One of three teams making their debut in the women's competition at IC17 we welcome the GB Swans.

Women’s footy in Great Britain
 

The first Great Britain Women’s team was formed in January 2016 for the AFL Europe Championship tournament held in London. Following the success of winning the three way tournament comprising of the Irish Banshees and the European Crusaders the GB Swans are looking to stamp their mark on world footy at their first International Cup in 2017.

Women’s Australian Rules football has grown significantly in the last few years with the AFL London Women’s League, formed in 2015, now operating a 4 team 18-a-side premier and further four team conference division. In other areas of Great Britain there has been a big push on growing the game with 9 a side women’s teams formed in cities such as Nottingham, Birmingham, Glasgow, Oxford and Cardiff.

The steady influx of overseas players to London has greatly improved the standard of play and has allowed British players the opportunity to compete at a much higher level and receive experienced coaching.

The Great Britain team is made up of women from England, Scotland and Wales. These countries compete in a 9 a side version of the game at the annual European Cup.

The Country and Australian Football

The term "Great Britain" often extends to include surrounding islands that form part of England, Scotland, and Wales, and is also sometimes loosely applied to the UK as a whole. It has a population of 60.8 million and an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi).

Australian Football has been played on the island since the first recorded game on the 14th April 1888 when the Edinburgh Australians from Edinburgh University played against the University of London in Balham. The game has been played across the country since and there has been an annual Varsity match between Cambridge and Oxford Universities since 1923 making it the longest running fixture outside of Australia.

In 1989 the British Australian rules football league (BARFL) was created to provide serious structure for league competition in the British Isles. There have been a series of itterations of the governing body since including AFL Britain and now AFL England, AFL Scotland and the Welsh Australian rules football league. The three governing bodies take care of their local leagues (AFL London, SARFL, AFLCNE in England, WARFL in Wales and AFL Scotland in Scotland) and their 9-a-side national teams but come together for the traditional version of the game to produce the Great Britain teams.

Many consider AFL London one of the strongest competitions outside of Australia due to the influx of Australian nationals on London. Players who have competed at State league or Elite Youth levels are often found roaming the paddocks across London during the summer seasons while the like of Lauren Spark (Western Bulldogs/Wimbledon Hawks), Lauren Tesoriero (Collingwood Magpies/Wandsworth Demons) and Kate Shierlaw (Carlton Blues/Wimbledon Hawks) have taken the AFL London Women’s league by storm.

The Team
 

Laura Turner (C)
Rania Ramadan (VC)
Caroline Sellar (VC)
Beth Bailey
Carolyn Baker
Jennifer Bennett
Alannah Blount
Freya Blount
Louise Darby
Charlotte-Ellen Eales
Rachel Gouldingay
Kirsty Gray
Frankie Hocking
Stacey Hughes
Rachel Hunt
Lucy Jones
Lucy Kilheeney
Melanie McDevitt
Jessica Milford
Rosie Morison
Laura Park
Alexandra Peill
Danni Saulter
Alex Saulter
Louise Smith
Ellie Sutherland
Lynsey Torrance
Lisa Wilson

Coaching Staff
 

Garth Nevin (Head Coach)
Ian Mitchell (Assistant Coach)
Lauren Spark (Assistant Coach)
Guy Titman (Physio)
Charley Dakin (Sports Rehab)
Jason Hill (Team Manager)

                                                                         Image above from GB Swans Facebook Page.

Team Information

The team is lead by Captain Laura Turner (Nottingham Scorpions and North London Lions) along with her two Vice Captains Rania Ramadan (Nottingham Scorpions and North London Lions) and Caroline Sellar (Glasgow Sharks and South East London Giants) under the coaching guidance of Garth Nevin, Ian ‘Mitch’ Mitchell and Western Bulldogs player Lauren Spark. Garth is a native Australian who has played the game for over 25 years, Mitch has represented England for 8 years and played for the GB Bulldogs in IC11. Fresh off the success of the inaugural Women’s AFL this year Sparky will bring the experience of competing at the highest level of women’s football.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The GB Swans are still in their infancy and therefore still fully forming their playing style and this could be considered both the Swans biggest weakness and possibly biggest strength. Due to having players from different schemes, both 18-a-side and 9-a-side, the ladies have the ability to mix it with everything they’ve had thrown at them so far by playing what comes naturally to them. A mix of backgrounds also brings together hard-hitting in the tackle, good foot skills and strong running across the ground.

A large contingent of the squad have made themselves available to the AFL London clubs in 2017 to give them as much 18-a-side experience as possible in the lead up to IC17 and further experience the game play of their team mates joining them in Australia.

Players to watch

Frankie Hocking (Newtown Breakaways) – Sydney based Brit Frankie is a strong and skilful player who is can play in the half forward and half back lines and also in the ruck. She has been learning her craft in Australia since 2014 and will certainly be a player who hits hard.

Lucy Jones (University of Birmingham) – Lucy has been a revelation this year, her rugby experience allows her to run through and literally shake off defenders and playing in a more advanced role this season has seen her get on the score sheet in every single one of her games this season

Lisa Wilson (Wimbledon Hawks) – Wilson eats, sleeps and breathes footy. She is obsessed with self-improvement and has worked tirelessly on her individual and team play. As a result of her training she can play in midfield and at halfback and her ability read the game and display composure on the ball is second to none.

Form Guide

Wins against Ireland and the European Crusaders at the AFL Europe Championships in their first tournament experience gave the GB Swans a great start to 18-a-side competition. Taking home the trophy in London was an upset many wouldn’t have expected against a strong and experienced Irish side. Follow up wins against Ireland in 2017 and the AFL London All-Stars continued the winning nature of the team but the Canadian Midnight Suns bought them back down to earth with a crushing defeat.

The GB Swans have played 8 International Tests since inception and have a record of 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat.

Bottom Line

The Great Britain Swans are the new kids on the block and as such are a relatively unknown quantity outside of Europe. They will be hoping to surprise the world with their fast flowing and hard-hitting style of football. A date with the Etihad Stadium might surprise some but is definitely a target for this group and their coaching staff will expect nothing less.

British Players will be in peak condition at the beginning of August as this will be towards the later stages of the season. Unfortuntely some will miss out on participating in finals rounds due to competing in the International Cup but this is a small price to pay to represent your country on the world stage. 
 

Image from AFL Europe - http://www.afleurope.org/ic17-team-announcement-gb-swans/ ...

Northwind look to improve ranking (again)

“Canada's Northwind are currently ranked 9th for IC14 and could potentially finish higher depending how they fair against the stronger teams in their pool.” That was the introduction for the 2014 International Cup and it is unchanged for IC17 (Ed. in the WFN Rankings).

“Canada has always been competitive against it’s Southern neighbour in the U.S.A. despite having half the number of players.” This comment from the previous preview also stands true with Canada only once beating the U.S.A. men in 2007 since the commencement of the 49th Parallel Cup tournament in 1999.

However the results have been consistently close and this has been put down to Toronto having  the largest organised football Australian League outside of Australia and the OAFL  plays traditional 18-a-side as well. The level of local competition is widely seen as much more important than outright numbers.

The success of the New Zealand All Blacks in rugby is testament to this with N.Z. at a significant numerical disadvantage to some other countries. Many would see the Northwind as an underachiever because of this  localized advantage failing to materialize when it comes to the international football scene. With the recent widespread developments in Western Canada and Eastern Canada and with a new national approach to preparation it is time yet again for optimism and for AFL Canada to improve it’s position.

In their previous cup finishes, Canada, whilst being competitive during group stages the Northwind failed to progress further, being ranked 9th (2002), 7th (2005), 6th (2008),  9th (2011), and 7th (2014) . The Northwind dropped to 8th ranking after the  2015 49th Parallel Cup and to 9th after impressive performances by Great Britain in Europe forcing GB upwards. AFL Canada took development squads to Britain and inter-provincial tournaments in lieu of the 49th parallel Cup in 2017 in preparation for I.C. 2017.

The Country and Australian Football

One of the world's largest countries by area, Canada in many ways shares a lot in common with Australia. Both countries are a mixture of productive and sparse inhospitable lands  and both have a relatively small population living around the their country’s extremities. Even climates are similar, being extreme in places if in opposite directions temperature-wise. Both countries have moved on from events of their original  European colonization over indigenous populations. Both have strong friendship with the USA and are both heavily influenced by the U.S.A., but both countries would consider themselves more attuned to the modern  Commonwealth in outlook.

Australian Football produced it’s  North American start in Canada in 1989 with the Mississauga Mustangs and Toronto Panthers, which led to the formation of the Canadian Australian Football Association (now called AFL Ontario) and to the development of a very strong league in the province of Ontario. Across on the West coast in Vancouver (British Columbia) football commenced in 2001, The Vancouver Cougars have been the main driving force in football development, splitting  twice into separate senior clubs.

A very  successful junior program in the North Delta region has ultimately  helped spawn the  Burnaby Eagles AFC. Football has resumed on Victoria Island in the shape of the of the Sharks and Vernon is the latest football club addition to B.C. Alberta is well represented with clubs in Edmonton and Calgary extending into Banff., Quebec, Ottawa, Nova Scotia (Halifax and Cape Breton) and Newfoundland (St. Johns) also have clubs. A look at the map of Canada shows a good representative spread.

Strengths and Weaknesses

In  2011 Team Canada employed a new approach in preparation by developing and building a national squad. That squad was hampered by being centred around  the strong Ontario league with the possible exclusion of those outside the OAFL. In 2016  AFL Canada took another quantum step forward by  selecting a squad from the greatest pool of available players and by staging  inter-provincial competition in both men’s and women’s football. Finally East meets West in Canadian football and that should overcome the previous weakness in the selection process.

Apart from the very strong Ontario league other Canadian players have suffered from the lack of competition that comes from isolation. The Kelowna Cup, positioned halfway between Calgary and Vancouver was created primarily to facilitate more interaction between clubs of the neighbouring provinces of Aberta and B.C.. West coast teams even compete in the USAFL national tournament. The situation is slowly changing. The North West Pacific league is open to more clubs and Alberta has more teams. Even the East coast has three clubs with some competition.

Canada and the U.S.A. mutually agreed  not to play for the 49th Cup this year, instead preferring to look inwards for player selection. The USAFL ran a number of regional tournaments this year whilst AFL Canada ran an inaugural inter-provincial championship in 2016 and sent a development squad to a tournament in Britain as a substitute.

In a late development the Northwind will be going into this year’s International Cup with a special edge. The coaching team will be joined by Carlton midfielder Dennis Armfield, whose 10 years’ AFL experience will be invaluable for the men’s national team. Armfield will also be training with Melbourne-based players in the lead up to the tournament. Northwind head coach Cody Royle said Armfield’s knowledge of the sport would be priceless for the players.

Read the full AFL Canada article  
 

As well, AFL Canada will partner with the Williamstown Football Club for the upcoming International Cup. The Northern Lights and Northwind will have access to all of the VFL club’s training facilities at Burbank Oval including their ground, ice baths, spa, and meeting rooms.Importantly, the teams will have four hours of access each day in the week lead up to the competition, giving the players a chance to gel in high-quality facilities. Northern Lights coach Jason Arnold said it would give the teams a strategic advantage. Read the full AFL Canada article

Players to Watch
 
Greg Bridges #47,will lace up for his boots for his Northwind debut when he lines up in the forward line this International Cup. Bridges has been playing footy for four years after he picked up the sport in Halifax after being introduced by a roommate. He began playing with the Swans when he returned home to Ottawa. Bridges says making the national team has been among his career highlights, along with winning a premiership and kicking his first goal.
 

Alex Maloney #44, will be playing his second International Cup for the Northwind in August where he will look to tear up the midfield. Maloney has been playing footy for almost nine years which he picked up while living in Australia."A good mate of mine at the time told me to come down one day and check it out, so I went down and picked up on it relatively fast," Maloney said.
 
Ryan "Danger" McNabb #33,started playing footy eight years ago when Aussie X came to his school.
Danger says his greatest footy experience so far has been the solid run for the flag he had with the Toronto Eagles in the unsuccessful  2015 Grand Final.

Here is a list of full profiles for the Northwind.
 http://websites.sportstg.com/club_info.cgi?c=1-7259-119892-0-0&sID=210661
 
Form Guide and Bottom Line

The Northwind are currently seeded 9th by the AFL. After slowly working their way up the rankings, Canada finds themselves back at their 2002 position. At first glance this might seem a little disheartening but the fall in rankings is mainly due to inevitable rise of the R.S.A. and the long overdue result of Great Britain getting their act together. Canada will again lift it’s standard and it’s quite possible that Canada will improve it’s position against other similarly improving teams.
 

Who is Canada’s main opposition? Like the current AFL season this International Cup is easily the most wide-open ever. Let’s look at the teams ranked above Canada in the WFN Rankings.  

2   Papua New Guinea 57.66 34 steady
3   New Zealand 55.09 38 steady
4   Ireland 53.98 54 steady
5   Nauru 53.30 27 steady
6   South Africa 49.63 27 steady
7   Great Britain 48.38 59 steady
8   United States 47.61 43 steady

2. PNG participation has received a large boost by schools programs but too early to have a large effect on senior football. However the PNG has prepared well from an early start.
3.New Zealand is still yet to see a significant boost from it’s schools programs and it does play out  of season however the introduction of a very professional run national league must logically produce results.  This will likely be their toughest opponent when they meet in Round 3 at the Waverley Blues ground.
4. Ireland is perennially strong due to it’s association with Gaelic Football however Irish numbers are slow to grow even with the constant flow of Irish recruits to the AFL.
5. Nauru, the most passionate Australian Football country in the world will again produce a highly skilled  team and compete extremely well, however it’s tiny population of 10,000 doesn’t produce the “talls” to propel the team up the ladder.  The final match for Canada before the finals will be against these hard nuts of the competition at Royal Park. 
6. High participation numbers in the R.S.A. have matured into senior competitions the development of which has mirrored South Africa’s rise in rankings. News out of south Africa is scarce these days but at worst the R.S.A. would put a similar performance as in the past.
7. Great Britain have got their act together over the last decade and it’s producing results. Great Britain benefits from having numbers and a strong London competition. Indeed it consists of three countries – England, Scotland and Wales, as well as competing in Europe. Canada face GB in the second round of the tournament at St Francis Xavier college in Officer.

8.The nemesis of Canada, the USA. has again prepared well in a business-like manner bringing it’s diverse players together in regional tournaments. It’s going to be a close tussle. Canada will play the USA in Round 1.

With a good mix of height, speed, grunt and experience it’s all about development and trying to progress in a highly competitive environment.  A finish between 7th - 5th would be a good result, and a possible  higher result would be a fantastic achievement and reward for effort. 

MENS DIVISION 1 Canada's Match schedules with East and Pacific Timezones

Interchanger is the game management App currently used by more than 400 teams around Australia.  Interchanger are providing software for 11 of the 18 AFL clubs in 2017. 

The creator and owner of Interchanger Murray Bird has offered the App free (including the stats feature) to all of the International Cup teams to manage their team and stats during the tournament. 

Additionally Murray has offered to meet team coaches prior to the event to run them through functionality of the App.

MANAGE YOUR TEAM LIKE THE PROS!  (The offer above is for all competing International Cup Teams - the pricing referred to below is the regular pricing).  

You can contact Murray to get Interchanger for every team at your school/club for as little as AU$250   Call (in Australia)  0433 001 588  or email murray@interchanger.com.au

For more details you can go to  www.interchanger.com.au
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South Africa's Lions have been in camp preparing for IC17. Check out this great news story from CGTN Africa.

Men’s Footy in Great Britain

The game has seen a steady increase in activity since the last tournament and expanded markedly in central England and Scotland. The quality of the game has increased, with more youngsters getting involved and staying with the game, many of whom travel into London to get increased exposure to the full 18’s game, as well as the 9’s they play regularly with their regional clubs.

The number of British eligible players across clubs has improved dramatically with numerous clubs now having strength in depth of their “rest of world” players, which local league rules stipulate must be in match day squads. The mix of high-level Australian players and talented British rookies has created one of the strongest leagues outside of Australia and bought those rookies up to speed and a good level of play quickly.

The Country and Australian Football

The term "Great Britain" often extends to include surrounding islands that form part of England, Scotland, and Wales, and is also sometimes loosely applied to the UK as a whole. It has a population of 60.8 million and an area of 209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi).

Australian Football has been played on the island since the first recorded game on the 14th April 1888 when the Edinburgh Australians from Edinburgh University played against the University of London in Balham. The game has been played across the country since and there has been an annual Varsity match between Cambridge and Oxford Universities since 1923 making it the longest running fixture outside of Australia.

In 1989 the British Australian rules football league (BARFL) was created to provide serious structure for league competition in the British Isles. There have been a series of itterations of the governing body since including AFL Britain and now AFL England, AFL Scotland and the Welsh Australian rules football league. The three governing bodies take care of their local leagues (AFL London, SARFL, AFLCNE in England, WARFL in Wales and AFL Scotland in Scotland) and their 9-a-side national teams but come together for the traditional version of the game to produce the Great Britain teams.

Many consider AFL London one of the strongest competitions outside of Australia due to the influx of Australian nationals on London. Players who have competed at State league or Elite Youth levels are often found roaming the paddocks across London during the summer seasons while the like of Lauren Spark (Western Bulldogs/Wimbledon Hawks), Lauren Tesoriero (Collingwood Magpies/Wandsworth Demons) and Kate Shierlaw (Carlton Blues/Wimbledon Hawks) have taken the AFL London Women’s league by storm.

The Team

Will Worthington (C)
Luke Booth (VC)
Sean Walton (VC)
Ross Ashman
Christopher Britton
Roy Brannigan
Marc Cashman
Andrew Cochran
Jack Coughlan
Adam Coxsell
Ross Denton
George Dibble
Ryan Floyd
David Hastie
Jason Hill
Douglas Houston
Myles Hudson
Mark Ireland
Seyonne Kadnapillai
Alex Markham
Luke Matias
Dominic Mitchell
Luke Murchie
Alexander Overton
Owain Ryland
Michael Sharp
James Talbot
Andrew Walkden
Alexander Watson

Coaching Staff

Dean Thomas (Head Coach)
Rhys Long (Assistant Coach)
Scott Rymer (Assistant Coach)
Hilary Wilson (Physio)
Millie Morgan (Sports Rehab)
Jason Hill (Team Manager)

Team Information

The team is lead by Captain Will Worthington (Onkaparinga Valley) along with his two Vice Captains Luke Booth (Huddersfield Rams) and former IC14 captain Sean Walton (Caulfield Bears) under the coaching guidance of Dean Thomas, Rhys Long and Scott Rymer. With only 8 of the 30 experiencing IC football before this is a very new look Bulldogs side.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Bulldogs have historically been a tough footballing side and the Bulldogs have always played a physical game and uncompromising tackling has become a trademark. Building on this, the management team, has looked to add a mix of experience and youthful flair to a new looking Bulldogs side.

Inexperience at IC level could be considered the biggest weakness of this Bulldogs side. The Bulldogs will look to build on the AFL Europe Championship win in 2016 to cause a few upsets along the way in what locals are calling the most “well-rounded” Bulldogs team to enter an IC.

Players to watch

Alex Watson (Wandsworth Demons) – Alex is widely considered one of the most consistent and impressive GB players in a highly competitive AFL London Premiership competition. A skilled and aggressive ruckman who’s around the ground pressure and fitness will be crucial to the Bulldogs success.

Jack Coughlan (North London Lions) – Jack was handed his GB debut in 2016 at the AFL Europe Championships and within 7 appearances he has become the nation’s highest ever goal kicker with 17 goals. A strong overhead mark, quick first step and surprising on ground ball skills make this forward a defenders nightmare. Has the ability to single-handedly win a game for the Bulldogs.

Luke Matias (Caulfield Bears) - Luke is an International Cup veteran with many years of football in Australia as well his experience both in the game and in international competition will be of huge value to this squad with so many new comers to the tournament.

Form Guide

Traditionally the Bulldogs have been a “middle of the pack” division 1 team at International Cup competitions finishing 6th (2002), 6th (2005), 9th (2008), 7th (2011) and 9th (2014) and will be looking to improve this going into 2017.

Since Dean Thomas’ appointment as GB Bulldogs Head Coach the Bulldogs have a 5-0-2 record with wins coming against Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Holland and Canada and both loses coming against Ireland in closely contested games. The AFL Europe Championship final win against Ireland, where the Bulldogs ran out 7.9.51 to 4.5.29 winners, was the first time that the GB representative side had taken down their rivals in competitive tournament footy. This has given the Bulldog’s a platform to continue to build on which they did win a comprehensive 19.15.109 to 0.0.0 win against a Canadian development squad (The North Stars) as part of their build up to IC17.

Bottom Line

The Great Britain Bulldogs are by no stretch of the imagination the “new kids on the block” having competed in every iteration of the International Cup to date but the baggage of previous unsuccessful International Cups seems to have been removed with the new coaching team as evidenced at AFL Europe Championships 2016. A win there has shown that the Bulldogs, on their day, can mix it with some of the traditional giants in International AFL.

A strong squad, with what looks like the right mix of fresh faced GB based and experienced Australia based players, will give the Bulldogs hope of a top 4 finish which would be considered a big step up since 2014. Is the big dance at the MCG too much to hope for? An injury free tournament, could see the Bulldogs be this years surprise package.  Their draw sees them meet South Africa and Ireland which would need their best performances worthy of a top four finish, and Canada and Fiji that will be hard matches but the Bulldogs know they could win if everything goes their way and they play disciplined footy.

GREAT BRITAIN Match schedule  Rounds 1-4 with BST timezones for matches.

Introduction to the Freedom

History of Women’s Footy in the USA

All-time records against IC opponents:

Schedule Overview 

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The AFL has released details of updated venue and changed match times.  These affect the matches in Round 2, the Schools Round and Round 3 the Community Round.

The NZ vs Fiji match will be played at St Kilda's home training base, Linen Park in Seaford.  St Kilda have an ongoing relationship with AFLNZ.

The India vs Pakistan match has been confirmed to be played at Golden Square (in Bendigo) on the Friday evening 11th of August at 7pm.

Please see the updated fixtures below.

A summary of the changes include:

◦Round 2 - 9th August – NZ v Fiji (men) is scheduled for Linen House (Seaford)
◦Round 2 - 9th August – Fiji v GB (women) is scheduled for Peninsula Grammar at 11.45am
◦Round 3 - 11th August – India v Pakistan (men) is scheduled for Golden Square in Bendigo on the Friday night at 7.00pm.
◦Round 3 - 12th August – Japan v Germany (men) at Box Hill North is scheduled from 2pm (not 12pm)
◦Round 3 - 12th August – France v Nauru (men) at Kew is scheduled for 10am (not 12pm)
◦Round 3 - 12th August – Canada v New Zealand (men) at Waverley Blues is scheduled for 12.30pm (not 12pm)
◦Round 3 - 13th August – Ireland v PNG (women) at Hallam is scheduled for 2pm (not 12pm)
 

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The AFL Players association is celebrating the AFL multicultural round. A great initiative they have released on their site is the "2017 Multicultural Map" which shows all the 149 AFL and AFLW current players that were either born outside Australia or have one parent born outside Australia.

From Austria to Zimbabwe, there are 38 countries represented on the 2017 Multicultural Map — the third of its kind.

Players highlighted in green were born outside Australia, while those in red have a parent born in another country. Therefore, some players may be listed against more than one country.

You can check it out here. ...

Vince Serci, Steve Froggatt and Mike Seversinsen may not be the biggest names in world footy – however they share a common link. All were members of the inaugural AFL International Cup World Team from the first tournament back in 2002 and all were members of the New Zealand Falcons side that officially placed 3rd (defeating Denmark into 4th).

The Kiwi Falcons are now Hawks; and while their team moniker has changed the New Zealand team has been a permanent fixture in all previous International Cup tournaments (1 of 9 nations to do so). And they will enter IC17 determined to reclaim the title.

New Zealand are one of just 3 nations to take out the title – having won the tournament in 2005. In 2008 they made the final however were unsuccessful in their title defence as Papua New Guinea took out the tournament. Since then the finals have seen the Falcons/Hawks missing the ‘big one’ while continuing to compete strongly. In IC14 the NZ v South Africa 3rd place play off was a classic IC contest with the NZ Hawks sneaking home by a point with a 3 goal to 2 final quarter.

The Country and Australian Football

Back in 1908 at the Australian Football National Carnival held in Melbourne – New Zealand appeared for the only time in these Carnivals – and their tour included warm up matches across the country in Adelaide, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Sydney, Brisbane and Newcastle and including carnival matches the NZ side won 6 of 11 matches.

It’s well enough obvious the Australian Football didn’t kick on. The coming of WWI, the growth of two codes of Rugby and the Great Depression. However – Australian Football has once again established a foot print in New Zealand and the foundation put in place via juniors and school programmes have in the past 2 years been consolidated via the AFLNZ Premiership tournament.

The New Zealand junior programme has seen players compete against Oceania and South Pacific nations including Fiji and PNG to progress players through to the joining forces in the South Pacific representative side to compete in Australian national championships. One such player who has graduated the full pathway is Kurt Heatherley (Hawthorn) who is the current poster boy for AFL International development programmes.

Starting from the AFL KiwiKick for ages 5 to 12 and through secondary schools via the AFL Cup for Junior (years 9-10) and Senior (years 11-13) inter schools competition and development. The 9 a side format of matches is fits in with the prevailing rugby size fields. And vitally AFL NZ is sanctioned by the New Zealand Secondary School Sports Council. In October this year the AFL NZ Youth competition continues for a third year – with this years format to include U/14 and U/17 boys along with U/17 girls in each of Auckland and Wellington. Ideally from this base participants can find their way to the AFL NZ Academy, the National Combine and National representation. April this year saw the first AFLNZ Women’s combine held in Wellington and was overseen by AFL Staff. And as illustrated by Kurt Heatherley – the ultimate goal may include gaining access to the AFL system via exposure to talent scouts and potential AFL International Scholarships such as Barclay Harris and Joe Baker-Thomas.

The New Zealand AFL National Academy and National age group teams include Academy Level 1 and 2, the Kahu Youth Girls and the NZ U/18 sides. NZ Kahu captain from 2017 – Killarney Morey came out on top in both Standing Vertical Leap and Agility Test at the womens combine. The goal is that in April each year there is either a tour TO Australia or hosting of touring Australian teams. Earlier this year – the various squads were finalised around late March – and with a senior focus of a match up against the Australian U/17 Academy side there were also junior matches.

The Anzac weekend clashes saw the Level 1 Academy side take on the NSW Independent Schools in 2 matches. The Level 2 Academy side took on the Mornington Peninsula (Vic) Junior Football League U/16s while the NZ Kahu Youth Girls took on the MPJFL Youth Girls team. The Academy sides were no match for their more seasoned opposition however the Kahu’s created history by winning both games and therefore the series to become the first NZ team to win a series over a touring Australian team.

The New Zealand provincial leagues have had an augmented reality in the last 2 years via the AFLNZ Premiership that has seen 4 (super!) Clubs established for the tournament (Western Crows, Central Giants, Southern Saints and Northern Suns) and squads drafted in. All matches based at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. This higher level of competition has provided players with the best available coaching, venue and competition. And IC17 will be the first ‘road test’ of this new AFLNZ pathway.

Strengths and Weaknesses

As illustrated above the New Zealand talent pathway is evolving all the time. However the challenge is always to get players to ‘stick’ with the game. Close proximity to Australia is an obvious advantage but even so - as seen with Kurt Heatherley’s compatriate Shem Tatupu who had also made his way to Hawthorn and showed some potential playing for Box Hill – Tatupu found the journey tough and the lure to return to Rugby League too great. However – AFL clubs Hawthorn and St Kilda have a real interest in New Zealand and at the IC14 tournament St Kilda assistant Paul Hudson was on hand to assist the NZ Hawks and in particular Joe Baker-Thomas (International Scholarship at St Kilda).

The NZ Hawks IC17 squad includes a mix of old and new with 14 players backing up from IC14. Coach Rob Malone is supported by assistant’s Justin Davies and Chris Mundell (who played in IC11 & IC14). Davies was head coach of the IC11 and IC14 campaigns.

Players to Watch out for

Andrew Howison (IC14 World Team 1st rover) and Aaron Harris (IC14 World team I/C) both return after making the IC14 World Team. Both played in IC11 as well, along with the returning Sucu. Other IC11 & 14 veterans include Christensen and Rattenbury while Brendon Clark and Andriu return after missing IC14.
Barclay Miller and Joe Baker-Thomas, both St Kilda International Scholarship holders and both playing VFL with Sandringham.

New Zealand Hawks - IC Schedule

New Zealand IC17 Squad

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Australian Rules Football has a brief history in Ireland. However in the years following, the level of interest, participation, and quality of play have all taken leaps forward.

History

The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland (ARFLI) was founded in 2000, but Aussie Rules actually came to Ireland in 1999 when squads in Belfast and Dublin recruited through the off season.

The new Dublin Demons traveled to London in April, 2000 to take part in preseason matches with the British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL), and finished third out of 12 teams. The Demons then won a best-of-three series with the Belfast Redbacks to be crowned the first footy champion on the Emerald Isle.

 “The standard of the local league is quite competitive. It’s very welcoming and we have players of all standards involved from the social player right up to those aiming to play international footy,” Banshees coach Pat Leavy said. “In addition we have had two new University teams start up in 2016/17 and this is the area that we see a lot of new players coming from.”

Leavy said he got his start in footy with the Midland Tigers in 2003, having been introduced to the game by his brother Mark. Both men went on to represent Ireland in the 2013 Euro Cup, and since then Leavy hasg teamed up with Shaun Saurin and Brendan Kelly to develop the women’s game in Ireland. There are two women’s teams in Ireland—the Dublin Angels and the Ulster Kookaburras.


The Banshees
Ireland’s strengths lie in the interchangeable skillset learned in Gaelic Football, skills that translate well onto the footy pitch. A potential disadvantage could be stamina because they don’t play a lot of 18-a-side footy due to the size of available fields. Most of their games are played nine, 12, or 14 to a side.

 The Banshees won the inaugural five-team International Cup in 2011 with a 31 point win over Canada. In 2014 there were seven sides and the Banshees fell in the Grand Final to Canada Northern Lights. So not only has the interest level risen in Ireland, it’s also gone up on the world stage as eight women’s teams will compete for the 2017 International Cup.

Current run of play 
Ireland is rounding into form as they prepare for IC17. They are ranked fourth in the most recent World Footy News rankings. The Banshees won the 2016 Euro Cup in Lisbon, Portugal, and in May they traveled to the London Footy Carnival and opened with a 50-point win over the London All-Stars. A 22-1 win over the Canada Midnight Suns followed, and the Banshees fell by six points to the Great Britain Swans.  Ireland took home the trophy based on having the highest percentage.

 “The players have been working very hard over the past 15 months in preparation for the tournament with many players receiving sponsored assistance from local personnel; trainers coupled with club and national team training sessions.  The London Footy Carnival against three quality teams also proved very beneficial for any new players on the team,” Leavy said.

Rising star Onora Mulcahy agreed.

“Even though Ireland won, it was a good wake up call to the level of physicality to expect in August from the non-European teams.”
The Banshees team is made up of players who have competed in the local league as well as the London league and various country leagues in Australia.  The Australian based players comprise of a mix of girls who are taking a year out and have decided to “give it a go” while in Australia, as well as and those who have settled in Australia after falling in love with the lifestyle.

Who to watch for
Laura Corrigan Duryea from Diamond Creek and the Melbourne Demons needs no introduction to anyone who followed the inaugural AFLW season, while Carol Breen and Gillian Behan are really impressing for UTS Shamrocks in the Sydney Premier League. Leavy is excited about having Marie Keating from IC11 back in the squad, while Carolann Cassidy has grown into a real leader for the team since playing at IC14. Of those making their International Cup debut, expect big things from Onóra Mulcahy and Clara Fitzpatrick. Duryea and Mulcahy are team co-captains.

Fixture and expectations
Tough matches await against the United States, an improving Papua New Guinea side, and the European Crusaders. But expect Ireland to get out of pool play and compete for a premiership. They have competed in the first two IC Grand Final matches and they also add veteran experience and firepower with international players joining the side.

Squad/Players:

1   Claire Donnelly, Ulster Kookaburras

2   Amanda Maginn, Ulster Kookaburras

3   Rachel McGee, Ulster Kookaburras

4   Sarah O’Donovan, U.C.C. Crusaders

5   Laura Flannery, Dublin Angels

6   Emma Kelly, Ulster Kookaburras

7   Fiona Roarty, Ulster Kookaburras

8   Carolann Cassidy, Ulster Kookaburras

9   Olivia McCann, Ulster Kookaburras

10 Onora Mulcahy, Wandsworth Demons

11 Laura Corrigan Duryea, Diamond Creek / Melbourne Demons

12 Carol Breen, UTS Shamrocks

13 Niamh Hainsworth, UTS Shamrocks

14 Linda Connolly, Wandsworth Demons

15 Clara Fitzpatrick, Diamond Creek

16 Megan Creegan, Sydney University

17 Molly Cullen, Dublin Angels

18 Marie Keating, U.C.C. Crusaders

19 Aisling Gillespie, Ulster Kookaburras (leading goalkicker at European Championships)

20 Rachel Fox, Perth Angels

21 Sandra Ryan, UTS Shamrocks

22 Colleen Quinn, Ulster Kookaburras

23 Gillian Behan, UTS Shamrocks

24 Emma Treanor, UTS Shamrocks

25 Maebh Moriarty, Diamond Creek

26 Leona Russell, Ulster Kookaburras

28 Aine Higgins, Dublin Angels

29 Deborah Geraghty, UTS Shamrocks

36 Christine McCutcheon, UTS Shamrocks

30 Bronagh Sheridan, Dublin Angels

 IRELAND schedules with local Australian and BST timezones.

Sun 6/8 vs USA (Ransford Oval) 2pm/5am(BST)

Wed 9/8 vs European Crusaders (St Patricks,Ballarat) 10:45am/1:45am(BST)

Sun 13/8 vs PNG (Hallam) 2pm/5am(BST)

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The following is a quick review of this author's thoughts on who might win the Men's Division 1 at the 2017 International Cup.

In terms of realistic prospects let's face it, there's the big 3 of PNG, Ireland and New Zealand, and then there's the rest.  That's probably a bit harsh, and South Africa and the United States probably deserve a nod too.  Between them, those 5 nations have filled the top 4 spots at all 5 international cups thus far.  Are there any new challengers?  I'm afraid not.

France and Fiji were first timers in Div 1 in 2014 and put up some good contests but were no match for the top sides.  They should be increasingly competitive against the middle Div 1 sides but the matches against the top teams may still expose a large gap. Aussie Rules is high scoring and merciless in exposing a difference.  Grabbing 1 or 2 wins each would be a great achievement.

Looking to the middle ranks of Div1 and Canada (juniors maturing), Great Britain (more regional teams) and the USA (metro leagues) have growing numbers to draw on and steady improvement is expected but probably not a major leap. Great Britain has a tough draw, while Canada and the USA face off in round 1 so probably only one will remain a Grand Final chance after that and will have to knock off one of the big 3 (PNG, Ireland, NZ) to make it.

Nauru are always dangerous but are probably limited by population size, I'm not expecting significant improvement.  But take them lightly and you'll get a scare on the scoreboard to go with a physical battering on the field.

South Africa were on a steep growth curve about 10 years ago but it appeared to plateau and although hard to get info out of there it seems that consolidation rather than major improvement can be expected. Without having seen the stats I suspect lack of height may count against them in key positions.

So I think once again the winner will be from the 3 that have shared the titles so far. Some of their qualifying games are against each other so whoever wins those matches will almost certainly march into the GF.

The Warriors, 2 time winners, runners-up last time. Ireland's strength ebbs and flows depending on how many players based in Australia they draw upon. The home league has shown some progress in introducing the game in Universities but this isn't likely to convert to International Cup improvement as yet. You never know when they might find 2 or 3 high quality Gaelic players to swap over which can make a huge difference, but given limits on how many can be drawn from Australian leagues I suspect the Warriors may not be quite as strong this time.

The Hawks, 1 time winners, 1 time runners-up. New Zealand have a lot of junior programs that should be bearing fruit now, and a lot of elite pathways. Sometimes these produce athletes who are raw in footy terms, but the various national programs and matches against touring Australian sides should see the Kiwis field a very strong side ready to contest the GF.

The Mozzies, 2 time winners, 3 time runners up. PNG have made every GF and are set to again. Their junior development remains strong and the league in Port Moresby is a high standard producing regular tough competition for the players. The only doubts continue to be key position size and composure with ball in hand as the Mozzies have tended to rush their work in the past.

The tip: NZ vs PNG in the Grand Final, going down to the wire, can't really split them, was going to say NZ with their key positions pulling in some key marks but a last second change of heart says PNG with their speed and run across the MCG to get them home. No, wait, PNG have a very tough draw playing Ireland, Nauru, USA and South Africa. They could easily drop one of those and even if they don't there might not be much left in the tank come the GF. New Zealand's draw is much kinder, so they are far more likely to even make the final and if it's against PNG look to their size and structure to overwhelm a brave but tiring PNG in the last quarter.

Of course with the draw having every team play 4 matches then the top 2 go into the GF, any slip likely eliminates a team from contention, and maybe even winning every match won't be enough with percentage possibly the separating factor. So something unexpected could catapult one of the less favoured nations into the decider.

More importantly, who do you think will win it?

 And don't forget our poll here. ...

Yvette Wroby, Stephanie Connell and John Harms are pleased to announce The Women’s Footy Almanac 2017 is about to hit the shelves.

Featuring a fantastic cover (designed by John Kingsmill) it has Kate Birrell's wonderful painting (entitled Girls; First Season) which captures Sabrina Frederick-Traub, Erin Phillips and our Everygirl ten year old footballer.

The Women's Footy Almanac 2017 follows on from the annual The Footy Almanac which has featured footy fan's own accounts of AFL matches throughout each season. 

The book includes a number of forewords:

A welcome from Yvette Wroby

•  Words from women’s footy stalwart Leesa Catto
•  Gill Dite’s essay based on the cover
•  A reflection from comedian Bobby Macumber
•  Brisbane student Bonnie Norman’s piece about being an Auskicker and now under age footballer.
•  Anne Myers’ wonderful piece on the significance of the moment.
•  Kate O’Halloran’s Season Review

The game by game account of the AFLW season follows – with two or three pieces on each game from our squad of contributors.

The Grand Final section is exceptional, featuring John Butler, Anne Cahill Lambert, Jamie Simmons, Dave Brown and a piece which marries memoir and match report from Holly Greatwich.

It will be launched by Bobby Macumber at The North Fitzroy Arms on Thursday, July 27. 6 for 6.30pm. All welcome. It is sure to be a launch which carries on in the tradition of Almanac launches. Please rsvp@footyalmanac.com.au

You can order copies now. $25 which includes postage. Purchase via The Almanac Shop.  Or contact us directly via email to place an order.
  ...

The reigning champs return to defend the crown earned so valiantly in a classic International Cup Grand Final win over the mighty Irish Warriors in 2014. It was the 2nd IC title for the Mozzies out of a fine record of having made each of the five Grand Final play offs. Previously PNG took out the title in 2008 with a win over the then New Zealand Falcons. PNG came up short in 2002 and 2011 against Ireland and 2005 to New Zealand.

PNG are the top ranked side for this tournament and number two to Australia in the global sense. They deserve favouritism. The 2014 squad had been the youngest ever assembled for the Mozzies for an IC campaign (average age 21) – this years squad includes 23 of that squad so clearly the average age has crept up. There’s no Theo Gavuri or Donald Barry however the core group of the victorious 2014 side is retained and will be super keen to again grace the ‘G on August 19.

The Country and Australian Football

While Rugby League is the ‘National Sport’ of Papua New Guinea, Australian Football has also has a long heritage and Australian Football was arguably the number one code post WWII and up to the 1970s. As Ron Barassi having visited PNG twice in the previous 18 months where Mr Dick Kidby (with assistance from the North Melbourne Football Club) had been appointed full-time national GM of PNG football; Barassi opined in the press in April 1978 that even after the visit to Ireland 10 years earlier that PNG was the place with the best chance of developing Australian Football. He noted the nation was evenly divided between soccer, rugby and Australian Football. In his words “We would be crazy if we didn’t make every effort to develop a formidable football force in that country”.

Papua New Guinea has been playing international football for a long time. From fielding an U/17 team in the Australian Teal Cup in 1979 to competing and winning at the Arufura Games during the 1990s. This was despite a stagnation in Australian support during the 1980s which in fairness was a challenging financial period for the VFL and its clubs with a national league seen as a priority – that and revenue from selling licences!

AFL PNG falls under the development eye of AFL Development Manager South Pacific, Mr Ben Drew. There are 2 Boards who run AFL PNG. Key stakeholders include the AFL and the PNG Government. In the past 12 months funding has been accessed via the Australian Governments Pacific Sports Partnership (PSP) to put towards improving governance in each (South Pacific Country – in particular, PNG, Fiji and Nauru) country; train & educate community leaders and staff; Hire more Development staff;provide more equipment & also provide more expert training & Education. “With great connection & support from AFLQLD, utilising their staff to provide training in program delivery we have seen a huge increase in knowledge and professionalism of all South Pacific staff & Volunteers at all levels across each country.”

With respect to AFL PNG specifically and a focus on the 3 years since their 2014 IC success which in itself was building upon a strong growth in the game across the regions of PNG along with improved pathways including the Port Moresby Academy. Ben Drew worked closely with key PNG stakeholders to oversee the governance focussed evolution via a strong Board directing attention to Senior Community Football across PNG along with the national opportunities via the Mozzies and the Womens Flames. A separate Board is focussed on the development and underage programs; including hiring 20 Full time PNG staff to deliver programs across 8 regions. The two Boards have helped produce a huge increase in participation from the introductory Niukick program to the Senior Community Footy across the nation.

Queensland is a vital cog in the Talent Pathway with both boys and girls sides competing at various times in QLD state or regional championships – including the 2013 Ben Drew coached U14 Binatangs winning the QLD State Academy Championships. Over the last two years three boys have graduated from the Binatangs and played in the U/16 QLD state team at the National Championships and all 3 are in the Mozzies. Two of those lads – Hapeo Bobogai and Kelly Kaugla who last year aged 16 broke into the Broadbeach (QLD) reserves side and having played Colts and Reserves again this year just last weekend both boys at age 17 were promoted to the seniors. Bobogai having an immediate impact with the first goal 15 seconds in and finish in the best players with three for the afternoon.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strength of the reigning champion lies in part via a list of players with some quality exposure to very good levels of footy in Australia. However – the achilles heel of the Mozzies is their lack of absoluate height especially when taking on their rivals the Irish. At ground level the Mozzies are a force to content with but the talls have to play beyond their limitations – as it was John Ikupu did just that to play a blinder in the IC14 decider.

Players to Watch

The best-known names in the side deserve close attention - Gideon Simon (Richmond scholarship), Brendon Beno (Brisbane Lions) and Amua Pirika (Gold Coast Suns) have all brushed the AFL system. Along with these three there are a number of other players bringing experience dating back to the runners up 2011 campaign – John James, Wartovo, Aisi, Ikupu, Aki and Phillip – to perhaps constitute the ‘elder statesmen’ of the squad. The excitement of the young guns who have broken into the squad such as Kaugla and Bobogai adds to the anticipation of a side that would be expected to produce some of the most pulsating footy of the tournament.

And then there is 'Ace' - Hewago Oea who lit up the Div 2 AFL U/16 Nationals earlier this month - in the final 2 games against Tas and NT he kicked 5 and 4 goals respectively and was described as a "silky forward from Port Moresby showed incredible speed and clean ball use in his two matches, while also pushing up the ground and getting his hands on the ball".

PNG Mosquitos - IC Schedule

A tough draw faces the Mozzies and their first match at 11.15am on Saturday the 6th is the IC14 Grand Final re-match and this promises to be an early highlight of the tournament.

PNG Mosquitos - IC17 Squad

The head coach is again David Lake who is building a solid body of work in this role, and has an extensive coaching record in Queensland (not to mention assistant coach of Brisbane's AFLW team). Assistants are Douglas Lai and Walter Yangomina. the 'Tour Director' is Scott Reid who is saddling up for his 6th campaign which is a commitment that deserves recognition.

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