In the fourth and final preview of teams for the 2009 EU Cup, WFN spoke to Luke McBride from Germany, Dante Zandveld from the Netherlands, Ronan Moran from the Irish Exiles and Jono Newman from the EU Crusaders.

The Germans are undefeated in international competition this year, having hosted a full-field test against Finland and a 9-a-side clash with the Czech Republic. Whilst coach McBride is an Australian, their full squad are Germans and they will be very keen to show they have what it takes to match it with the best in Europe.

The Dutch have had a year of growth, laying the foundations for a local league to commence next year. Their national side the Flying Dutchmen has played friendlies against the Paris, Rheinland and Berlin clubs during 2008, being undefeated thus far.

The Irish Exiles, a team formed mainly of Irishmen playing Aussie Rules in the UK, could be a very strong side depending who they can bring to Zagreb. Their only match to date was a clash against the 2008 EU Cup champions the England Dragonslayers in early September, where the Irish showed plenty of class in taking out victory.

Finally to the Crusaders, who perhaps fittingly in the first year the EU Cup is held outside the EU, are captained by a resident of non-EU nation Switzerland and are largely made up of citizens of non-EU nation Croatia. The Crusaders have a mix of both experienced hands and newcomers and could surprise a few sides.

With the Crusaders, the tournament will feature 15 sides, with Catalonia and Russia missing from the original 16 sides hoped for by organisers. The Catalans pulled out very recently due to financial issues, whilst the Russian squad, a project of a group of Rugby league players from Moscow, ultimately couldn't make the starting line after much initial promise.

In what would come as a shock to most, Irishman Martin Clarke has decided not to pursue a new playing contract and return to his homeland after three seasons with Collingwood. Clarke, who turns 22 in November, played 46 AFL games with the Magpies after he came to Collingwood at the end of 2006 from County Down on a two-year international rookie contract.

He made his rapid ascent to senior AFL football with his debut in round 12, 2007 against Sydney after being temporarily elevated to the senior list due to a long-term injury, and earned a permanent spot on the senior list for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Clarke’s last AFL game was against Sydney in round 12 this year, and he was named as an emergency for the preliminary final against Geelong.

He will return to Ireland to study teaching and be with his family.

In worldfootynews.com's third preview of teams for the 2009 EU Cup, we spoke with coach of the England Dragonslayers (and new assistant coach of the GB Bulldogs) Robert Fielder about their preparations for defending the title, as well as Juan Martin and Antonio Avila in Spain and Doug Pate in Andorra about their respective teams.

Footy in the Madrid area took an important next step this year with the creation of a second team and the commencement of a local league. The Andorrans completed their debut season in the Catalan league and will be keen to make a good impression in their first EU Cup appearance.

In other EU Cup news, team Catalonia have announced their withdrawal due to financial difficulties, meaning organisers are currently looking at 14 national sides, plus the EU Crusaders to be confirmed. A finalised draw will be available soon.

Our final preview, covering the Irish Exiles, Germany and the Netherlands, will be on WFN soon.

AFL Britain has named a new Head Coach and Assistant Coach for the Great Britain Bulldogs, to prepare for and contest the upcoming International Cup in 2011 and beyond. Since the initial event in 2002, the Bulldogs have developed steadily and have been recognised as one of the stronger European teams and equal 9th in the world according to the 2008 World Footy News rankings. Now the new coaching pair have the task of taking the squad to the next level, to compete with the increasingly professional approach apparent in such teams as Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and South Africa.

The Port Malmö Maulers will tomorrow aim to become the first-ever Swedish team to win the Danish Australian Football League premiership when they host the North Copenhagen Barracudas at Limhamnsfältet, Malmö.

The match marks the first time the DAFL Grand Final has been outside Denmark, with the Maulers red-hot favourites going into the match after the dominant Farum Cats bowed out of the finals series in straight sets.

Thanks to Ingmar 'Terry' Lundquist for this match preview.

The climax of the 2009 Australian Rules Football League of Ireland sees two Dublin rivals contesting the Grand final. Minor premiers and defending champions the Dublin Demons will go into the game as favourites having led the ladder all season. However the South Dublin Swans are also in confident mood, having started the season poorly (with 3 losses in their first 4 matches), they have won their last 5 games, including a close semi final victory over the Midland Tigers.

After announcing their exciting new partnership with the AFL’s West Coast Eagles in May, the vagaries of the international postal service have kept the former Karlstad Dragons waiting by the letterbox for the arrival of their new uniforms.

But on Tuesday September 8th, so fittingly following on the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s own “… small step for man… (and) giant leap for mankind”, we can proudly announce that: “Sweden… the Eagles have landed!”

Eagles President ‘Jumping’ Jimmy Ljunggren was impressed with the foresight shown by the West Coast Eagles, in sending a set of long-sleeved jumpers: “We can train all-year-round in these. We just need to get ourselves a couple of snowploughs to clear the track in winter.”

In our second set of previews of teams for the 2009 EU Cup, WFN spoke to team coaches and managers from France, Scotland, Italy and Austria.

The French, Austrians and Scots will be eager to improve their standing over previous years, while the first appearance of an Italian side in European Australian rules football circles has created a huge amount of interest.

So far, we've looked at half of the 16 national teams that the organisers at Aussie Rules Europe are expecting to make the trip. Still to come are some very big names including reigning champions the England Dragonslayers, potential juggernauts the Irish Exiles, and the always-improving German Black Eagles.

The Rheinland Lions reasserted their position as Germany's team to beat last weekend, defeating the Munich Roos 13.9 (87) to 8.3 (51) to take out the 2009 AFLG premiership at the Frankfurter Ostpark. The Lions have now won three premierships in a row, with the Roos runners-up in each of those seasons.

In Division Two, the Rheinland reserve grade team were unable to equal the effort of their senior team, going down to the Berlin Crocodiles by seven points. For the Crocs, the win marked their first premiership in any grade, with their seniors playing in Division 2 this year to rebuild after some tough seasons at the bottom of the table.

Reports from our German connections suggest the Crocs' move to second division has paid dividends to the club in terms of local development, the opportunity for more competitive matches meaning that the club's membership has grown greatly this year. The second division also created a venue for the new Stuttgart Emus club, as well as the reserve teams from Munich and Rheinland.

AFLG Grand Final - Premier Division

Rheinland Lions	5.2	6.5	11.6	13.9 (87)
Munich Kangaroos	0.1	3.2	5.2	8.3 (51)

Second Division

Rheinland Lions II	0.0	1.3	2.4	4.11 (35)
Berlin Crocodiles	3.1	3.4	6.5	6.6 (42)

For more information, visit AFLG.de.

The Irish Exiles, representing the best Irishmen playing Aussie Rules in England, staged a massive final term comeback to defeat the England Dragonslayers by 9 points last Saturday, September 5th.

Played in sunny but windy conditions at Albert Road Recreation Ground in Bounds Green, London, the Exiles kicked 5 goals in the last quarter to triumph 9.9 (63) to 7.12 (54). Neither team kicked a goal against the wind all game, the Irish accuracy in front of goal getting them over the line despite the Dragonslayers' greater number of scoring shots.

Information for this report courtesy of Aussie Rules UK. WFN reminds readers that we are more than happy for you to quote and/or reproduce our articles, providing the original authors and/or sources are given credit.