Football evolves. It is the nature of sports as they tap new markets, respond to opportunities, move to develop stronger fan bases and keep ahead of potential challenges.

Such is the story of France’s newest Australian football team, the Lille Eagles. The city of Lille sits close to the border with Belgium in the far north of France, a little over 200 kilometres north of Paris. With a population of over 200,000 (and an greater urban population of over one million), the city is a prime location to develop the game, particularly with its proximity to the city of Amiens and the nearby memorials of The Somme Battlefields where Australian and French teams play their annual ANZAC Day memorial clash - an area that has already embraced Australian football.

In a friendly rematch, played after a last minute venue change in Dublin at Islandbridge, the Irish Warriors have defeated the Great Britain Bulldogs to gain some satisfaction after going down them in the European Championships in August. The match is another important step for both national teams as they prepare for next year’s International Cup (IC17) in Melbourne.

The Warriors were determined to make amends for their last encounter and got away to a strong start, holding an almost unassailable lead by three quarter time. They had to withstand a five goal deficit fightback from the Bulldogs, but still managed to hold on for a valuable seven point win.

Final Scores: Irish Warriors 12 6 78 d GB Bulldogs 10 11 71

The ALFA Lions have added an extra ingredient of interest in the opening CNFA match in Lyon yesterday. In a season that has already shown a welcome evenness, the Lions big win over the Toulouse Hawks has added further intrigue.

Distance, time, travelling arrangements and a host of other factors can impact on a team’s performance and sometimes a hosting team can get a seriously large home ground advantage. But recognition of that alone does not do justice to the performances of host teams. The Lions’ score of 26 19 175 to the Hawks 5 10 40 says that even if the Hawks were down on the day, there is some very serious talent and fire power growing in Lyon.

Irishman Mark O'Connor has chosen to sign with Geelong Football Club in the AFL after trialling at the NAB AFL Draft Combine in Melbourne earlier this month.  He will be signed to the club as an International Rookie and officially listed in the upcoming National Draft.

Irish media have widely reported his move to "Sleepy Hollow" after he confirmed it on Irish Radio na Gaeltachta’s An Saol ó Dheas this morning.

“It’s a very quiet place, like Dingle, and I was very comfortable there. I was really taken with Geelong.

“When I went in there everyone was very friendly, and I felt at home there,” the 19-year-old midfielder added."

 

It has been no secret since the season finished that Pearce Hanley would likely leave the Brisbane Lions and early on the Gold Coast Suns were the likely new home for the Irishman. 

After 129 games for the Brisbane Lions he has become the best Irish player in the competition famous for his hard running off the hard back line.  But this season something appeared wrong.  And as the Lions continued to struggle at the bottom of the ladder Hanley appeared disinterested.

It is not known publicly for sure where the problem lay, be it with coach Leppitsch (who has now departed the club) or with particular team-mates. At any rate it is hoped a new start at the Gold Coast will see him return to the form of the previous few seasons.

 

Grand Final re-matches, barnstorming come-from-behind victories, exciting debuts, scintillating footy and the sounds of leather hitting boots. No, we are not talking about the battlegrounds of the MCG or Etihad Stadium – this is footy in France, and the new season has kicked off in stunning style across the nation.

Last year the Perpignan Tigers won many admirers with a break out season which saw then just miss out on finals action. They won more yesterday when they launched a stunning comeback against the Toulouse Hawks in the double header at the Stade Robert Barran (Robert Barran Stadium) in Toulouse. For the most part, Toulouse held sway across the first three quarters, but the Tigers were far from finished and stormed home to win an absolute thriller by just four points. Final score saw the Perpignan Tigers 86 down Toulouse 82.

The following article is from Callum Twomey at the www.afl.com.au website.

THREE clubs are in the race to sign Irish prospect Mark O'Connor, who finished his stint in Australia with an excellent run at the NAB AFL Draft Combine.

Geelong, North Melbourne and Melbourne are understood to be keen to sign the 19-year-old, who travelled to Melbourne from Ireland for last weekend's combine at Etihad Stadium.

O'Connor trialed at five clubs (the three chasing his signature plus Essendon and Carlton) during his two-week stay, but has headed back to Ireland to make a decision on where he wants to start his AFL career. He can be signed as a category B rookie.

The AFL Europe Euro Cup in Lisbon, Portugal, has been completed with the Croatian Knights triumphant in the men’s tournament and the Irish Banshees taking out the women’s crown. The organisers of the event in Portugal did a wonderful job to showcase the best footy that Europe has to offer and congratulations are in order for their tremendous work.

The Croatian Knights won their second AFL Europe Euro Cup, and their first since downing the Netherlands in Milan, Italy, in 2010. They defeated the Irish Warriors, back in the final again for the first time since winning the title in 2012, in an incredible final that was decided in extra time. Scores were locked at 35 all at the final siren, but the Knights went on a 10 minute extra time assault to eventually win the title 53 to 39.

The Farum Cats have withstood a mighty fight from the Copenhagen Barracudas to take out the 2016 DAFL Grand Final last weekend. In the end the margin was a solid 28 points, but it was a match of changing fortunes.

But for some inaccurate kicking, the ‘Cudas might well have led at quarter time. They had eleven scoring shots to six, but the Cats made the most of their chances to keep scores level at the first break.

Cats 5 1 31 v Barracudas 4 7 31

The Cats opened the game up in the second quarter with a five goal to one performance. After their wasteful first quarter, the ‘Cudas found it hard to regroup enough to hold the Cats, kicking just one goal and four behinds for the quarter while the Cats rattled on five more goals.

In less than a week, the teams of Europe will hit the fields in Lisbon, Portugal for the 2016 Euro Cup. Already players would be jumping out of their skins waiting for that siren to blow and waiting for that first touch of the leather to calm the nerves.

One team that has more excitement than most is the Portuguese l national team. Drawn in Pool C to play matches against Germany, Norway and Scotland as well as positional matches for final event placings, the Portugal team has also released its playing strip for the event.