Player of the Week – Rachel Campbell

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Each week AFL Europe is profiling a European player and finding out how they got into the great game of Aussie Rules and a bit about themselves. If you’d like a profile or know of someone who would, then email ben.durance@afleurope.org to receive a question sheet.

This week’s player profile is on one of the first members of the Wimbledon Hawks in the inaugural year of the Women’s AFL London League. Rachel Campbell, more affectionately know by her teammates as ‘Bambi’ has become a big part of the side from Wimbledon in a short space of time. Bambi played every game for the Hawks last season and the team watched her grow into the game of Aussie Rules, resulting in Hawks Ladies ‘Most Improved’ award being named after her.

Coming into the 2016 season, Bambi was selected to play with the Great Britain Swans who competed in the AFL Europe ‘Champions League’ in Amsterdam. She has the bragging rights of being the first ever goal-scorer for the GB Swans and played a pivotal role in the Swans winning the women’s side of the draw.

Bambi is hoping to secure selection for team GB for the upcoming AFL Europe Championships in August and hopes to lock down a spot for the forthcoming International Cup in 2017.

Off the field, Bambi is a favourite around the Hawks with her homely Scottish accent and demeanour making her loved by all. Good luck for the rest of the 2016 Season Rachel.

Name:

Rachel Campbell

Club:

Wimbledon Hawks

Nationality:

Scottish

What position do you play?

Wing and Midfield

AFL team you support:

Richmond Tigers

Favourite AFL player:

Trent Cotchin

How did you find out about AFL?

Family in Australia

How long have you been playing for?

1 year

What is your memory of your first Aussie Rules game?

Getting hit in the face with the ball in the first minute and having to go on the bench

Best AFL moment?

Scoring the first ever goal for the Great Britain women’s team

Any other interesting information, quirky stories or interesting things about yourself?

Prior to getting into Aussie Rules Rachel did Irish dancing for 20 years

Tuesday Around the Grounds

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Each Tuesday we put together a snapshot of what’s been happening all things AFL around Europe. If you or your club want something featured, please send through information to ben.durance@afleurope.org

AFL London Women’s Grand Final rematch goes down to the wire

After the men’s grand final rematch blowout, a couple of weeks ago, the women had their turn on a picturesque Sunday afternoon at Motspur Park. A few sore heads from a large day at the Epsom Derby on the Saturday didn’t deter the Hawks or Demons Ladies. The match was ferocious from the first bounce and the intensity never dropped.

The Hawks jumped out of the blocks in the 4th quarter and held onto a 2 goal lead, finishing 5.4. 34 to 3.4. 22. Full credit to both clubs and their coaching staff for showcasing the amazing growth and development of the women’s game here in London.

Clapham Cubs back on this Sunday 12th of June

After a two week lay-off due to the bank holiday and mid-term break the AFL Europe Juniors and Auskick program is back on again. All ages are welcome with the session running from 11am-12noon this Sunday the 12th of June at Clapham Common.

If you haven’t signed up your child or are seeking further information, please check the flyer below or follow the link to the Clapham Cubs website.

www.claphamcubs.co.uk

Cubs Poster

Massive weekend of football in Germany sees Munich Kangaroos and Berlin Crocodiles go undefeated

Two lightening rounds were held in Germany over the weekend, one in Munich and the other in Hamburg. 8 teams took part across the two tournaments with each playing 3 games.

The Munich Kangaroos proved too strong on their home turf and finished the day undefeated. Over in Hamburg the Berlin Crocs took the spoils winning all three games comfortably.

Congratulations to all teams who made the carnivals a great success and are showing the continued growth of Aussie Rules in Germany.

Mozzies put on a show on the Tyne

It was the second lightning round of the season for AFL Central North East England at the weekend hosted by the Tyne Tees Tigers ARFC.

The Manchester Mozzies continued their strong start to season 2016 following a runners-up finish at the AFL Europe Champions League. They amassed a total of 341 points across two games at the weekend and proved to again be strong favourites in the ever-growing Central North East England competition.

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Demons do their part for MND research

This weekend’s Queens Birthday clash between Collingwood v Melbourne also sees the second instalment of the Cure for MND’s ‘Big Freeze at the G’.

The Wandsworth Demons will be hosting the West London Wildcats at Clapham Common on Saturday and will be putting on a fundraiser to help out with the efforts in finding a cure for Motor Neurone Disease.

With hats and beanies for sale, raffles throughout the day and a cake sale there’ll be a great atmosphere down at the Common. Keep an eye out on AFL Europe’s and the Wandsworth Demons website and social media for more information regarding the weekend.

Girls umpire too!

A special mention has to go out to two of AFL London’s most dedicated volunteers, Lisa Wilson and Kate Grabowski, who umpired their first Premiership game together on Friday night in a match between the Hawks and the Demons.

The game was well controlled and officiated by the girls with all involved playing in the right spirit. It was a great show of development for Aussies Rules abroad and hopefully we’ll see more women take the leap into umpiring.

Congratulations Kate and Lisa.

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Ben Durance

 

 

Oxford Univesity take on Amsterdam.

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Oxford University visited Amsterdam for their end of season tour, bringing with them 15 men and 6 ladies ready for some footy and lots of Amsterdam madness!

 

The main fixture saw a 10-a-side game of 20 minute quarters take place on the Grandstand pitch at SportPark De Eendracht. With a mixed bag of weather, from bitterly cold and windy to crack open the sunscreen. It was clear that the team who made best use of the conditions would be in pole position for the win. The first quarter was an even affair, with neither team really stamping their authority on the game and the Devils, kicking against the wind, taking a slender lead into the first break. In the second quarter things really started to open up for the Devils and they made sure they took advantage of the wind, kicking 7 goals in the quarter and taking a commanding 43 points lead into the main break. From there the game was the Devils to lose. Oxford fought hard in the third term and applied some good pressure in the middle but weren’t able to reduce the deficit on the scoreboard and the Devils lead by 51 points at the three quarter time. During the fourth quarter the Devils kicked with another 7 goals, however Oxford didn’t let them have it completely their own way with some big hits still being laid in the last term. The Devils came out victorious 20.19 (139) to 7.6 (48).

 

Next up was the Mixed Game, with three of the Oxford Ladies donning Devils jerseys for the chance to face off against their team mates. The format was 9-a-side non-contact footy, with each team being joined by six men from the main fixture. This was truly a game of two halves with Oxford racing to a half time lead of 15 points with some great footy on show by the ladies and accurate goal kicking. The Devils turned things around in the second half, showing off their silky skills and took the lead with less than two minutes left on the clock. Oxford then turned on the magic to kick a great team goal and the scores were level with 42 seconds remaining. The clock seemed to slow down (well, at least to the Devils fans on the sidelines) and Oxford were applying some great pressure, the Devils defence doing everything they could to keep Oxford at bay. As the clock ticked, 3, 2, 1 – Oxford couldn’t find a clean enough possession to get a shot on goal and the final siren sounded. The first draw of the season, and what a game it was. Frantic play at the end to get a winner, but to no avail. The final score ended up Amsterdam Devils Mixed 6.6 (42) to Oxford University Mixed 6.6 (42). 

 

After the game we hosted a BBQ with mouth watering burgers, hot dogs and potato salad on offer. This was devoured before a #nofilter photo could be taken unfortunately but the food was definitely enjoyed by one and all. Followed by a presentation for the Best On Ground and Hard Nut from each side in the Men’s fixture and the two Best On Grounds in the mixed fixture (see below for the winners). A mini boat race was the prize for the award winners, with Oxford showing their boat race experience winning by one person, in a three person race. Sensational viewing!  

 

Both teams then headed to Drovers Dog (Dog 3) for a social event that consisted of more drinking games than anyone could keep track of. It was at Dog 3 where Oxford challenged the Devils to an eight person boat race. Chests were puffed out and there were death stares across the table, but none of that mattered as Oxford continued their strong form with another victory by one person. The Devils were clearly gutted but couldn’t take anything away from what was clearly an experienced boat race team! 

 

A fantastic day of footy and socialising was had by all. Look out for the return fixture next season, and the Devils making improvements in their boat race form!

 

Devils BOG: Julian Poole

Devils Hard Nut: Reinier Jacco Maarten Vriend

 

Oxford BOG: Sean Morris

Oxford Hard Nut: Wande McCunn

 

Ladies BOGs: Liz Murray (Devils) & Emma Coulson (Oxford)

 

Written by Neil Cooke for AFL Europe

AFL Europe Match of the Round

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Wimbledon Hawks vs Wandsworth Demons – Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Recreation Ground 5/6/16 2pm

There were two standout teams in last year’s inaugural AFL London women’s competition, the Wimbledon Hawks and the Wandsworth Demons. In last year’s four encounters the Demons won 3 out of 4 games including the all-important Grand Final. The final score in that game was 5.3. 33 to 1.2. 8 in favour of the Ladies from Wandsworth.

This Sunday sees the two rivals lock horns for the first time this year for competition points. The Hawks have cruised through the opening rounds of season 2016 winning both games convincingly and accumulating an astonishing percentage of 1625. The Demons, on the back of a large exodus of last year’s premiership side, have had an indifferent start. They lost a close game against the North London Lions in Round 1 and held on to beat a fast-finishing South East London Giants the following week.

Both clubs are doing great work for the growth of the women’s game and have had a huge number of players on the training track each week. On form, the Hawks will go into this game as favourites but with the Demons gelling well together of late it could be anyone’s game. Let’s not forget the added factor of the Epsom Derby taking place the day before and it’s hard not to get excited by the prospect of this game.

Here are the coaches’ thoughts on the big Grand Final Rematch.

Wimbledon Hawks Coach, Tara Lowther:

“I believe the game will be won by the team who can execute the basic skills the best and the team with the best fitness. Unfortunately, we have an extensive injury list but the remaining players are hardworking and hungry for revenge. We are looking forward to a great game.”

Wandsworth Demons Coach, Mitch Skelly:

“I’m really looking forward to the match and an opportunity to take on the Hawks, who are currently the benchmark for women’s footy in London. Their results have been very impressive throughout 2016, so it’s a chance for us Demons to see where we stand in the pecking order early in the season.

Whilst our form has been a little up and down, the excitement generated by some new players such as English Rose, Kiwi Katie, Tessa and Bianca have been the high points. Those four, along with the bulk of our team, are new to Australian Rules football and I can’t wait to see how well we perform as a team once they’ve had a season to catch up with some of our more experienced players like Kate Grabowski, Sarah Townsend and Lauren Coote – stalwarts and legends of AFL London!”

 

 

Ben Durance

Member Offer Thursday

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This week’s ‘Member Offer’ is from Final Goal. Final Goal is a 12-week football fitness and nutrition programme developed by Jay Schulz (Port Adelaide), Jake King (Richmond) and Dr. Darren Burgess (Port Adelaide).

Training programs are designed by elite athletes for every man.

  • 12-week training guide
  • Food and nutrition guide
  • World wide

AFL Europe community members are offered a 10% discount on Final Goal products.

To receive this discount simply purchase either or both products and at the checkout type AFLEU (must be in capitals) in the promo section and click ‘apply’.

www.thefinalgoal.com.au

https://www.facebook.com/TheFinalGoal1/

Player of the Week – David Seymour

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Each week AFL Europe is profiling a European player and finding out how they got into the great game of Aussie Rules and a bit about themselves. If you’d like a profile or know of anyone who would, then email ben.durance@afleurope.org to receive a question sheet.

This week’s player profile is on tall forward for the North London Lions, David Seymour.

New to both the Lions and the sport this year, David – better known as Rooney, decided to jump the fence from Soccer to the more physical and elite sport known as Australian Football.

After playing Varsity First XI, Rooney wanted a more social sport to play out his semi-professional career and was drawn to the Australian culture in more ways than one. Not only has the newbie slotted himself into the Premiers team but is also a key figure in the Boat Race team, swearing their losing streak is by no means his fault.

Primary School teacher by day and street dancer by night, all 6’5 of Rooney, as President Treloar puts it; is like a diamond in the rough, showing those North of the Thames plenty to be excited about! Welcome to the wonderful sport that is Australian Football Rooney!

Name:

David Seymour

Club:

North London Lions

Nationality:

English

What position do you play?

Forward

AFL team you support:

Richmond Tigers

Favourite player:

Nik Schoenmakers

How did you discover AFL?

I used to work in the lookalike circuit as Wayne Rooney. I met a few Aussie lads at a lookalike convention. Tim Fisher was a Borat lookalike, Jay Treloar was Brad Pitt and I can’t remember who Shuey was but I know it was someone really boring with no personality. Anyway, they got me involved.

How long have been playing? 

Have started this year but can’t get enough. I have an AFL pass to watch all the games and have a Sherrin to practice at home so I can be as good as Ben “The Difference” Quick.

What happened in your first game?

Ran through an opponent’s mark and tore a ligament in my thumb

Best AFL moment?

Being AFL Europe’s Player of the Week

Any other information, quirky stories or interesting things about yourself?

I came joint second in the 2013 European Street Dance Finals.

 

 

 

Sarah Ongarello

Tuesday Around the Grounds

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International Cup (IC17) dates and location announced

The AFL has announced the 2017 AFL International Cup (IC17) will be held in Melbourne, from August 5-19.

It will be the sixth International Cup and will include both men’s and women’s competitions.

The AFL’s head of community and international development Grant Williams said he expects the 2017 carnival to be the biggest yet.

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Finland AFL’s 2016 Season kicks off

Finland AFL (FAFL) started this weekend with both Round 1 & 2 being completed in a Round Robin format.

Despite being hosted by the 2015 Premiers the Helsinki Heatseekers, the Turku Dockers came out guns blazing to beat both the Heatseekers and the Vaasa Wombats.

Results:

Helsinki Heatseekers 1.1.7 def. by Turku Dockers 5.6.36
Turku Dockers 10.2.62 def Vaasa Wombats 3.1.19
Helsinki Heatseekers 6.8.44 def Vaasa Wombats 5.6.36

 

AFL Head of Community and International Development visits AFL Europe

AFL Europe was fortunate enough to have Grant Williams, Head of Community & International Development for The AFL, visit Headquarters in Australia House for a few days of planning and strategy discussions.

We are excited about the way forward in terms of developing fledgling nations, women’s footy, and youth development.

 

Ex-AFL London player, Jess Edwards, represents South Australia 

Ex-AFL London and Wandsworth Demons player Jess Edwards played in the South Australia v Northern Territory friendly, that took place on Saturday night at The Oval in Adelaide.

The South Australian’s wowed with a 27-point win over Northern Territory, managing to keep them to one point after quarter time.

Edwards was the leading goal kicker slotting 2 of the 6 majors.

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100 of the Best from Port Malmo veteran 

Aaran Higgins notched up his 100th game for the Port Malmo Maulers at weekend with a convincing 178-38 win against Helsingborg.

The fearless midfielder, who is the current President of the Maulers, has been at the club since 2008 and spent three at the helm as senior coach.

Congratulations Az, a great achievement.

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GB Bulldogs announce first 18 for AFL Europe Championships.

The Great Britain Bulldogs have announced their first 18 players after a training camp in Manchester this weekend.

The first 18 so far comprise of players from the Huddersfield Rams, London Swans, Manchester Mosquitoes, North London Lions, Wandsworth Demons, West London Wildcats, Wimbledon Hawks and Wolverhampton Wolverines. Head Coach has been named as Dean Thomas.

#BackTheBulldogs

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Auskick programme is introduced in Malta

Head of Community & International Development for the AFL, Grant Williams met with Sport Malta and the Australian High Commission to introduce AFL into the winter sports programme.

The initiative aims to promote Aussie Rules amongst girls and boys from a young age, teaching them the skills of the game.

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Round 11 Broadcast Schedule – UK & Ireland

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AFL ‪Round 10 Broadcast Schedule for the UK & Ireland is:

 
3/6 10:30am BST (Live) North Melbourne v Richmond Tigers
4/6 5am BST (Live) Carlton Blues v Brisbane Lions
4/6 10:30am BST (Live) Fremantle Dockers v Essendon Bombers
5/6 4am BST (Live) Collingwood FC v Port Adelaide 
5/6 6:00am BST (Live) Western Bulldogs v West Coast Eagles
7/6 19:00 BST Highlights

For all games live and on demand jump onto www.watchafl.afl.com.au and subscribe with the code AFLEUR2016

AFL Europe Match of the Round

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Finland AFL Premiership Round 1 – Helsinki

This weekend sees the first premiership round of the Finland AFL (FAFL) being held in the country’s capital, Helsinki. With a sunny day and a high of 20 degrees this is set to be an absolutely fantastic day of Aussie Rules.

This year’s competition has reverted to a FAFL Cup style format with 3 rounds and a Grand Final at the end of the season. The teams competing are the Helsinki Heatseekers, the Turku Dockers, and the Waasa Wombats, all of whom are hoping to stamp their authority and lay claim to taking out the premiership.

We got the inside scoop from the three coaches regarding their chances this weekend and for the remainder of the season.

Helsinki Heatseekers player/coach, Jason Wallace:

“The Helsinki Heatseekers have come off a great year in 2015 winning all the events they were in, including a magnificent win in the Grand Final.

We have good numbers within the club and a bunch of great guys here that love the game, for its toughness as well as mateship. We always look forward to a game of AFL and this year with the help of three Waasa Wombats players, we had a preseason hit-out with a combined Swedish team. We narrowly went down, unfortunately by only 4 points in the dying seconds of the game!

This year we’re looking forward to the challenge from both Waasa and Turku and watching the opposing teams get better and develop the more they play. It’s a very tight knit family in Finland AFL, so we help each other out as much as possible and enjoy a cold beer after the games.

If you’re ever in Helsinki or the other towns come down for a look or even a run, you’ll be hard pressed to find better blokes in the game.”

Turku Dockers player/coach, Steve Philips:

“After winning back-to-back premierships in 2013-14, the Turku Dockers struggled in 2015, and are looking to bounce back this year with a strong first showing in Helsinki on Saturday.

The Dockers will welcome some fresh faces in 2016, with recruits Olli Merilahti and Alex-Mikael Barkoff showing good form on the training track. Second year player, Elmo Primmer, who debuted for the Dockers in 2015 as a 16-year old, is continuing his development. The further addition of some experienced players, who missed most of 2015 due to injury and work commitments should see the Dockers field a far more competitive side than the one that took the field in 2015.

If the Dockers are to succeed in 2016 it will be on the back of their locally developed talent, with all but three Dockers players having learnt the game in Turku.”

Waasa Wombats player/coach, Joni Kinnari:

“The situation for the Waasa Wombats hasn’t got any better in the past few years. Lots of regular players have quit or gone inactive due to many reason and we’ve not been able to find enough new recruits to fill the boots. I’m sure we’re able to send a good base of a team with aid from other teams to have good matches.

Because of the situation of our team, the main event of the day will be the match between Turku and Helsinki. Both teams have loads of experienced players and have year after year been able to find some skilful rookies so I will definitely keep my eyes on the new guys during the first match. Turku has many good players but one should keep an eye on father-son duo Craig and Elmo Primmer. Helsinki has some of the best players in Finland. I look forward to seeing past Turku player Adam Vasey and ‘Rookie of the Year’ from a few years ago, Antti Annala, play. From Waasa, I’m glad to play beside probably the best ruckman in Finland, Aleksi Virtanen and last year’s ‘Player of the Tournament’, Antti Nurmikoski.

I can’t wait to play some rough but fair matches on Saturday. It’s been a long winter and the hunger to play has grown big. It’s going to be a blast.”

 

Schedule of Play

1pm Helsinki vs. Turku

2pm Turku vs. Waasa

3pm Helsinki vs. Waasa

5pm Presentations at Woolshed Helsinki

https://www.facebook.com/events/1584800395164407/

[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwcRBU3100c”]

 

AFL Player of the Week – Alex Watson

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Each week AFL Europe is profiling a European player and finding out how they got into the great game of Aussie Rules and a bit about themselves. If you’d like a profile or know of anyone who would, then email ben.durance@afleurope.org to receive a question sheet.

First up on the AFL Europe ‘Player of Week’ is Alex ‘Nic Nat’ Watson. The English Ruckman is a fresh face to the game only in his second season but has already represented England at last year’s AFL Europe ‘Euro Cup’ in Croatia.

An exciting prospect, Nic Nat is currently honing his ruck craft  in the AFL London competition for the Wandsworth Demons. Hoping to further his representative football career, Watson is also training to be selected for with the Great Britain Bulldogs at the AFL Europe Championships in August this year. The tournament will be a great precursor to the International Cup in Melbourne in 2017 and provide the plethora of European talent, like Nic Nat, a chance to impress in the homeland of AFL.

Nic Nat imposes a dominant figure on the AFL pitch and has impressed with his leadership on and off the field in his short career, this year being named rest of the world Vice-Captain for the Wandsworth Demons. All the best for the 2016 season.

Name:

Alex ‘Nic Nat’ Watson

Club:

Wandsworth Demons

Nationality:

English

AFL Team you support:

West Coast Eagles

Favourite AFL Player:

Nat Fyfe

How did you find out about AFL?  

I was talking to a friend about the game (that I’d previously never heard of). As I was on my way home I came across a poster that was advertising training sessions for the Wandsworth Demons the coming Saturday so thought I’d give it a go.

How long have you been playing for?

Since January 2015

What do you remember most of your first Aussie Rules game? 

Not fully understanding the full rules of rucking I barged the other ruck whilst he was in mid-air with no intention for the ball. I’d been on the pitch for 20 seconds and had already given away a free kick.

Favourite moment when playing Aussie Rules? 

Making a well-timed tackle.

Any other information, quirky stories or interesting things about yourself?

In my day to day life I work as a graphic designer and along with sport, art has always been a big passion in my life.