Zagreb Hawks Take Clean Sweep of Croatian and Central European League

by Josip Kravar

Recently the Croatian League drew to a close with the reining champions the Zagreb hawks  managed to take down the Zagreb Cvjetno Dockers in the Grand final. The Hawks players were a strong, committed and competitive side and were unbeatable on the day finishing the season as undefeated premiers.

In the first half of the season some key Hawks players were injured for 3 games which allowed a number of courageous forwards and defenders to jump in the middle and take place of injured rovers (3 of 4 rovers were injured in first period of season). With the return of the injured the Hawks showed signs there was no doubt they will be champions a second year in a row.

Zagreb Cvjetno Dockers were a competitive force against the Hawks and in the game of the season they led for the first two quarters against the Hawks who returned in the great style. Zapruđe Giants were third and new club, Slavonski Brod Tigers finished fourth.

Slavnoski Brod Tigers showed rapid progress in their first season thanks to their coach Luka Đukić (ex Hawks player). The Tigers managed to take down the Dockers and clear the way for the Hawks to take out the HLAN. The Best and fairest of the HLAN was Josip Habljak the unstoppable Hawks ruck man and best rookie went to Lovre Čudina the Dockers forward.

The league also gave recognition to the best club which was awarded to The Slavonski Brod Tigers from their  impressive organisation, commitment and fair play.

Looking forward to 2015 the HLAN is working to expand the league with one new club that is currently in its development process.

The CEAFL is also played with our friends from Austira, the Styrian Downuderdogs. The Tigers and Hawks played finals with the Hawks coming out on top celebrating a victory with the end score of 137-50. Most important thing to note is improvement of Tigers and Downuderdogs. The Tigers managed to beat the Dogs and Dockers on their home ground and lost against the Giants and Hawks when playing away.

This year the Downuderdogs finished last but there has been a big improvement in their style of play and are certainly a team to watch in the future.  They managed to shake the Hawks but unfortunately lost to the Tigers in a tight game. In their final game of the season the dogs went down to the Dockers by 7. There is a lot of bright new talent coming through the clubs which suggests a positive future for the league.

Also, we are hoping to expand the CEAFL with new clubs from other countries. We are currently following development in Budapest, Hungary and Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina. We are hoping that these clubs will develop to the current league level so we can include them and grow the sport further.

On 02 August 2014 there will be friendly game in town of Drniš in Dalmatia, Croatia. The Croatian Knights will host the Flying Dutchman in a rematch of the 2010 Euro Cup finals. The match will be played in the small town of Drniš and will be the first time  Australian Rules Football is played there. They will provide us with transportation, field access , dinner and tour to a nearby national park.

This game will be part of preparation for the 2014 Axios Euro Cup this october  in London. Teams will play at 6pm and all footy friends that are on vacation in Croatia are invited to our game, BBQ and post match party. During the game, we will be raising funds for parts of Croatia devastated in the recent floods. It will be a great way to show support and compassion for those in need through sport.