As we get closer to the event, World Footy News continues its series of articles looking at the preparation and prospects of the various nations competing at this year’s Axios Euro Cup in Bordeaux. This time we look at the story of the French national team, and host nation.  Thomas Urban, President of the Comitê National de Football Australien, gives us a rundown.

The Journey:

“This season has been good to the French League. Seven teams were involved in the championship and football starts to be known in cities where we have clubs. We hope that this Euro Cup will be a chance for us to shine in the country and not just Bordeaux Bombers but every club will take benefit of it.”

As we get closer to the event, World Footy News continues its series of articles looking at the preparation and prospects of the various nations competing at this year’s Axios Euro Cup in Bordeaux. This time we look at the story of the Italian national team.  Nicola Giampaulo, former coach of the team representing AFL Italia, gives us his insights.

The Journey:

“I am very excited with our prospects for this year’s Euro Cup.

The past 12 months have been stable and this is alone a positive outcome. We are finding it difficult to introduce new teams to the national comp but on the other hand we have not lost any either. Financial limitations are the biggest problem for the clubs and this makes it difficult facing costs and does not allow much promotion of the game.”

The England Dragonslayers are the only home nations side making the trip to Bordeaux for this year's Axios Euro Cup. Coach Robert Fielder spoke to WFN about the highly-facied English side's chances, with the Slayers hoping to bounce back after a disappointing 3rd place last year.

The Journey

"3rd in 2012 wasn’t quite what we’d planned for, but that’s the beauty of sport. We didn’t quite find our rhythm on the day, in control of the semi, two inaccuracies and it was all over. Since then, there has been an influx of new players and we’ve just finished our successful 2nd national weekend training camp.

"The camp is a superb opportunity to develop 30 players from all around the country using video analysis, game sense practices and games, plus a probables v possibles match to make final selection easier. There are a some established players whose circumstances have changed and hope to push for places next year."

"Finance and flexible employers (many are not) are a big issue for many players and especially staff potential attendance at these tournaments. It would benefit all to be recognised as a NGB sport to enable all the hard working volunteers in the sport to perform with at least one less hand tied behind their back. Nevertheless, we’re looking forward to what will be a tournament as exciting as ever."

In the next instalment of our series of articles looking at the preparation and prospects of the various nations competing at this year’s Axios Euro Cup in Bordeaux, we look at the story of the Irish Warriors.  Pat Leavy, acting team manager of the Bordeaux bound squad, gives us his insights.

The Journey:

“The ARFLI 2013 league season has been the most competitive since the league's formation.  We currently have six full time clubs spread across the country and we have now expanded into the universities and hopefully we will see new talent emerge from this pool of players. Finals footy culminated in the South Dublin Swans winning a very exciting Grand Final overturning a 26 point half time deficit to win by 20 points.  The Grand Final epitomised all that is good in the Irish League – hard but fair contests, great fielding and score taking and a never say die attitude.”

“This will be Ireland’s fourth participation in the Euro Cup having first competed in Milan in 2010 and we hope to continue our good record in the competition.”

This weekend saw a tournament played in Vilamoura, Portugal, which was small in scale and number of teams, but potentially huge ramifications for the nations competing.

Originally looked at as a tournament for teams not going to the Axios Euro Cup in Bordeaux next weekend, the event was eventually populated by the Oslo Crows (whose players will be in Bordeaux as part of the Norway squad) as well as the Flying Dutchmen from the Netherlands and the Lisbon Dockers representing host nation Portugal.

According to David Valente, President of Futbal Australiano em Portugal, this event could have great benefits for football in his nation.

The pools have been announced for the 9-a-side Axios 2013 Euro Cup in Bordeaux, France, with 11 nations and the European Crusaders competing in a lightning tournament on September 21st.

Teams will compete in four groups of three teams each; the Groupe De Coubertin including Finland, Croatia and the Crusaders; Groupe Léo Lagrange with Ireland, France and Norway; Groupe Bérodier with England, Iceland and Catalunya; and Groupe Jackson with Italy, Spain and Austria.

Notable absentees include Germany, Denmark and Sweden, who chose not to send a side so soon after the full-field European Championships in Dublin. Other active leagues not represented include Scotland, Wales, Russia, Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

Our team previews will continue to appear over the next week or two, with the England Dragonslayers the next to be featured.

Last weekend saw a much awaited Australian Rules football match in Austria between the Graz based Styrian DownUnderDogs and the previously “presumed extinct” Vienna Kangaroos. For the record, the DownUnderDogs defeated the Kangaroos 73-59, but that is not the most important victory from the day.

As reported by Oliver Krajacic, captain of the Styrian DownUnderDogs, “Sunday 8th of September saw the first game between footy teams from Graz and Vienna in years. Pablo Caldarola, a veteran player of the hibernating Vienna Kangaroos, organised a team of former club colleagues and interested Aussies in Vienna and invited the Styrian DownUnderDogs to a friendly game.”

“The match was a hard-fought battle, with the Dogs starting strongly from the first bounce and establishing a lead early. The second and third quarters saw a spirited Vienna side step up physically and exploit mistakes the Dogs made to make it close after three quarters. With the game on the line, the Dogs were able to keep a cool head and put the game away with consecutive goals late in the final quarter.”

In the next of our series of articles looking at the preparation and prospects of the various nations competing at this year’s Axios Euro Cup in Bordeaux, we look at the story of the Austrian national team.  Oliver Krajacic, skipper of the Styrian DownUnderDogs, gives us his insights.

The Journey:

“The last season has indeed been a good one for Austrian Footy overall and the Austrian National Team in particular. We managed to recruit new players into our club (the Styrian DownUnderDogs) and that led to, for the first time ever, competition in regards to making the national team. Also, for the first time, we are able to send 16 players to the European Championships thanks to some new sponsors.”

The French city of Bordeaux is currently gearing up to host this year's Axios Euro Cup 2013. As part of the build up, this promotional video has been released, featuring scenes from the host city and an unusual, but highly welcome, amount of football activity on the streets.

Our thanks to David Stone, President of AFL Norway, for allowing us to reproduce this article about the finale of the Kenguru Cup in Norway. We have worked closely with the crew in Oslo and beyond throughout 2013, watching the game grow in terms of talent and numbers. With the possibility of a team from Bergen appearing on the Norwegian landscape at some point in the future, credit is due to all involved with Australian Rules football development in Norway.  

The UMBI Ås Battlers are Norway’s champions of Australian football for 2013 after overcoming Oslo East in the final match of the Kenguru Cup season. With both teams locked on five wins after being overpowered by the fast-finishing Oslo West, Ås stayed strong in a low scoring battle against East to win their first ever Kenguru Cup.

The stage for the final encounter was set up by West Oslo, who fielded a very strong team and finally seemed to have their ship in order. In the first game, Ås showed early fight and could have counted themselves unlucky to be down by three goals at half time.

Both teams had had similar amounts of the ball, but West’s class in front of goal was telling. Rene Damborg Jensen, Matt Stirling and newcomer Håkon Molvig showed an intense appetite for the ball, backed up by a willing band of West runners.