The Essendon Bombers have upgraded their Irish International Rookie, Conor McKenna for their Round 4 clash against Geelong in the “Country Game”, a new idea from Bomber legend Kevin Sheedy. In recognition of the contributions of country and farmers across Australia, Sheedy has created a match between Essendon and Geelong to help raise rural awareness by staging another marquee game – think ANZAC Day match and the “Dreamtime at the G”.

 

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

 

IRISHMAN Conor McKenna will play for Essendon against Geelong on Saturday after being elevated from the club’s rookie list.

 

He made his debut last season against Richmond in the second-last round and also played the following week against Collingwood.

 

 

Croatian international, Josip Habljak, playing at Sturt SANFL club was named  to lead the ruck in his second game for the Sturt reserves on Sunday 10th April.

Sturt lost this match against Central District 18-9 (117) to 13-4 (82).

His Champion Data stats for the game were 3 Kicks, 3 handballs, for six disposals, 2 uncontested marks, 3 contested possessions and 2 uncontested possessions, which again doesn't put him amongst Sturts best players.

Croatian international Josip Habljak played his first game for Sturt in the SANFL on Easter Monday and following are his raw stats from that game. He played in the reserves team which lost to the West Torrens-Woodville Eagles 16-11 (107) to 7-7 (49).

Champion Data records he had 3 kicks, 5 effective handballs, for a total of 8 disposals and 1 contested mark. 3 contested possessions and 6 uncontested possessions, and he also had a hand in the ruck duties for his team with 7 hit-outs. Josip had only one free kick paid against him (one Sturt player had 6 frees against), but more importantly for Josip he also scored one goal and recorded one score assist.

Just a week after the Perpignan Tigers took out the Coupe Du Sud for the best team in southern France, the Paris Cockerels have won the inaugural Coupe Du Nord to be crowned the best team in northern France.

The southern tournament has been a part of the CNFA landscape since first held in Perpignan in 2009. But in a bold move to create even more competitive opportunities for clubs, players and supporters, the Coupe Du Nord was started this year to be a co-tournament with the Coupe Du Sud, allowing a healthy north/south rivalry to be developed further with bragging rights for the best teams in both the north and south of France.

In a tournament which had a number of positives for all teams, the contesting teams were the Paris Cockerels, hosts the Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes, the ALFA Lions from Lyon and new team the Brittany Griffins featuring as part of the “All Stars” team which also included some Cockerels and Coyotes players.

In this terrific story from The Guardian, written by Jonathan Drennan in Behind The Lines, the remarkable journey of Englishman Sam Willatt from experimenting with Australian Rules football in England to lining up in a VFL team in Australia is chronicled. Sam’s journey hasn’t has the fanfare of many AFL Irish, Sudanese or American recruits, yet is no less remarkable.

The Brit Who Went From Aussie Rules Novice To The Verge Of An AFL Career 

 

Sam Willatt arrived in Melbourne in November after graduating from university. The 21-year-old from Peterborough slept on a friend’s sofa, managed to find part-time work as a lifeguard and also started training with an Australian Rules team after playing in England. That fairly well trodden path deviated radically after he was recruited into the Footscray Bulldogs VFL side, partnered to the AFL’s top flight Western Bulldogs side. In layman’s terms, this is the equivalent of an Australian playing Sunday League football in Melbourne, flying to London and getting picked up by West Ham’s reserves.

Article courtesy of South Dublin Swans and ARFLI

South Dublin Swans were the Irish representatives in the second running of the AFL Europe European Champions League held last Saturday March 19th. This very efficiently run tournament organised by AFL Europe and the Amsterdam Devils was held at the impressive Dutch national rugby centre in suburban Amsterdam.  The tournament has grown since last year with 13 men’s teams and 5 women’s teams participating. The calibre of the competition was high with teams being their league’s champions and each team also allowed four Australians on the pitch at any one time in this 9-a-side format. 

The Swans had the earliest start of the day at 10am in their four team group. First up was the Russian representatives, the Lazy Koalas on the show pitch in the facility. This was a good opener for the Swans to find their rhythm and they won comfortably by a margin of 62 to 7 in the 24 minute game. The next game was more difficult against the Zagreb Dockers who featured one of the strongest players playing in Europe, Tomislav Cvetko. Although Cvertko did some damage the Swans won again 24 to 14. The final group game turned into the pool decider for a place in the competition semi-finals. This was against the dominant team in Sweden, Sodermalm. This was a very close encounter with nothing between the teams and goals being traded back and forward. The Swans showed great determination to win this one by the slim margin of 28 to 26.

After winning the inaugural AFL Europe Champions League title in Amsterdam in 2015, the West London Wildcats have returned to the city of that success to successfully defend their title and remain the only winners of the Champions League. The AFL London powerhouse showed again why they have been revered for many years as arguably the best Australian Rules football club in Europe.

Whilst one event is hardly conclusive proof, their record of success in winning eight flags back home in London since 2000, eight Brit Cups between 2002 and 2010 and now consecutive AFL Europe Champions League trophies makes it difficult to argue their place at the top of European clubs.

The battle for the south of France – the Coupe Du Sud – has been won by the ever improving Perpignan Tigers this weekend in the annual tournament, this year held in Perpignan. The tournament featured teams from the Toulouse Hawks, the Bordeaux Bombers and the Spanish team the Tarragona Llops from the Catalonia region.

Since returning to the CNFA, the Tigers have continued to improve. This victory and accompanying silverware is a just reward for the determination shown by the club to not just return to battle, but strive to succeed.

 

From the AFL Europe website: www.afleurope.org

 

The 2nd Annual AFL Europe Champions League is taking place this Saturday in Amsterdam. Sportpark de Eendracht will be graced by 13 Men’s teams and 5 Women’s teams as they battle it out for the title of Champion of Europe.

 

 

The teams participating in this year’s tournament are:

Croatian Josip Habljak has received a boost in his journey to play Australian Rules football at a semi-professional level with Sturt Football Club (Double Blues) in the SANFL in South Australia by being presented with Guernsey No 50.

Saturday 12th March, the SANFL 2016 Season Guide published by The Advertiser, (Adelaide and South Australia's major newspaper) has Josip listed with # 50 Guernsey for Sturt.