2019 Euro Cup Team Previews: Part Two

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With just under three weeks now until the 2019 AFL Europe Euro Cup, and this year the tournament will be held in Norrtalje, Sweden for what is set to be a thrilling day of football as national teams from 16 different European countries field their nations best players and over 350 players battle it out for the Cup.

This year’s edition of the Euro Cup will see all the games take place on Saturday the 29th of June. As part of the buildup, AFL Europe will be previewing all the teams competing. In our second edition of the team previews, we will be taking a closer look at the Russian Bears and Polish Devils in the men’s side of the competition and in the women’s the Croatian Queens.

Men’s Competition:

Russian Bears

Captain: Andrey Azarov

What has your preparation been heading into the 2019 Euro Cup?

This year we had less training than usual in preparation for the Euro Cup because here the winters are long so we only had the possibility to get back to outdoor training on the field in May. But we have tried to make up for the lost time and we train once a week and we play a match in our league, SPAFL (St Petersburg Australian Football League), every weekend.

How many clubs are represented in your national team?

There are two clubs from St. Petersburg – Northern Tigers and Baltic Hawks – represented in our national team.

How many of your players are going to be making their Euro Cup debuts?

Only 2 new players. On the one hand, we lack new blood, of course. But on the other hand, we already have a rather experienced team that knows what awaits us in Sweden.

What can we expect to see from your team this Euro Cup?

Our dream is to get into the top three. We believe that this is possible and we will make every effort to do so.

What does competing in the Euro Cup mean to your team?

This is the main tournament of the season for us. In St. Petersburg there are no Australians who regularly play with us.
Also, the presence of a visa barrier and the lack of a developed system of low-cost airlines between Russia and Europe limits the possibility of meeting with teams from other countries on a regular basis. Only Helsinki is pretty close to us and we struggle to play with Finnish guys at least once a year.
Therefore, the Euro Cup is a rare opportunity for us to meet with so many teams.

What are your expectations for the Euro Cup?

We are waiting for a lot of Australian football. Euro Cup is always a celebration for us. We also certainly expect a good result for our team. We really want to show what we can do.

Who are the players in your team that we should be watching out for?

All our guys who go out on the field deserve to be watched. I would single out our 10th player – our support team. In Ireland, they were the best. I hope that the same thing awaits us in Sweden.

Do you have any extra bits of information about the team, like past years funny/interesting stories?

There is one story that we still laugh at. This was our first Euro Cup. Lisbon 2016. No one had experience playing with European teams. Some players have never played Australian football (only a few workouts)! The first game against a very strong French team, and after the start of the game, a French national team player ran to his goal posts with the ball (of course no one bothered him) and kicked! It turned out that we did not understand the umpire and confused the goal posts. It’s doubly funny that the French player only scored a behind. It’s a funny story but it reminds us of what way we have done and how far we have come in these three years.

The Russian Bears will be remembered in the 2019 Euro Cup for…

We will find out very soon!

Polish Devils

Coach: Roger Scott
Captain: Marcin Łojewski
What has your preparation been heading into the 2019 Euro Cup?
We’ve been training every Sunday afternoon. The normal kind of training, a few drills and then a practice match. Because a lot of the guys are brand new to AFL, we’ve had to also spend some time showing them theory. Sitting down and watching replays, getting them to pick an AFL team to follow, that kind of thing.
How many clubs are represented in your national team?
Just the one – The national Polish team.
How many of your players are going to be making their Euro Cup debuts?
All of us! This is the first time that any of us have played in a Euro cup. It’s the first time that Poland has ever fielded an AFL team in any calibre. Some of the guys have played NFL and touch-NFL on a domestic level, but in terms of AFL, this is the first time that many of us have played AFL against another team.
What can we expect to see from your team this Euro Cup?
We’re training our absolute guts out, so we’re sure that we’ll be able to give most teams some stiff competition.
What does competing in the Euro Cup mean to your team?
This is ground zero, square one, of Australian Football in Poland. To represent Poland in AFL for the first time in history is a big deal for a lot of us. The game has never really existed in the country until now, so we’re using the Euro Cup to get as much national attention as we can get, and then leverage that to build the game up throughout Poland afterwards. Simply being at the Euro cup is a massive deal for us, considering that in December, the ‘team’ was 3 Aussies and an American kicking a footy in a dog park.
What are your expectations for the Euro Cup?
Every single one of our guys is putting in 110% for training. Their families know that something serious is happening because most of us have stopped drinking! Our expectations are to learn a lot but to also win at least the one game. To ‘earn the 4 points’ just once in our first outing will be a massive, massive incentive for the boys, as well as the growth of the entire sport in the country. It’s also going to be great to talk AFL with people from all over the world, as not many of us have represented a country on the sporting field.
Who are the players in your team that we should be watching out for?
Matti Darowski is a guy that’s played a fair bit of footy all throughout Europe, so we’re excited to let him loose. Radek lived in the UK for a few years and plated in the domestic competition there, but for a lot of our Aussie guys, we’re most excited about Czarek Kowalik. He had never touched a footy before January but has already figured out how to protect the drop zone when taking a mark and get around even some of our most experienced Aussie boys.
Do you have any extra bits of information about the team, like past years funny/interesting stories?
The team came together for a BBQ a few weeks ago and watching the Crows v Power game. We told them to ask as many questions as they want, no matter how stupid they think it is. As with most derbies, there’s a lot of pushing, shoving, the occasional jumper punch before the match. The guys were blown away that players are allowed to do that. It took a lot to explain to them that it’s probably not appropriate to do that kinda stuff at the Euro Cup, to which one of our guys turns around and asks nonchalantly ‘…and what happens if I punch an umpire?’. Ignorance is bliss, and we had to explain that one very quickly. But the main thing to take away from this Polish team is how quickly we’ve grown. Australia day this year we had 6 regular guys and we’re now taking a full team to Stockholm. But it’s the attention and notoriety and interest that we’ve had, and will continue to have, at a national level, that’ll help the game take off all over.
The Polish Devils will be remembered in the 2019 Euro Cup for…
Tough question, but I’d like to think we’ll be remembered as the first timers that just never gave up and put in 110% because that’s what Poles do.

Women’s Competition:

Croatian Queens

Coach: Matea Sedlaček
Captain: Ana Vuković

What has your preparation been heading into the 2019 Euro Cup?

This year the players had a lot of training with their clubs, and with Euro Cup coming closer the national team is starting to train together more and more. In the month of June, we are completely dedicated to preparations for Sweden.

How many clubs are represented in your national team?

We have two women clubs in Croatia this year, we could say finally. Since that is the case, the quality of women’s footy in Croatia has risen immensely, girls have played many matches and the intensity to win a game is great in the national championship. We hope that it will just translate to all the matches in Sweden and that girls will be able to show what their capacities are.

How many of your players are going to be making their Euro Cup debuts?

Five of the girls are gonna make their debuts.

What can we expect to see from your team this Euro Cup?

You can expect to see more aggressiveness and skills than before since that is what experience of this year’s matches so far has shown to us.

What does competing in the Euro Cup mean to your team? 

It is by far the most important competition for us. Every girl is especially proud to wear the national jersey. In Croatia generally, national sports are highly popular, and every sportsman dream is to be in selected national team sometime in life.

What are your expectations for the Euro Cup?

My expectations, or at least – hopes, is to reach semifinals, as the team already has two times before, and from then on, anything is possible.

Who are the players in your team that we should be watching out for?

Ana Vuković has definitely grown up as a player, and although she is one of the youngest, already has a lot of experience and is proudly being the captain of the team this year. We should also mention our defence players Dina Bednar and Marija Kos, and some debutantes like Antonia Kablar and Dea Dam which surely have a lot to offer.

The Croatian Queens will be remembered in the 2019 Euro Cup for..

Great games of course!

 

AFL Europe – Angus Boyle