Carlton's improving Irishman, Setanta O'hAilpin, is attracting increasing attention as a key in the Blues' forward line as they push for a top four finish in the 2010 AFL premiership race. With a fleet of small indigenous players complementing the tall import, the set up has become known as Setanta and his little helpers. "Carlos" has booted 24.13 so far this year, putting him equal 9th on the goalkicking ladder.

The notoriously shy player has always been reluctant to do media interviews, but recently conducted one with Martin Flanagan for The Age - Beyond the Lore and one for SEN radio below.

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The Danish Australian Football League (DAFL), Australian Football League Sweden (AFL Sweden) and the European Australian Football Association (EAFA) today announced the official schedule for the inaugural 16-a-side 2010 European Championships of Australian Football.

The schedule outlines the sixteen matches that will ultimately determine the European Champion until the next European Championships in 2013.

The participants are Europe’s best locally developed (non-Australian) international teams representing 8 different nations. As favorites, Ireland will be looking to continue its dominance in Australian Football in Europe, but will have strong competition from Great Britain and Germany, as well as host nations Denmark and Sweden.

As for Finland, Croatia and Iceland, they will be looking to make an impact, test themselves against the experienced teams, and use the tournament to continue preparations towards the 2011 International Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

The AFL Britain's Central and Northern Region has found its first full-size footy oval, with an agreement reached with the Manton Sports Club in Worksop, near Sheffield.

The new £1.2 Million pound venue hosts a 185m x 155m oval, which is fully securely fenced off with ample room around the oval for out of bounds and spectators, as well as a fully-licensed club house.

Karl Haigh from the Huddersfield Rams says the people running Manton Colliery Athletics Club have been very supportive of the venue becoming a new base for British footy. "Half the battle finding grounds in England is the people behind the clubs, they have a dim view of new sports and are not very forthcoming when you approach them. But not here - Denise and her team are right behind new sports and anything sport related which gives youngsters new oppotunities in their life. It's near Sheffield, which is central to the whole country. The Midlands are central to England, but Sheffield is more central to the UK overall. People tend to forget about Scotland and the north east!"

The 18-a-side Central and Northern Warriors representative squad, made up of the best players from the AFL Britain's CNW and NE Divisions, will be holding their first Selection/Training day at the ground on 29th of May 2010.

The ground is set to also become the "Northern" Venue for England and Great Britain International games, selection trials and training camps.

The northernmost Australian football league in the world will begin its first official season this weekend, with the Foster's Premiership kicking off in Reyjavík, Iceland. The 9-a-side features three sides, named the Bulls, Dragons and Eagles after three of the four traditional guardian spirits of Iceland.

The Bulls will go into the season as early favourites, after winning the pre-season English Pub Cup played on the 1st and 2nd of May. Icelandic Australian Football League president Friðgeir "Fritz" Ásgeirsson says the tournament was a great success, and gave a number of players the opportunity to have a competitive hitout before the season begins.

"We were very lucky with the weather and everyone had a good time. We see this tournament as a warm up for the league and a great opportunity for the new guys to try out the sport and get a hang of things. That went very well, the new guys were excellent and we are very optimistic for the future of Aussie Rules in Iceland. I’d be very surprised if we didn’t see some of the new guys at the European Championships in Denmark/Sweden later this year,” Fritz said.

The English Pub Cup also created some interest in the Icelandic media, with this report appearing on the national TV broadcaster RUV, and a number of articles in the local press. The Iceland Ravens made a strong debut at last year's EU Cup, and with some hard-working and passionate locals onboard look set to become a force in European footy.

The South Dublin Swans have won the the SMAT’s.com super 9’s ARFLI preseason competition for 2010. The tournament was part of the inaugural Dublin ANZAC sports carnival and saw seven Irish club sides joined by the Aberdeen Dingoes (Scotland) and from London, the Irish Exiles. The nine sides were drawn into three pools with the pools winners advancing through to a round robin final.

Whilst the slow approach of the European summer brings the start of the footy season for most European and North American leagues, the University year is coming to the end. Among the growing crop of college footy clubs outside Australia, the University of Birmingham Sharks have completed the first season in their history, recording 4 wins out of 5 matches.

Thanks to Tim Smith for this report.

The Wolverhampton Wolverines played their first-ever match last Saturday, taking on the University of Birmingham Sharks. Although the Sharks won the match 126-58, Wolverines founder Ian Mitchell was upbeat about his squad's debut performance. "My lads played really well and learnt a lot. It was fairly close until the Sharks took the game away from us in the 4th quarter, after we had put them under great pressure and won the 3rd."

Stand-out performers for the Wolverines were Sam Findell with 4 goals, Ben Yeates who took some great marks under pressure and Tom Archer who was solid at fullback.

Besides hoping to schedule a few more friendlies during May, the Wolverines will meet the Liverpool Eagles in their first league game this Saturday, with all teams in the Central & North West League coming to Manchester for the round, including the debuts of the clubs from Peterborough and Hull.

Oslo's Australian football team, the Oslo Crows, defeated Swedish team the Karlstad Eagles by 39 points at Ekebergsletta in Oslo on Saturday.

In windy, rainy conditions the home team kicked 10.9.69 to Karlstad's 4.6.30, with Paul Swanston bagging three majors for Oslo.

The win was a great result for a team that featured many Norwegians with limited experience with Australian football, including several first-gamers. Best players for Oslo were Erik Svela, Nathan Roxby, Paul Swanston and Amund Lundesgaard.

Setanta O’hAlpin (pictured left) and Tadhg Kennelly (right) have both started the AFL season in highly impressive form but as yet are the only Irish players to have played senior football in the AFL in 2010. Kennelly has been instrumental in the Sydney Swans shock rise to first place in the ladder after six matches, winning five and only losing a tight contest to premiership favourites St. Kilda. Setanta has kicked 16 goals for Carlton including a personal best 5 goals against arch rivals Collingwood last week and has been in career best form.

With an "awesome display of guts, determination and sheer skill", the mighty Huddersfield Rams outclassed six opponents from around England & Wales to take out the UK National Carnival in Portmsouth on Saturday April 24th.

In only their second year, and proudly wearing Western Australian State-of-Origin jumpers until their new kit arrives, the Huddersfield Rams brought the cup back to Yorkshire for the first time in the tournament's history.

The Rams won six games out of six to battle through to the final, before seeing off the hosts the Portsmouth Pirates. Rams captain Danny Armitage picked up the Golden Boot award for the tournament with an outstanding performance of 18 goals.

Club founder and president, Karl Haigh said “I’m so proud of the effort put in by the lads – both in the build up to and duration of the carnival. Considering that we came here last year and did not win a game, to come here in 2010 and go on and win the thing is amazing.”

The 9-a-side National Carnival is the last pre-season tournament before the regular season begins, this year hosted in Portsmouth by the Portsmouth Pirates with the Southampton Titans, Bournemouth Demons, Bristol Dockers, Sheffield Thunder, Cardiff Double Blues and the Rams all vying for the Cup.

This report courtesy of the Huddersfield Rams AFC.