Crusaders, Austria, England and Croatia on their way to victory. The Women had a comfortable victory too in their one match, defeating the women of Switzerland who were making their debut at the competition.

England finished third thanks to a victory over Italy, while Wales were to emerge top of Division 2 (7th overall) as they beat Spain in the plate final. Finland won Division 3 (13th overall) when they took out a win over a developmental Sweden side.

Ireland is now reigning champion of the men's and women's International Cups, the European Championships, and the men's and women's Euro Cup.

Full scores from the day are available here.

Ireland's women completed the clean sweep of international women's Australia football when they knocked off the newly formed Swiss women's side in Belfast as part of the 2011 European Cup.  The Banshees, barely a year in existence themselves, have now collected back to back Euro Cup wins to go with the inaugural Women's International Cup.

The following report thanks to Leiha Shrubsall, also a member of the victorious team.

Saturday 08^th October, Belfast Queen’s University Sports grounds - 2011 Euro Cup.

It was a cool day and the rain on and off, sometimes teaming down making the footy slither out of players hands more easily than they would have liked. Walking around the grounds there was a buzz in the air, the same type felt at the recent International Cup, different languages bouncing around the foyer and the smell of Aussie Rules football. Making our way from all directions to Belfast for the weekend, we were all there ready to play for the second women’s European title.

The South Dublin Swans have won the Jeep Irish Aussie Rules Premiership after a hard fought win against the Cork based Leeside Lions in Durrow, Co Laois last week, final score 6.9 (45) to 5.7 (37). The Swans got to this stage after a close semi-final victory against the Mid-West Magpies.

Their Grand Final opponents Leeside Lions had a much smoother path to the decider with an easy semi-final win over the Dublin Demons and may have been slight favourites based on this performance. From last year’s team the Swans had lost a few players including big ruckman Paul O’Halloran, however another big man, Tom Russell made this position his own in 2011. The Swans also had three players that played in the victorious 2011 International Cup that Ireland won in the Melbourne Cricket Ground in August, full forward, Manus Breathnach, half back James O’Byrne and midfielder, Darren Sheils.

AFL trade week is underway with the 18 AFL clubs playing a complicated game of bluff and dare with players and draft picks ahead of season 2012.

Already one deal has been done that sees Ireland's Marty Clarke return to Collingwood after a two year absence.  Because he was no longer listed by the Magpies the "rights" to Clarke belonged to new club GWS Giants, but they agreed to send him on to Collingwood in a multi-part deal.

Less certain but also possibly on the move is long time Carlton player Setanta O'Ailpin.  The tall Irishman (also of Fijian descent) has been in and out of the Blues' team for most of his career and has asked to be traded if the club can find an interested team.  If not it seems likely he will still be kept given that Carlton so often call on him in ruck or up forward when they get some injuries.  At times it has appeared that his team-mates have not shared the ball with "Carlos" as well as expected, perhaps lacking faith in his erratic disposal.  It would certainly be interesting to see him given a fresh chance at another AFL club.

Can't make it to Belfast to see the 2011 Euro Cup in person? No worries - you can catch up on the games live via UStream.

Visit http://www.ustream.tv/channel/afl-europe this weekend during match time to see Europe's biggest footy tournament and the biggest 9-a-side footy tournament in the world.

With the 2011 Euro Cup kicking off in Belfast this weekend, we present our third batch of team previews - this time profiling the Scottish, Swedish, Finnish and Icelandic sides.

The final draw includes 18 sides, with the teams from Poland, Portugal and Norway pulling out, but the Denmark Vikings having been added to the original list we received.

The full schedule can be found at the AFL Europe website.

Ed: We didn't receive word back from the Russian, Catalan or Spanish camps in time for inclusion in our Euro Cup previews, but we hope to have an update on their domestic progress in the near future.