From our vault of "better late than never" stories, here's a report on the 2008 Australian Rules Football League Ireland (ARFLI) season, the Grand Final for which was held in August (in the flurry just prior to the IC08).

ARFLI seasons are always keenly contested, but never more so than in International Cup years, as players vie for national selection. This season saw five clubs compete, with the Dublin Saints the strugglers and the South Dublin Swans as the frontrunners, but they were rolled by reigning premiers the Leeside Lions in their semi-final on August 9th. A small field at Terenure and a strong breeze saw the Lions bombing long range goals, scoring six majors to none in the first quarter, killing the contest and going on to win by 28 points - a bitter pill to swallow for South Dublin, having lost just one minor round match. In the other semi the Dublin Demons were far too strong for an under-strength Midland Tigers, winning by 87 points, and would enter the big final desperate to win it for the first time in many years.

The Carlton Football Club has issued a press release confirming the de-listing of four players. As we suggested in O'hAilpin split looming? and speculated on during the past year, the Blues' cull includes one of their Irish players, Aisake O'hAilpin. The other players departing are Cain Ackland, Clinton Benjamin, Luke Blackwell, Ryan Jackson (de-listed) and Jason Saddington has retired.

The releases stated that: "Aisake O’hAilpin was recruited from Cork, Ireland as an International Rookie in the 2005 NAB AFL Rookie Draft (4th round selection). He was elevated to the Carlton senior list in 2007 but did not play a senior game".

And regarding all players, Carlton’s General Manager Football Operations, Steven Icke, said "We sincerely thank the players for the commitment they have given to the Carlton Football Club during their careers and we wish them well going forward".

Another player with European links, though possibly fairly thin, is Adelaide's 28 year old Kris Massie, born in Sweden and de-listed after many years at AFL level. Referring to Massie and other players, General Manager of Football Operations John Reid said: "We thank them all for their commitment to the club and wish them well in their future endeavours. Kris in particular has given the club great service playing 88 games for Adelaide and six pre-season games". Massie also played with Carlton prior to being traded to the Crows.

The question now is whether O'hAilpin and Massie will enter the upcoming drafts in an attempt to stay on an AFL list.

Update 6pm 14/10/2008: Carlton's Steven Icke has been further quoted as saying that they were disappointed to de-list Aisake, and that "There was never any issue with his athleticism. It was more just his game understanding where we needed to see a bit more development". The club hope Setanta can continue as a key position defender, and are considering offering contracts to Cork’s Ciaran Sheehan and Zach Tuohy from Laois. More details in Blues persist with Irish experiment.

The England Dragonslayers defeated the Croatian Knights in Prague yesterday to take out the 2008 EU Cup. Scores in the final match saw England 16.11.107 defeat Croatia 9.5.59.

Both sides were made up almost entirely of locals, meaning a good part of the score above is made up of handicap. Taking this out of the equation, the scoreline reads England 9.8.62 to Croatia 2.5.17 - reflecting a dominant effort on the part of the Dragonslayers. For their part, the Knights can be very happy with a very strong first-up performance at the cup, auguring well for Croatia as a future powerhouse in European footy.

Germany defeated Sweden for third place, with Finland narrowly defeating France for fifth. The full final rankings are listed below, reports to come in the next few days.

The odds appear to be increasing that Carlton's Irish brothers will be forced to go their separate ways next year. Setanta has played 46 games for the Blues and still seems a chance to hold down a key position. He was only considered as a possible trade for a reasonable pick in the draft, and with no deal done (trade week finished yesterday), and still under contract for 2009, it looks like Setanta will get another season.

The chances for younger brother Aisake O'hAilpin seem less promising. At 23, out of contract and with no AFL games after 3 to 4 years at the Blues, his time may be up. On Thursday Carlton confirmed there were no trade offers, and combined with reported disciplinary problems this year, it doesn't look good. The final blow could be Carlton's last gasp securing of Fremantle's 206cm rookie ruckman Robert Warnock in the trade. He joins 2007 number one draft pick and very promising ruckman Matthew Kreuzer at the Blues, so given that Aisake has been touted as a ruck option, it is bad news for the Irishman.

If the Old Dark Navy Blues decide to de-list Aisake, he will have to hope for a club to pick him up in the November or pre-season drafts, if he wishes to continue his AFL bid. Note that previously players only got a second the chance via the pre-season draft, so at least he now has two opportunities if Carlton cut him.

This year's EU Cup in Prague will feature live streaming via the web.

From 10am until approximately 7pm western European time this Saturday, action will be available via this link.

If that link doesn't work, try directly through the TVCom.cz website. The site's in Czech, but it's currently on the front page.

In the third and final installment of WFN's preview of this year's EU Cup, we spoke to team managers from the England Dragonslayers, Scottish Puffins and Austrian Kangaroos.

The Dragonslayers have performed well at EU Cup in the past, and will be keen to be back towards the top of the table. A large contingent of their team is drawn from the ARUK Southern league, who surprised many with a strong showing at this year's Brit Cup in London. They will also have the services of Christian Lloyd, who travelled with the GB Bulldogs to this year's IC in Melbourne.

The Puffins are coming to Prague after a disrupted 2008 season, with problems in player numbers and availability of Victoria Park getting in the way of conducting their regular league structure. However, management in Scotland are confident the SARFL will be back on track for business as usual in 2009.

The Austrians will again be drawn from the Vienna Kangaroos club, with the expansion side in Graz still yet to get off the ground. The side has had a few hit outs this year, including their regular local show downs against Croatia and the Czech Republic, and the clash of the Kangaroos against Munich.

Melbourne's Herald Sun reports that Carlton's O'hAilpin brothers may not be at the club in 2009. Setanta (pictured left) is having a break back in Ireland after struggling through the end of the season with the Blues, missing nearly half the year with a calf injury and/or demotion to the VFL. Aisake (pictured right), at 23 and 201 cm, has yet to make his AFL debut and has gained a reputation as a fiery player, with run-ins on the field and disputes with staff. Both players have switched their management to Michael Quinlan, who also looks after Sydney's Irishman Tadhg Kennelly. With 46 matches under his belt, the elder O'hAilpin has already exceeded the average length of an AFL career, with so many young players not making it past two or three years.

Encouragingly several clubs (Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide) are reported to be interested in Setanta, and Aisake has supposedly caught the eye of Collingwood. Trade week is always full of speculation and rumour, but hopefully the Fijian-Irishmen will still find themselves on AFL lists next season. Certainly with draft picks in the 20s and 30s being talked about as potential swaps for Setanta, he should be reasonably safe to make one of the 16 AFL lists. The Herald Sun article is: Carlton appear to be put O'hAilpin brothers on the market, by Mark Robinson.

In part two of our preview of teams for the 2008 EU Cup, we take a look at Eastern Europe's first footballing nations, Croatia and the Czech Republic, as well as the growing leagues further west in Catalonia and France.

The French, Catalan and Croatian squads will be all-local, with the Czech Lions also fielding a larger local contingent than previous years, together with a diverse range of other internationals.

All four sides have seen some great growth in the last twelve months. The French have gone from two clubs to four around the country, with a few more in the works. The Catalans have returned to a four-team domestic league, with an expansion group in the tiny Catalan-speaking mountain nation of Andorra possibly joining the LFAC next season.

Making their EU Cup debut, the Croatian Knights are bringing a full squad plus spares to Prague, with the Zagreb Hawks forming a second "Saints" squad for scratch matches over the season. The Czech AFL has seen the start of domestic footy, with the Prague Tigers and Prague Lions playing three matches against each other over the past month.

With the maximum number of Australians this year reduced to 6 per squad of 15, these four sides may find themselves a little higher up the table than last year.

The name "Oslo Trolls" was first heard in the international footy scene a few years back, but the team remained an enigma until August this year, when they hosted Sweden's Karlstad Dragons in the first match of footy in Norway in the modern era.

The team is now preparing to play their second match and first-ever road trip on October 4, making the drive east to Karlstad. The Trolls will kick off a three-team tournament against the Dragons and Falun Diggers, teams who will become regular adversaries if plans to join the AFL Sweden West next year come through.

Dave Foletta from the Trolls is looking forward to 2009 being Norwegian footy's "Break-Out Year". WFN spoke to him recently about their plans.

Europe's 9-a-side EU Cup is just around the corner, with the tournament taking off at the Slavia Sports Centre in Prague on the weekend of the 11th and 12th of October.

12 teams will compete, with England, Catalonia, Sweden, Finland, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Germany returning from last year's tournament in Hamburg. Scotland will also return, having competed at the first EU Cup in London in 2005.

Croatia will make their EU Cup debut, after impressive showings at the CEAFL and the Central European Tri-Series over the past few years.

The EU Crusaders will again be the banner of the cup's 12th side, featuring reserve players from other teams and players from other locations in Europe. This year, the mix might even include some new blood from Poland and Latvia, hoping to kick start clubs in their respective countries.

In the first of three articles previewing the EU Cup teams, we spoke to the teams from Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and defending champions Sweden.