The onset of Storm Amélie across Europe, particularly parts of France, Spain and Italy, has affected the weekend’s CNFA matches. The storm saw the Bordeaux region hard hit with most sporting venues closed due to dangerous or waterlogged conditions.

The result of Amélie’s impact was the postponement of the match between the Bordeaux Bombers and Paris Cockatoos as well as the women’s north v south match (Nord v Sud du tournoi féminin) , raising funds for cancer. These matches will be rescheduled for later in the season.

The weather in Paris was significantly better, allowing the Antony Blues to host State Toulousain 2 in their second match as a fully-fledged CNFA team. Once again, the Blues showed a brave face and gave another a solid game. Nevertheless, Stade Toulousain proved far too good in the end, getting away to a 70-point victory.

 

The Essendon Football club have taken their Irish commitment to its highest level, signing a third player for the 2020 season. On the back of the successful development of dashing half-back, Conor McKenna (fourth in the club’s best & fairest this year) and last month’s signing of Ross McQuillan. 

McBride has the potential to become an important key position player at the Bombers at a time of transition for the club as they reshape their own forward structure. The following article comes from the www.essendonfc.com.au website. 

Essendon has welcomed its third Irishman, with Cian McBride making the trip across the seas to don the sash in 2020.

The deal will see McBride call The Hangar home until at least the end of 2021.  

The new French footy season got under way this weekend with matches in Paris and Toulouse. Whilst two of the results were not surprising, one was down in Toulouse. On paper, the Paris Cockerels, Paris Cockatoos and Bayonne Toreadors were first round winners. However, the games had more to say than that.

The Paris Cockerels were hosting the newcomers, the Antony Blues. It is unlikely that the Blues could find a harder initiation, yet they kept the Cockerels honest all day. The final margin was 40 points, yet that does not do Antony justice.

The Cockerels led by just a point at the first break after both teams kicked five goals. By the half-time break the Cockerels led by twenty points, but still hadn’t shaken the Blues off. Going into the final term, 30 points separated the teams and the Cockerels scrapped to edge further ahead by the final siren.

The following article from AFL Europe reviews last week’s European Championships played at Wimbledon, London, for supremacy in the 18-per side format. The Irish Banshees were remarkable, not being scored against in any match, including the grand final. The Bulldogs were also too good for all opposition as they claimed back-to-back titles.

 

After three days of thrilling football, it all came down to the women’s and men’s Grand Final’s on Saturday afternoon to decide the winners of the 2019 European Championships. In the women’s final, it was the Irish Banshees against the German Eagles, while the men’s draw saw the Danish Vikings battle the Great Britain Bulldogs.

The appearance of the Polish Devils in Norrtälje, Sweden, for this year’s Euro Cup was exciting. That excitement, and a growing sense of permanence, grew further when the team arrived in Tallinn, Estonia to compete in the Baltic Cup.

This newest Polish Australian Football team is shaping as a far more resilient model than previous attempts in Poznan in 2011 (Bisons) and Bydgoszcz in 2015 (Cats) or any other forays. However, when this project is driven by Roger Scott, the man responsible to helping drive the earlier days of footy in Russia, it would be no surprise that he would be seeking big things. Roger is co-founder of AFL Polska as well as head coach of the Devils.

Marc McGowan reports on the www.afl.com.au website that Essendon will add yet another Irishman to their list for the 2020 season and beyond. Building on their success with Conor McKenna (fourth in the club’s best & fairest this year) and the exciting recruitment of another potential Irish star in Ross McQuillan last month, Essendon has been impressed by McBride and delighted to bring him to the club.

ESSENDON has won a commitment from a second Irishman, with key-position prospect Cian McBride set to be a Bomber in 2020.

McBride was a strong performer at last week's NAB AFL Draft Combine, where countryman Oisin Gallen also tested.

The budding defender is 197cm and 90kg, a strong mark, ran sub-three seconds for the 20m sprint and placed in the top five in the running vertical jump (87cm).

World Footy News Women's World Ranking Update Post Europeaen Champoinships.

This might seem a little premature, but as the rating gap between Ireland Banshees and German Eagles is greater than 10.00 the Grand Final result will have no further  bearing on the Rating Points of the competing teams or the Rankings as set out below. (Unless the the unthinkable, as far as the Banshees are concerned, happens and the Eagles win) 

1 Australia

2 Ireland 57.12 were 3rd, games played 27.

3 Canada 53.40, 2nd. 19.

In a match postponed since poor weather washed out the June Grand Final date, the premiership decider for the CNFA was played two weekends ago with the reigning premiers – Paris Cockerels – taking on the Stade Toulousain team from Toulouse.

It is unusual, and totally due to climate, that a Grand Final becomes the beginning of a season, but that is almost how things have worked out with the flag now decided and Round 1 of the 2019/20 CNFA season starting next weekend.

The match was almost played in two halves. The Cockerels were favourites heading into the match, but they were shocked early. According to the AFL Europe website, Stade Toulousain came out and “started to get on top with their ball movement as they started to control the match with their physicality and long kicking game style.”

The first day's round of matches has seen several changes in the World Footy News World Rankings.

These have occurred mainly because Denmark has upset Ireland and Great Britain defeated Croatia.

Denmark has clawed back over 3.10 Rating Points in knocking off Ireland and their win over Germany resulting in the Vikings jumping from eleventh place to Eighth place. Great Britain's wins over Croatia and France has seen the Bulldogs climbe two places to seventh from ninth.

The Croatian Knights loss to the Bulldogs has seen them slip to eleventh from seventh.Denmark and Great Britain have ion their upward climb shunted South Africa down to ninth from eighth.

The St Petersburg Cats have added another trophy to their ever-growing cabinet by taking out this year’s first ever Baltic Cup to be played in Tallinn, Estonia. The event saw teams from Russia, Finland, Sweden and Poland compete for the honour of being the best Baltic team.

The Cats and the Russian Bears headed to Tallin to meet the Helsinki Heatseekers from Finland, Norrtälje Dockers from Sweden and the newly formed Polish Devils. In the end, after 10 round matches, it was the Cats team which took the title from the Dockers, benefitting from the tie-breaker clause which said that if two teams tied in top spot, the victor would be whichever team won from their earlier encounter.