Back in November of 2013 the Fremantle Football Club very nearly signed Sean Hurley as an international rookie. Even Fremantle's List Manager, Brad Lloyd, was open to the idea after Hurley had impressed with his size, skill and desire to learn. History says, however, that the club decided to wait.

But there was no waiting this year as the Dockers pounced on the 196cm potential key position player. Inspired by his hero, Tadhg Kennelly, Hurley continued to develop and was snapped up by the club in October.

According to the Fremantle Dockers website, "In 2005, 13-year-old Sean Hurley was watching the Irish news when he saw countryman Tadgh Kennelly celebrating an AFL premiership with the Sydney Swans.

Images of the former Gaelic football star Irish dancing on top of a stage have remained in Hurley’s mind till this day.

“Everyone in Ireland was watching that,” he said.

 

As the current football season in France heads into its winter break, teams can take stock of what has happened and what faces them when matches are scheduled to resume on 21st February.  Some fascinating results have littered the first half of the season, and many more are sure to occur before the finals are reached. Here is a team by team account of the season to date.

 

 

Cergy-Pontoise Coyotes – Currently sit on top of the ladder with three wins from three starts. Tough, close games against Lions and Firesharks show they have the ability to rise, but yet to meet fellow finals aspirants – Hawks, Cockerels, Bombers – so will have to work very hard after the break to stay ahead of the field. Their next match, the first in February after the break, is against the Bordeaux Bombers and could be a deciding factor in where the Coyotes go from here.

Ryan Davidson from afl.com.au has continued his look at the recent AFL Europe Talent Combine, focusing on the hugely talented Irish player Darragh Joyce. In recent articles World Footy News has looked at the English player Sam Willatt and Dane Mikkel Kjoge, but according to Ryan’s article, Darragh might be the best of the Irish talent at the combine.

 

Part-time Gaelic footballer Darragh Joyce looms as the next Irishman to make the switch to the AFL, with at least two clubs keen to obtain the teenager's signature.

 

The 18-year-old, who is star junior hurler, was a standout at the recent European combine in Dublin, with his skills and game awareness impressing club recruiters.

 

 

Hawthorn and the Sydney Swans are two clubs that have made enquiries about the 192cm County Kilkenny product, with the Hawks recently visiting his family home.

In an announcement released by AFL Europe, the Champions League event for 2015 will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, at a venue to be advised at a later date.  The dates for this event will be March 21st and March 22nd.

 

According to AFL Europe General Manager Ben MacCormack, “It’s with great pleasure that we announce the details for the inaugural AFL Europe Champions League – 2015 – Amsterdam. Following a number of years with the majority of our major events being held in the UK and Ireland we are pleased the Amsterdam Devils have taken on the challenge to co-host the Champions League with AFL Europe. It’s a great chance for them to further develop the sport in a market with huge potential.”

 

 

 

Ryan Davidson from afl.com.au reports that former Collingwood player, Marty Clarke, has returned home to Northern Ireland after finishing his career with the AFL club. But now a new challenge confronts him. The following is Ryan’s story.

 

Former Collingwood defender Marty Clarke has revealed he was diagnosed with a rare energy-sapping disease as he fought to save his AFL career in the second half of 2014.

 

 

The 27-year-old is happily back home in Northern Ireland adapting to the cold northern hemisphere winter, but he's also adapting to living day to day with Addison's disease.

Hot on the heels of his performances at the International Cup and his appearances on the reality TV show "The Recruit", Padraig Lucey found himself snapped up by the the Geelong Cats as a Rookie B list player.

As reported in a previous article on this site, "not only has he been a contestant on the FOX 8 television show The Recruit, he has also come from a successful International Cup performance for Ireland. In his five games, Padraig booted 14 goals, including impressive bags of five against highly fancied Nauru and a huge six goals against France. He also featured amongst the best players for Ireland in many matches.

According to the Herald Sun article by Adam Baldwin, “Geelong’s ruck crisis is set to see it turn to an Irishman who was last week delisted from a reality television series.

The Herald Sun can reveal Padraig Lucey — a part-time pool lifeguard from County Kerry — will join the Cats on a two-year deal."

The West Coast Eagles had been watching young Irish product, Paddy Brophy, since his match for the European Legion in 2013. In October this year the club selected Brophy to be a Rookie B List player, and the first international selected by the club in this manner.

According to the club’s website “he has worked hard on his skills which is shown in the fact that Paddy won the Clean Hands test at the AFL Combine with a score of 26/30 and also scored 25/30 in the goalkicking test.”

Brophy says ““I’m really pleased to have finally chosen a club and look forward to starting at West Coast Eagles and making the most of my opportunity,” he said. “Hopefully one day I will be playing for them in the AFL. I was very impressed with both the club and Perth as a place to live in my short visit and whilst I’m taking on a big move, I’m excited at the prospect and can’t wait to get underway.”

Danish footballer Mikkel Kjoge has dreams to follow in the footsteps of fellow Dane, Aksel Bang, and make it to an AFL team list in Australia. Having just tested at the AFL Europe Talent Combine in Dublin (one of just two non-Irish players to test), Mikkel is keen to chase his dream further, and confident that he can.

 

The following is Mikkel’s story, looking at his early playing days, his journey to date and where he hopes to be in the very near future.

 

 

“I first heard of Aussie Rules when I was about nine years old from a family friend. My mom’s cousin had been playing for quite a while, and to begin with he was my head figure. I went to my first practice with Farum Cats when I was nine. I was a little kid and everybody would just throw me around but I liked the roughness. I kept up the spirit and went to practice every week and I liked it even more every week. I always loved sports and I played soccer when I was younger, but I found AFL way more fun.” 

 

In coming weeks World Footy News will be looking at the 2014 seasons for leagues across Europe, as well as looking towards the 2015 season. This first article features a look at the Australian Rules footy scene in Croatia, courtesy of Josip Kravar, president of the AAFC (Association of Australian Football Croatia).

 

2014

“Croatian league (HLAN) started with new club, Slavonski Brod Tigers and first time we played with four clubs.”

“During the season the Hawks showed the best performances and won all games during the season and won back to back [premierships], pretty much as Hawthorn did in Australia. MVP was Josip Habljak, ruckman of Zagreb Hawks and best rookie was Lovre Čudina, player of Zagreb Cvjetno Dockers who were runners up.” 

“We also played CEAFL (Central European Australian Football League) with our friends from Austria (Styrian Downunderdogs).”