Certainly if growth, confidence, belief and sheer unbridled enthusiasm are markers for success, then Finnish Australian Rules football is about to enjoy a wild ride in 2013. Word from Finland is that up to three new or resurrected clubs may join the league in coming seasons, with most having an eye towards being competitive in some way as early as this season.

Leading the charge are the Parru Wildmen (referred to as the Lappeenranta Wildmen in a previous WFN article), based in the south eastern city of Lappeenranta, close to the Russian border.

According to Antti Lipsanen, the "man behind the wildmen", the development of this team got off to a slow start. "We had some trouble with booking a proper hall for us to practice, which in turn makes it hard to promote the sport [as we] can't really say 'be there' if there is no place to be. However, we've since had three sessions with a bunch of guys thanks to AFL Europe and the SCP-grant."

Irishman Pearce Hanley really stood out at the Lions in 2012 with a many great performances running out of the back line, and as seen in the highlights package below kicking some nice goals when he ran forward too.  We hope to see his development continue and lead the way for the Irish imports in 2013.

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Australian Football in France has been consistently growing in the last few years but anyone familiar with the European scene will know that this has not always been the case. In fact less than five years ago Football was about to disappear from France. But thanks to the work of a few dedicated persons it survived and it's now stronger than ever.

The country now counts seven established teams spread around the country with ongoing projects to add another three. Travel has always been an issue in France as the teams are quite far apart, so to ease the pressure on the newest ones, a two league system has been implemented.

The new year has heralded some changes to the Australian Rules football scene in Denmark. In 2013 the DAFL will look different to the past in a number of ways as the league continues to make changes to benefit and grow the game.

The first round of the 2013 season is a cracking start. The two newest teams in the league, both running with working titles until official names are chosen, will play each other to start the show. The “X-Men” will take on the “Greater Southern Suburbs of Farum” team to get the ball rolling on the 9th April. After that, the season will continue in a larglely revised format with regards to team numbers and fixturing.

Irishman Zac Tuohy continues to develop as an attacking weapon for Carlton, with his long kicking having extra value during the NAB Cup where goals from outside the 50m arc are worth 9 points. This highlights package from the 2012 season shows off some of that long kicking skill.

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The AFL Europe has published results from the AFL Combine held in Dublin on February 12th and 13th, with a twenty-four young GAA players from across Ireland and the UK demonstrating their athletic prowess and hoping to garner interest from the professionals Down Under. The best players from the trials will be invited to the 2013 AFL Draft Combine, which will be held in October in Melbourne.

The Combine has created some media interest in Ireland, ranging from a report on a favourite local son in Ger Leech scouted at AFL European Combine, a report from high-profile Irish code-hopper Tadhg Kennelly in Kennelly Runs Rules over AFL Prospects and a bit of opposition to the perceived drain of young talent from Ireland to the AFL in Dubs Doctor: Aussie Rules recruiters trying to drag our Young Children over to That Country.

Read full story to see results for the top three performers in each trial, courtesy of AFL Europe.

In part two of our look at the local footy scene in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, we take a look at the Hawks from Haslach, a suburb of the small city of Herrenberg.

Along with the Ludwigsburg, the Haslach Hawks are one of the two local footy clubs that have grown out of players from the Stuttgart Emus bring footy closer to home.

Driving force behind the Hawks is Jakob Jung, who spent a year as an exchange student in Bribie Island, Queensland, in 2009-10.

The German state of Baden-Württemberg, located in the country's south-west, has been represented in the AFLG by the Stuttgart Emus for a number of years now. Besides the Emus however, there are also a number of regional towns where interested German and Australian footy fanatics are working on the creation of new clubs, with the possibility that this year may see a local league start play.

The most active of the regional teams are the Taipans, founded in the medium-sized city of Ludwigsburg around 15km north of Stuttgart. Ludwigsburg has been home to a number of Stuttgart Emus players over the past few years, including local Kevin Kilger and Aussie expat Chris Robertson, a native of Williamstown in Melbourne's inner-west who has played with the Emus since 2009 and coached them in the second half of the 2011 season.

A new club on the German scene will enter regular play this year, with long time Rheinland Lions stalwart Chris Odenthal having built up a club in the eastern city of Dresden over the past 10 months.

Chris played seven seasons with the Rheinland Lions and has also represented the German Black Eagles on the European stage - now he's hoping to apply his experience to a new club.

LEFT: The Dresden Wolves in 2012 (wearing old Düsseldorf Lions jumpers until their own arrive)

The DAFL community is in mourning following the death of one of the pioneers of Australian football in Denmark, Mark Zaga, who passed away aged 51 on the weekend after a brief illness.

Mark, whose full surname was Zagodinos but was generally shortened to Zaga, was a key personality in the DAFL's beginnings in the early 90s, when the league was just coming together and games were played at the public park at Fælledparken.

He coached the Amager Tigers to premierships in 1992, 1993 and 1995 and among the players of that club at the time his popularity was legendary, a fact confirmed by the messages of respect on the DAFL and Amager facebook pages. He won the hearts of a lot of young Danish players and convinced them that footy really was the greatest game on the planet.

Mark went on to be the president of the DAFL in 1996 and 1997 at a time when almost no-one took on the thankless task for more than one year. He was also the coach of the first DAFL representative team to play outside Denmark - against Great Britain in London in 1994.

After his involvement in DAFL, Mark was very successful in the hair care industry in Denmark.

The writing staff at worldfootynews.com join members of the DAFL in extending our sympathies to Mark's family at this very sad time.