In the first of a 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 Croatian Knights. Josip Kravar, president of the Association of Australian Football of Croatia (AAF), gives us his insights.

 The Journey:

“Players trained with their clubs until the beginning of June when they joined the Knights squad and 4 times a week preparation began. [Our] main focus for this year was development for a 16 per side team at the European Championship and we are satisfied with our work with young talent and our result at the European Championship. We were placed 11th on the world footy ranking, and what I can say is that we will justify that in future competitions.”

“[There were some] new players that emerged from our collaboration with Zagreb Sports Faculty and Zagreb University. [Along with] a couple of veterans and other well-known names in AFL Europe, this will be team that will go only for a gold medal at this Euro Cup.”

Sweden's newest team, the Lödde Chiefs, played their first game last night against the famously technicolour Landskrona Bulldozers.

Amazingly, the team was only founded on Thursday. They fielded fifteen players for the match at Brohult IP in Helsingborg, with eight of those having not even seen a game before. Two of their other players were retired ex-Helsingborg Saints, who had only played a handful of games between them.

The Landskrona Bulldozers were also represented by one of South Sweden's women players Kerstin Lövendahl, who reportedly took and dished out the hard tackles very well and wonders if their is any law in DAFL that would prevent her playing in the Premier League.

The Lödde Chiefs are from the small town of Löddeköping, and have chosen their official colours as blue, green and white. If all goes according to plan, the Chiefs will field a side in the AFL Sweden South next year.

Scores from the friendly match are available here.

The 2013 Axios Euro Cup will be held in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles close to Bordeaux, the fifth biggest city in France. The organization is managed by the local team, Bordeaux Bombers, in close cooperation with the Comité National de Football Australien (the French Federation) and AFL Europe.

On the 21st September 2013, hundreds of European players (and volunteers) will compete in a warm and friendly atmosphere. This challenge is a real opportunity for the development of the Australian football in France.

This year, the French League has seen the victory of Toulouse Hawks in the Super League and Montpellier Sharks in the Development League. Nevertheless, following a considerable number of withdrawals caused by injuries and limited games the Comité National de Football Australien has decided to unify the two leagues.

15 year old French exchange student Leopold Khalfi has received some local media attention after pulling on the navy blue jumper of Coolaroo in the AFL Darling Downs, a country Queensland league based around the city of Toowoomba.

Paris native Khalfi has played two matches for the Roos since coming to Toowoomba seven weeks ago, with Coolaroo winning both.

He has also found the French footy clubs - hopefully he will have a chance to run out with the Paris Cockerels or Cergy Coyotes sometime in the future.

The article on Khalfi can be found in Toowoomba local newspaper The Chronicle via French Exchange Student kicks New Goal.

Due to the extended cricket season in the UK this year, there will not be a post-season match between two AFL sides at The Oval in London for 2013. The AFL Europe are hoping for the fixture to return in 2014.

The official match reports from the final day's play in the 2013 AFL European Championship are on the dublin2013.org website, and can be found directly via the following links:

Ireland Win Thrilling GF
Vikings Slay Elks for Third
Knights Secure Fifth Place

The final day's play of the AFL European Championships is underway. Croatia confirmed their status as an up-and-coming Euro footy nation, holding off Germany in game one after the Eagles outscored them in the first term. In the 3rd place playoff, Sweden came out of the blocks strongly against Denmark, before the Vikings overran them and regained some of the pride lost through heartbreaking losses against GB and Ireland in the group round.

In the big one, the Irish pulled off a last second miracle, winning by the narrowest of margins to add yet another major title to their trophy cabinet. Commiserations to the GB Bulldogs on the heartbreaking defeat!

5th place playoff
Croatia	2.1	4.3	5.5	9.5 (59)
Germany	3.1	3.2	3.4	4.5 (29)
3rd place playoff
Denmark	1.0	3.2	5.2	7.6 (48)
Sweden	3.1	3.2	4.2	5.2 (32)
1st place playoff
Ireland	1.0	2.2	5.2	7.3 (45)
Great Britain	1.3	2.5	3.6	6.8 (44)

Here is the latest article from Norway, courtesy of the Oslo Crows, which details the latest round of the Kenguru Cup. Certainly sounds as if it was a great event, and another great leap forward for Norwegian footy. Our thanks to David Stone and the team at the Oslo Crows for this story.  

Round 3 of the 2013 Kenguru Cup was without question the highest quality Australian football ever played on Norwegian soil.   Three constantly improving teams – Oslo East, Oslo West and Ås, squared off in front of a modest crowd at Storebrand Stadion, and showed just how far Australian football has progressed in a short time.  

Ladder leaders Ås were desperate to retain their stranglehold on the competition, and two wins from their two games would put breathing space between them and Oslo East.

Helsingborg Saints are well on their way to starting Sweden’s first women’s team.

With six enthusiastic female members and more joining up each week, Saints player Jacob Lantz feels it won’t be long before Sweden has a female Euro Cup team, and there might even be a Swedish or Scandinavian appearance at the Women’s IC14.

It all started when Lantz was discussing ways to introduce the sport to more people in Helsingborg and draw larger crowds for home games with club founder Ingmar Lundquist and coach Leighton Rowsell. The decided to try starting an 8-a-side touch footy competition and encouraged their friends to come and have a go.

The third day's play at the DCU Sportground in Dublin has been completed, with each match going to plan according to the seedings.

Denmark	2.3	4.5	7.8	8.12 (60)
Germany	0.1	0.1	0.1	2.1 (13)
Great Britain	2.0	4.2	6.3	6.4 (40)
Sweden	0.0	1.0	2.1	3.2 (20)
Ireland	2.3	3.7	7.9	12.11 (83)
Croatia	1.0	1.0	1.1	1.1 (7)

Saturday will see Ireland vs Great Britain play off for the European Championship, with Sweden vs Denmark for 3rd place, and Croatia vs Germany for 5th.

Match reports and stats to come.