The 2015 Brit Cup was held last weekend at Huddersfield, with the local Rams team hosting the event for the first time. In an event that was dominated for many years by London based clubs (West London Wildcats and Wandsworth Demons) the event has now see a shift in focus to the Central and Northern England region with the Rams making it four or the last five victors being AFLCNE clubs.

The Huddersfield Rams 2015 victory follows on from the Nottingham Scorpions wins in 2011 and 2014 and a combined Wolverhampton/Birmingham/University of Birmingham team in 2013.

In a statement from the Huddersfield Rams, “Rams won the [Brit Cup] competition. After some very good games played the Huddersfield Rams emerged victorious not losing a game all day, showing that they are the best all-British team in the country. In the Women's competition the Irish Kookaburras [defeated] an England/Scotland All-Stars team.”

The 2015 ARFLI competition moves into its final round of matches before the finals series this weekend. Whilst the Belfast Redbacks have enjoyed a terrific season, undefeated after seven rounds, it is the battle for other finals places which holds greatest interest.

Currently, the Leeside Lions, South Dublin Swans and Galway Magpies are locked in a three way fight for second place and this final round will see all of those teams in action in a fight to the finish.

Fighting for a home semi-final berth on August 22nd, the Swans must take on the powerhouse Redbacks. A very tough task, especially as it is a road trip to Belfast’s home ground. But the other game sees the Galway Magpies hosting the Leeside Lions with the winner likely to take second place and the home semi-final should the Swans lose to the Redbacks.

Now that most of the national Australian Rules football competitions across England have wound down, the Brit Cup fires up with the Huddersfield Rams hosting the event this weekend. Hosted last year by fellow AFLCNE team, the Tyne Tees Tigers, the event pits teams from across England in battle.

As once described by AFL England’s website, the Brit Cup is “an annual tournament which only the British players from the UK clubs can compete in…the event has been held in a number of venues around the country and is a great chance for the regional clubs to level the playing field against their Aussie-rich London counterparts.”

According to the AFL England website, “AFL England is delighted to announce that the Huddersfield Rams will be hosting the 2015 Brit Cup at the Huddersfield YMCA.”

In a “massively successful game yesterday for all involved” the Merseyside Saints in Liverpool took to the field for the first time in a match against the Wolverhampton Wolverines last weekend. The match was played at the Saints’ home ground at the Wirrell Rugby Club, south of the city of Liverpool across the River Mersey.

The match was a great opportunity for the Wolverhampton team to enjoy an end of season trip to Liverpool and have another competitive hitout – one that marks a new chapter in AFLCNE history. The match was a comprehensive margin in favour of the Wolverines, but the Merseyside Saints stated that “stuff like this [the match] will ensure our club survives and grows.”

Final Scores:
Merseyside Saints 10 13 73
Wolverhampton Wolverines 23 21 159

The Norwegian local Australian Rules football competition has moved into power mode now as the major national competition heads towards its 2015 decider. The Kenguru Cup pits the three main Norwegian teams – Oslo East, Oslo West and Ås Battlers – against each other over five rounds of battle between May and August.

With four rounds completed it is the Oslo West team leading the way with four wins ahead of Oslo East (last year’s winners) on three wins and Ås Battlers locked with East on three wins. For Oslo West it is an historic occasion, already having been the first to qualify for this year’s final for the first time. This follows successive last placed finishes over the past couple of years.

The final round in two weeks gives Oslo West the chance to hone their skills and put plans into action whilst Oslo East, last year’s winners, and Ås Battlers fight it out to be the other finalist. It will make for a fascinating final round, especially given the both East and Ås will be keen to win both of their matches to secure a finals berth and putting huge pressure on West to keep performing well.

The North London Lions have pulled off one of the most remarkable finals series by downing highly fancied favourites the West London Wildcats to claim the 2015 AFL London premiership. Not only have the Lions won their first flag since 2012, and their fourth overall, they have also become a timely reminder for finalists the world over that premierships can be won, even against red hot favourites, from third place.

Not only that, but the Lions showed that when a premiership is on the line it is the team with the better skills, commitment, heart, teamwork and belief that will win the day rather than talent on paper.

The Lions got away to a good start in the first quarter, taking the game up to the Wildcats and a little more. The first break saw the Lions build confidence by leading 3 4 22 to 2 2 14. Starting the second quarter eight points up would have lifted hearts.

The following article by James Gottschalk on the AFL Europe website looks more deeply at the new growth of the game of Australian Rules football in Poland.

 

The expansion of Australian Rules Football continues to grow at an astonishing rate in Europe, with 2015 seeing the inaugural AFL Europe Champions League taking place in Amsterdam. Ten countries were represented by a team demonstrating that Australian Rules Football has certainly staked its claim as sport capable of growing in such a soccer orientated continent.

 

 

This year’s AFL Europe Axios Euro Cup is hoping to involve the unveiling of the newest AFL Europe franchises – AFL Polska. The driving force behind the inclusion of Poland into the AFL scene is Australian expat, Gareth Smith whose claim to fame is keeping Brett Voss to a handful of possessions back when Gareth was 17. Since taking the reins of AFL Polska and establishing a team in Bydgoszcz, the sports awareness and interests has greatly increase and participation has reached even the “grass roots” level.

With the demise of the Aberdeen Eagles from the Scottish Australian Rules Football League landscape a couple of seasons back there may well have been concerns for the growth of the game in Scotland. But the 2015 season has proved that those concerns have been replaced by an optimism and growth that looks set to take the game further, bigger and better into the future.

A comment from the SARFL stated that “The best thing about this season has been the growth of the sport. No forfeited games. The league was two established sides [since the withdrawal of Aberdeen and the re-branding of the Kingdom Kangaroos] with three newer teams. By Friday night all three of the new ones [teams] had registered over 30 players over the season including a combined 10 in the 16-19 age bracket and at least two clubs have a schools program. Well done to everyone at each of the clubs who keep these things happening - whether you book the pitches or recruit a player it all helps the sport.”

Certainly the on field results this year show some highly encouraging patterns as the league bounces vibrantly into the 2015 finals series.

In one of the upsets of the season in many ways, the North London Lions ended the Grand Final dreams of the Wandsworth Demons and earned the right to challenge the West London Wildcats for the 2015 AFL London premiership.

Many believed that the Demons were a certainty with a more consistent season and having served up challenges to the Wildcats during the season. But the excellent recent form of the Lions saw them hold on in a thrilling Preliminary Final by a single goal.

On face value the West London Wildcats deserve premiership favouritism after an excellent home and away season with just one defeat. The down side on that ledger is that the defeat was to the hands on the North London Lions back in Round 10. On that day the Lions held sway over the Wildcats by 10 points. Earlier in the season the Wildcats won, but hardly convincingly, by 15 points.

The Manchester Mosquitoes have gone back to back by taking out the 2015 AFLCNE premiership by downing Sheffield Thunder. This means that Manchester now boast four flags from five grand finals in the past 6 years, placing their run amongst the most successful of teams across Europe.

Final Scores: Manchester Mosquitoes 18 13 121 d Sheffield Thunder 10 14 74.

The final 47 point margin suggests a comfortable result that was all one way, but conditions saw a game which was buried effectively by quarter time and from there Sheffield spent the afternoon doing all they could to bridge the gap – which they did manage to do, just not enough to change the result.