IC17 – Round 3 Preview

The Community Round is here! After a tough first two rounds of action the sides will be venturing out to community Aussie Rules clubs over the weekend to get a taste of what it’s like to put on the boots in AFL heartland.

Round two saw our sides travel to Schools throughout Victoria and proved a great experience. We saw a mixture of results on the day as four European sides remained undefeated after two rounds.

Special thanks to St Patrick’s (Ballarat), Peninsula Grammar (Mount Eliza), Eltham College (Research), Mentone Grammar (Keysborough) and St Francis Xavier (Officer) for hosting our teams and making them feel so welcome.

Click HERE for Round 2 match reports.

Saturday 12th August

French Coqs vs Nauru – 10am – Kew

The Coqs are coming off consecutive losses against Fiji and Ireland. They struggled in their first hit-out against the Fijians but showed significant improvement against the Irish at St Patrick’s College, Ballarat.

In that match they only went down by 65-points against their highly fancied opposition. Saturday will be tough again for the Coqs with IC stalwarts, Nauru, looking to claim their first victory after losing to NZ and PNG in the first two rounds.

The Coqs are bound to cause an upset at some stage over the two weeks. Could it be against Nauru in front of a boisterous crowd at Kew?

Sri Lanka vs Croatian Knights – 12pm – Lyndhurst

The Croatians responded to their 1-point opening round loss to China with a resounding victory over Indonesia in the Schools Round.

Big forward Ivan Ivos had a day out kicking 6 majors and will be ready to take it up to Sri Lanka at Lyndhurst on Saturday.

The Sri Lankan’s were narrowly defeated by China in the last round but lost to Indonesia on the opening day meaning the Knights should be confident going into their third round match.

Dropping that first game means they’re likely to finish 2nd in their pool and could face-off with European rivals, the German Eagles.

Showing up ready to play is key for the Knights. They’re two games in now and should be hitting their straps. Look out Sri Lanka!

GB Bulldogs vs Irish Warriors – 12:30pm – Caulfield

The match of the round. This one will have plenty of feeling and is the Bulldogs’ last chance to stay alive in the competition after dropping their last game against Canada.

The Irish have had a rock solid start to the tournament having knocked off IC14 Champions, PNG, before accounting for the French Coqs. Their big spine has been in solid form to start the tournament and will cause some headaches for the Bulldogs.

Despite their round 2 loss, the Brits will be confident having knocked over the Warriors in last year’s European Championship final. That’ll be in the back of the Warriors minds and no doubt they’ll be reminded of it during the game. The smaller ball-users of the Bulldogs will need to have huge games if they’re to get their desired result.

This one will be an absolute thriller and should have a big crowd watching out in Caulfield. It would surprise no one to have this be within a kick.

Japan vs German Eagles – 2pm – Box Hill North

A chance to top their pool awaits the German Eagles in this match up. They’ve been a real dominant force to start the tournament having easily accounted for Pakistan and India in the opening games.

The Eagles will be up for their toughest test so far against Japan and should be right up for it. They’re building into this tournament very nicely and have had their big names firing.

Japan will be no push overs after they put on 86-points against India before their 5 goal to 2 Schools Round victory. Expect the Germans to use their talls to their advantage and with some elite midfielders at their feet should prove too strong for the Japanese.

Sunday 13th August

Canada vs GB Swans – 12pm – Diamond Creek

IC14 Champions vs European Champions. This is the women’s match of the round and should be an absolute thriller.

Both sides are undefeated and are playing off for top spot in their pool. The Swans were dominant against Pakistan before holding on for a clinical victory against Fiji during Schools Round.

The Canadians won in additional time against Fiji before putting on a cricket score against Pakistan. The Canadians are notoriously tough but the speed and fitness of the Swans will trouble them. If the Swans can get it on the outside they’ll be hard to stop.

The Swans should go in very confident knowing they can mix it with the best in women’s footy. They’ll be physically ready after taking up to Fiji on Wednesday and won’t be taking a backward step against Canada.

This is the Swans biggest game to date in their short history and will take it right up to Canada for the full four quarters. The European Champions are on a roll.

USA vs European Crusaders – 12pm  Melbourne Uni

Another tough match-up for the Crusaders who’ve struggled in their opening two matches. They’re yet to register a point yet but played some great football against the Irish and showed that they can match the best sides for periods throughout the game.

They’ll be getting stronger with each game and could trouble a USA side that’s had mixed results so far with one win and one loss.

This won’t be easy for the Crusaders but they came into IC17 knowing they were up against it and thrive on the challenge. They’ve got some very handy players in their side and once they gel together will cause some real headaches. USA will be hoping they don’t find their mojo against them on Saturday.

Irish Banshees vs PNG – 2pm – Hallam

The Banshees are undefeated and will be looking to top their pool after only having 8-points put on them so far. They take on a PNG side who were very strong early on but lost to USA in their last round.

The Irish should be confident and having been playing solid football so far. They’ll be looking to build on their game further as the all important semi-finals follow on the Tuesday where they’ll play either Canada or GB Swans depending on the outcome of their match.

It’d be a major upset for the Irish to drop this game and they aren’t the type of side to go in complacent. Competition for spots will keep the Banshees on their toes and looking to further build on their impressive start to IC17.

Umpire Appointments

PNG vs USA – 12pm – Montrose Recreation Reserve

Oscar, Josh and Geoff have all be appointed to the Division 1 thriller between IC14 champions, PNG and undefeated side, USA. This is one of the biggest matches of the tournament so the boys should be proud to be allocated to such a big game.

After an impressive start to the tournament they’ll be raring to go come Saturday. They’ve been doing extra work with the Southern Umpiring Association which is great to see as advocates for umpiring upon their return to Europe.

Great start guys and good luck with the game on Saturday.