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Champions League Team Previews

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In the lead-up to the 3rd annual AFL Europe Champions League, hosted by AFL Netherlands in Amsterdam on Saturday 1st April, we’ll be taking a quick look at the teams who’ve qualified for the premier club tournament held in Europe.

Next up we have the Oslo Crows, Port Malmo Maulers, French Cup Champions, the Bordeaux Bombers, AFL Italia’s, North West Eagles, and the Women’s Mixed Team.

Oslo Crows

How did you qualify for the 2017 Champions League? Quick recap of your 2016 season…

The league is Norway is very small. The Oslo Crows club is split into two teams, Oslo West and Oslo East. Ås University field the final third team in the league. In previous years, Oslo West and Ås have dominated the league. For the 2016 season, thanks to a strong recruiting push, Oslo East pulled ahead early in the season and stayed there before winning the Grand Final against Oslo West.

How has the preparation for the 2017 Champions League been going?

During the winter the Oslo Crows train indoors as our home pitch is covered in snow and ice. This year we were only able to get access to a school sports hall approximately the size of a basketball court. In other words, our short game has become fantastic! Watch out for short, sharp kicks and hand passes and plenty of sprinting!

What are your teams expectations for the 2017 Champions League?

We are highly ambitious and now with the team to back those ambitions, anything is possible! We’re going to play hard, fast footy and make Norway proud. Particularly against teams representing the countries our national team lost to in the Euro Cup!

Player to watch?

Watch out for our two flying Vs, new recruits Victor Scherman, who previously played for the Paris Cockatoos, and Vemund Solberg Rustad, who played for PINTS football club in Darwin. Both are strong in the ruck and hard to pin down.  The form a strong part of the core team strategy of keeping the ball constantly in motion.

Port Malmo Maulers

How did you qualify for the 2017 Champions League? Quick recap of your 2016 season…

We won the Swedish Cup in Norrtälje and knocked off a hard fought Södermalm in the finals.

How has the preparation for the 2017 Champions League been going?

We have been training indoors during winter mainly focusing on skills and fitness.

What are your teams expectations for the 2017 Champions League?

We enter the Champions league as a dark horse. If we are playing good and have a bit of luck go our way we could defiantly be contenders, though in saying that making the finals will be a good goal for us.

Player to watch?

Two time best and fairest winner and captain Chris Mårtensson. He is a versatile player that can have a big impact anywhere on the field. He is big, strong and fast with great leadership qualities and he will lead the Maulers to victory.

Another one too look out for is DAFL’s leading goal scorer Ben Polmear. The goal scoring veteran will be will be a handful for defenders and he will be looking to kick a bag at this year’s tournament.

Bordeaux Bombers

How did you qualify for the 2017 Champions League? Quick recap of your 2016 season…

We qualified for the Champions League by winning the French Cup. The beginning of our 2016 season was difficult because many of our players were new and they lacked experience. By early September, our team was playing well – we are always in a race for the final half of the championship.

How has the preparation for the 2017 Champions League been going?

Our organisation for the trip to Amsterdam hasn’t seemed too difficult, and our players are motivated and excited to participate in the Champions League.

What are your team’s expectations for the 2017 Champions League?

Our goal is to enjoy being on the field and win as many of our matches as possible.

North West Eagles

How did you qualify for the 2017 Champions League? Quick recap of your 2016 season…

We won the only official game in Italy last year, in Pisa we defeated The ROMA Blues, and it was a sort of challenge round.

How has the preparation for the 2017 Champions League been going?

We’ve been training since late January on regular basis, so everything is going well at the moment.

What are your team’s expectations for the 2017 Champions League?

We are newcomers so we only hope to add to our experience some important matches and give all we’ve got to give and have fun.

Player to watch?

Niccolò De Giorgi and Filippo Alloisio have both played games in European Selections taking on the Australian Academy Side in London and Copenhagen, but Filippo had a bad injury that forced him on the sidelines for the whole 2016 season.

Women’s Mixed Team

How did you qualify for the 2017 Champions League? Quick recap of your 2016 season…

Due to the invited SARFL Representative team being unable to field a full squad, the team spot has been transitioned to a Rogue Women’s team with an open invitation to players across the continent. The team has therefore been formed with girls of 5 different nationalities with many hoping to get in as much game time as they can in their run up to the International Cup in August.

What are your team’s expectations for the 2017 Champions League?

Due to the team’s inability to qualify for the final, our aim will be to provide some strong competition for the other teams in the tournament through leadership from GB Swans Caroline Sellar.

Player to watch?

A player to watch will be newcomer to the sport, Alex Peill, who has was selected for the GB Swans after only playing 2 games so she will be keen to put her training in to practice. Though we are a team built from a variety of players with a mix of experience, we will still be looking to put out a strong contest, displaying some good footy!

 

Umpire at the Champions League!

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Stop watching from the sidelines… See the game from the middle of the pitch!

AFL Europe need Umpires for their upcoming Champions League event held in Amsterdam on Saturday the 1st of April.

Umpires will receive an umpiring uniform for the day, a packed lunch, payment & a great experience in a fantastic city!

If you are new to umpiring or interested in giving it a go for the first time, this is the event for you! AFL Europe will deliver a complementary umpire accreditation course in Amsterdam on Friday the 31st of March. New umpires will then umpire alongside experienced AFL Europe umpires to ensure you receive guidance and support from the middle of the field.

Please send your expression of interest to AFL Europe via umpires@afleurope.org by Friday the 10th of March for your chance to attend this incredible event.

 

Champions League 2017

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The 3rd annual Champions League is set down for Saturday 1st April in Amsterdam, Netherlands. AFL Europe in conjunction with the DAFA and the Amsterdam Devils present the premier club tournament in Europe which sees the champion team from each domestic league descend on the picturesque fields of De Eendracht to do battle and claim ultimate bragging rights as Champions of Europe.

2017 will see the largest contingent of men’s teams making the journey with two-time Champions League winners, the West London Wildcats, looking to make it three in a row.

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They’ll be up against a tough group of teams who’ve been training hard to take the crown off the champions of Europe.

For the first time in the tournaments brief history the women’s draw will include club sides. Headlined by the Wimbledon Hawks, it’ll be up to the Paris Cockerelles, Odense Lionesses, Glasgow Sharks and Port Malmo Lynx to show them the strength of women’s footy right across Europe.

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Jump onto the event page https://www.facebook.com/events/376328466058868/ and follow AFL Europe for more updates as the tournament gets closer.

 

Match of the Round

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Rebel Shield – 1st Leg – Leeside Lions v UCC Bombers

Leeside Lions hoping students don’t rebel, for the second year in a row…

Article by Richard MacSweeney

You ask some in Cork, Ireland about “Football” and for the most part they will refer to Gaelic Football, a game that’s over 100 years old, rich in local tradition, passion and identity. It’s a game that see’s best friends becomes bitter rivals come championship season. Then there are others who refer to “Football” predominantly as supporters of the English premiership or the odd few that support the domestic league.

Nowadays “Football” or “Footy” has a new meaning in Cork. The growth of Australian Rules football in the city and county has steadily increased year on year.  This is primarily due to the growth of the University College Cork AFL team, the UCC Bombers. Founded from humble beginnings in 2013, backboned by Leeside Lions player Eoin O’Sullivan and UCC student Danny O’Brien, the club garnered some interest and the willing new faces could see and kick a Sherrin for the first time. Thankfully there was enough interest to build on and guys kept coming back week after week, with that the Bombers were formed.

picture1Picture: The very first Rebel Shield game in 2013, a very inexperienced bombers team suffered at the hands of the established Leeside Lions

Nowadays, the UCC Bombers club attire is a common site around the college campus, the session are well run, focusing on the cores skills and rules of Aussie Rules , tailoring the innate established Gaelic Football and Rugby skills, primarily where most new participants come from, those that try it tend to buy into the ethos of Aussie Rules. No politics, no tradition no pre disposition, just pure and raw exposure to an exciting new game. There can be as many as thirty new faces turning up to training sessions at the moment.

In 2013, it was unknown territory for teams beyond those already established in the Irish league, there was no Fitzpatrick Cup, like there is now for University teams. The Bombers had to make do with the pinnacle of their year being a one-off game against Cork based ARFLI team the Leeside Lions, both teams coming up with a perpetual competition that’s aptly named the “Rebel Shield”. Cork people and sports teams are affectionately known as “The Rebels”, there is something rebellious about thirty or forty guys, the majority of whom have never been to Australia, and playing their indigenous game thousands of miles away .

picture5Picture: Eoin O’Sullivan taking the combined Leeside Lions & UCC Bombers training session, this allows younger players to learn from experienced players and perhaps future teammates.

The first ever Rebel Shield game left a lot to be desired from a spectators’ perspective, but from humble beginnings, a team of 12 or so wearing colours inspired by the Essendon Bombers jumper included Rob & Phil, two American exchange students took on the might of the vastly established Leeside Lions, who were awesome on the day and showed the students how to play the game. An ever constant since day one, was Eoin O’Sullivan, the work he has put in and still does is nothing short of remarkable. A winner at the IC11 as well as many more 9’s & EC medals, Eoin still has the enthusiasm to grow the game and drives the club each cold and wet October, when new students could take the easy option and go to the college bar for a beer.

Fast forward three years since that first Rebel Shield, the UCC Bombers have grown from strength to strength winning the inaugural Fitzpatrick Cup in 2014 in Dublin and a testament to the club’s growth that two separate Bomber’s teams took part in last year’s competition in Birmingham. On the back of a successful year the Bombers came into the Rebel Shield and beat the Lions over two legs for the first time in their history, so this year the Lions will want payback as the students outplayed the teachers.

picture2Picture: UCC Bombers Aussie Rules Club – 2014 Fitzpatrick Cup Winners

Every year at the beginning of the academic season, the Bombers training’s and Lions training’s are mixed so all new guys get to know and learn from the experienced players who may even become their future Lions teammates, but for the next couple of weeks they’re the opposition. Experienced Irish Internationals like Eoin O’Sullivan and Padraic O’Connell take the drills and are joined in the coaching ranks by Lions stalwart and head coach, Chris O’Brien. The emphasis is on skills, skills, skills as these early year sessions move towards a platform to be used on, namely the Rebel Shield first leg and preparation for the Fitzpatrick cup, which is held in UCC in 2017.

November 18th next will see this year’s installment, which has been extended to two legs since 2015.   The first leg of the “Rebel Shield” will take place in Cork’s Mardyke Arena with ball up at 6.30pm. Reigning ARFLI premiers, the Leeside Lions, will return to the same venue which saw a demolition of the Belfast Redbacks in the grand final last August, the Lions will hope that history will repeat itself, pride and reputation are on the line.

On the night, the Bombers will be looking to experienced players like Oisin Collins, Peter Traynor, who have tasted international experience with the Irish Warriors with club players like Evan O’Connor, James Duffy, Kevin Sullivan and James O’Callaghan driving the team onward against their more experienced counterparts. The Lions will be looking towards Irish Warriors Luke Hickey, Padraic O’Connell, Colin Lordan, Paul Murphy, Dom Joyce, Conor O’Halloran as well as club stalwarts Mike Scanlan and Ian O’Sullivan to put one over on the students. The game bodes well as they prepare for their participation at the AFL Europe Champions League in April as Ireland’s representatives.

picture4Picture: Leeside Lions 2016 squad which included 17 past/current UCC Bomber’s players 

The UCC Bombers players who are interested in playing footy beyond the academic year actually transition to join the Leeside Lions in the summer months. It is no coincidence that the onslaught of Bombers into the Lions squad helped the Leeside Lions win the ARFLI Flag for the first time in 11 years this year, and even more impressive is they were the first team in history to go through an unbeaten season.

Current and former Bombers have gone on to receive great team and personal accolades, there have been more than 10 players play for the national team over the last couple of years with Bombers origins. Then there are the likes of Paul Murphy (Team of the tournament EC 16) Luke Hickey (Team of the tournament Euro Cup 16), Oisin Collins , Rory O’Donnell, Matt Bell gaining international experience this year on the back of their ARFLI winning campaign with the Lions.  A key member of last year’s Bombers set up who has transitioned to a fully-fledged Lion and Irish Warrior is Luke Hickey who in his first full year as a Lion, was in fact named Leeside Lions Best & Fairest.

The skill and passion of youth could compliment the experience of the Lions stalwarts, who needed that injection. IC winning captain, Cian Quigley, Ian O’Sullivan, Jason Hingston and Vincent Manning as well as many more who kept the club going through lean times are now enjoying the fruits of a large squad. The Lions win huge testament to the number of years invested in the bombers that eventually yielded the crossover of players the ranks last year

picture3Picture: Some of the 2016 UCC Bombers team that beat a Galway Magpies selection last week, as warm up for the Rebel Shield on Nov. 18th.

It’s a testament to the hard work by the Lions and UCC coaching staff to the hard work they have put in over the years that these games are not solely for exhibition purposes but they’re extremely competitive and a great brand of footy has been played in the past and hopefully it will do so again. There is that rivalry that needs to be present on the oval but there is that camaraderie off the field that is a testament to AFL ethos and culture.

So if you’re in the Cork area pop down to the Mardyke for what promises to be a great exhibition of footy, can the Lions avenge last year’s defeat? Will the Bombers make it two in a row?

If you can’t make it, it would be great as an AFL Europe community for other clubs and college teams to wish both teams all the best on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

 

Rebel Shield (First leg)

Leeside Lions vs UCC Bombers

Mardyke Arena

Friday 18th November, Ball up 6.30pm

All Welcome, Free Entry

Player of the Week – Coline Duquet

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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 admin@afleurope.org to receive a question sheet.

This week’s player profile is on French ruck, Coline Duquet. Coline first fell in love with the game of AFL on a study exchange in Sydney, Australia, where she played for the University side. She has been a member of the French national side for the past few years and this year represented France in both the AFL Europe Champions League and ANZAC Day clash in Villers-Bretonneux.

Coline picked up the nickname ‘Emu’ during her time in Australia and loves singing the French national anthem before her games for her country.

Well done Coline, best of luck for the rest of the season.

 

Name:

Coline Duquet

Club:

Paris Cockerels

Nationality:

French

What position do you play?

Ruck

AFL team you support:

GWS Giants

Favourite AFL player:

Jeremy Cameron

How did you find out about AFL?

I studied in Sydney, Australia for a year and played a season with UTS

How long have you been playing for?

3 years

What is your memory of your first Aussie Rules game?

It was a preseason game in Sydney, really warm weather. They put me in the midfield and I didn’t know what I was doing but I felt really welcomed in the team and knew I would love it.

Best AFL moment?

Singing the French anthem with the French national team

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

At a training session in Sydney, the coach said “don’t bend over like emu” which made me laugh very hard because it sounded so Australian. My nickname there was emu.

 

AFL Europe Match of the Round

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Swedish Cup – Norrtälje Sportcentrum 11/6/16 8am

The Swedish Cup is AFL Sweden’s annual, one day tournament. The 2016 tournament will be hosted by Norrtälje Dockers and played in a 9-a-side, round robin format to determine the premiers of AFL Sweden.

The 2016 edition of the Swedish Cup this year is promising to be the biggest and best yet, with men, women and juniors all participating. The men will play 5 group games, all playing each other before a top of the table clash in the final. The women will play 4 matches throughout the day and combine for the final, while the Juniors will play one match to showcase the growth of the sport at a grass roots level.

The men’s teams participating are the Port Malmö Maulers, Södermalm Blues, Oslo Crows, Årsta Swans, Norrtälje Dockers and a mixed team made up of players from Helsingborg, Gothenburg, Bromma and Solna. Whilst the women will have a two team format with the Port Malmö Lynx and a combined Stockholm/Oslo team.

The Port Malmö Mauler’s Jonas Lovén, is getting himself ready for a big day with the Maulers looking to keep a firm grip on the cup as reigning champions. “We’re all looking forward to a great tournament in Norrtälje and especially to defend last year’s title. After some tough games drinking beer from the cup is always the goal of the mighty Maulers”

The Maulers participate in the Danish league due to their location but are still very prominent in the Swedish competition. Coach of the Maulers and the national Swedish team, Brett Petersen is excited to coach the team in tomorrow’s tournament, “Coming off 2 big wins in the DAFL, Maulers are looking to be a strong force in this Swedish cup. Maulers leading goal kicker Ben Polmear is one to keep an eye on in this tournament”

Ben Polmear is ready to defend the title although, “we’re missing a few players from last year’s tournament the team of hungry beasts making the trip up to Norrtälje this year are more than capable of defending our title as Sweden’s top 9-a-side footy club.”

Södermalm Blues participated in this year’s AFL Europe Champions League coming 8th in the prestigious tournament. A few players to watch in the Blues would be Mick Larsson, Rob Njoku (better known as Mr T) and Dylan O’Keefe. The much anticipated return of Ivan Rexed will also add depth to the Blues as they fight for the title.

The Oslo Crows have frequented the Swedish Cup in the past years. Winning the Cup in 2013 and 2014, the Crows unfortunately displayed a disappointing performance in 2015 due to lack of inexperience and numbers. Back with a vengeance, Amund Lundesgaard is ready and bringing a fighting group to reclaim the Swedish Cup.

The Årsta Swans have a few guns to watch out for during this year’s tournament. Chris Murr, Che Ramirez, Rob Young, Mattis Kvarnström all add strength and well tuned skills to the Swans team making them strong contenders.

The mixed team will be made up of players from Helsingborg, Gothenburg, Bromma and Solna giving the team a great chance at a shot at the title. This mixed bag could well and truly take out the title with their pick from these 4 strong clubs. Experience will be the key here with the ageless Andreas Svensson, now in his 40’s, Svensson will be playing along side his young son.

The Norrtälje Dockers are proud to have the Swedish Cup tournament back in Norrtälje at the premier Australian Rules sporting facility in Sweden. Norrtälje have had their best start to a premiership season since their creation in 2012 and will be looking to continue that trend in the Swedish Cup. A strong showing of players will ensure that all matches against the Dockers will be hard fought and there is surely not to be a repeat of the 3 draws at last year’s tournament.

The Port Malmö Lynx are extremely happy that the Norrtälje women’s team, made up of Stockholm and Oslo, will be at the Sweden Cup. The anticipation is high regarding the new players they will get to come up against. It’s also exciting to see what new talent could be on offer for the national team. Ryan Davidson, coach for the Port Malmö Lynx and Swedish Ravens will have a keen eye out for what talent he can bring to Lisbon for the AFL Europe Euro Cup this October.

Good luck to all the men, women and juniors involved! We look forward to seeing who takes out the coveted title. #AFLinEurope

AFL Europe Champions League Review – Amsterdam

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The weekend saw AFL Europe and DAFA play host to the Inaugural Champions League tournament which brought ten teams to Amsterdam to face off for the title. Teams qualified for the event after finishing as premiers in their local leagues allowing for 17 of the top teams in Europe to receive an invite and 10 to make their way to the Netherlands.

The round robin style tournament, with the ten teams split into two groups, kicked off at 9am with some players really feeling the cold donning thermal gear under their kits. The red group was tightly contested with many games able to go either way. The exception was the West London Wildcats, who went through the group stage undefeated. It came down to the percentage, the Amsterdam Devils scraped through to the finals over the Edinburgh Bloods and Solna Axemen after they ended on the same amount of wins with a straight kick deciding who went through. The black group had the Rheinland Lions storm through to finals undefeated, with Belfast Red Backs only nursing their Lions loss to play the Wildcats.

The semi-finals kicked off with the West London Wildcats barely holding off a valiant Belfast Red Backs by 2 points with a late goal to make it into the all important final, whilst the Manchester Mosquitoes managed to avoid the wooden spoon by defeating the Zagreb Hawks. Shortly after, the Rheinland Lions and Amsterdam Devils kept the crowd on their feet by drawing at the final siren. In a nail biter, the game went into overtime (first score wins) and saw the Lions steal a quick goal to seal their place in the finals. Malmo Redeyes had a comfortable win over the Solna Axemen to take out 7th place in the all Sweden contest whilst the Toulouse Hawks finished in 5th overall ahead of the Edinburgh Bloods who had tired from the long day at that point.

The Belfast Red Backs overpowered the Amsterdam Devils, on their home turf, to take 3rd place by a healthy 10 goal margin before the inaugural final took place. After both the West London Wildcats and Rheinland Lions dominated their collective groups, they faced off for the title of the AFL Europe Champions League. With the crowd at its highest capacity all day, rugged up, with Coopers in hand, the West London Wildcats took out the crown finishing 8.6.54 to the Lions 1.1.7.

 

1st West London Wildcats
2nd Rheinland Lions
3rd Belfast Red Backs
4th Amsterdam Devils
5th Toulouse Hawks
6th Edinburgh Bloods
7th Malmo Redeyes
8th Solna Axemen
9th Manchester Mosquitoes
10th Zagreb Hawks

 

Post tournament festivities ran far into the night only pausing to allow AFL Europe CEO, Ben MacCormack, to announce the team of the tournament. The best player from each team, as voted by their own teams, was also revealed and presented with an AFL Europe Champions League guernsey making them part of the 10 man Champions League squad.

A big congratulations to the West London Wildcats for taking home the cup and well done to those players who made the team of the tournament:

 

Nicholas Moran Amsterdam Devils
Gerard Walls Belfast Red Backs
Ewen Pickles Edinburgh Bloods
Daniel Scotford Malmo Redeyes
Jake Norris Manchester Mosquitoes
Kristopher Marsh Rheinland Lions
Adam Cubbage Solna Axemen
Emilien Martinez Toulouse Hawks
Todd Pfeiffer West London Wildcats
Josip Habljak Zagreb Hawks

Sarah Ongarello

What do the Axemen, Bloods, Devils, Hawks and Lions have in common?

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 The Solna Axemen, Edinburgh Bloods, Toulouse Hawks and Rhienland Lions will land in Amsterdam this coming Saturday to join us, and co-hosts Amsterdam Devils, for the Inaugural AFL Europe Champions League. With the tournament looming and the need to take home the cup becoming stronger, AFL Europe headquarters caught up for a chat with five of the ten teams hitting the turf this Saturday.

 

Alan “Sparro” McSparron and the Bloods are making their way from Edinburgh to Amsterdam to test the standards of football around Europe. With great excitement and a constantly growing Scottish League, the Bloods are looking forward to measuring themselves against these top European Teams.

 

Along with the Bloods come the Rhienland Lions heading west from Germany to show Europe why they won AFLG Championship. Being named after the region of Rhienland due to rivalry between the cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, the team boasts players from both these cities. With friendly game experience against teams from the UK, Netherlands, France and Denmark the Lions are raring to show they’re a force to reckon with.

 

It was an easy decision for the Solna Axemen to head to Amsterdam for the first ever AFL Europe Champions League. The excitement has been building since receiving the invitation. The Stockholm Australian Rules Football Federation (SAFF) began in 2007 and the Solna Axemen have cemented their invite after winning 6 from 8 premierships, including back to back in 2013 and 2014. Not only are the Axemen excited to play against new teams and test their skills, they’re ready to meet other players from around Europe and a few, hopefully celebratory, beers after the Tournament.

 

Being founded in 2008 by only 5 French players, the Toulouse Hawks quickly moved up the French Championship ladder and managed to snag a few key players from the French National Team. Winning the French Championship and being undefeated in the both the 2013 and 2014 seasons, the Toulouse Hawks are definitely one of the teams to watch in the Champions League. They are excited to participate in the Inaugural Champions League and looking forward to some international exposure all the while hoping to take home the cup!

 

The host of the first inaugural Champions League, the Amsterdam Devils were founded in 2010 and proudly took out the Dutch league in their first year and every year since! With a combination of Dutch and Australian at the heart and soul of the Devils, and strong British and South African legs the home team is ready to put up a good fight to keep the Cup on home soil. New star recruit, Nick Moran and the team and ready to compete with the best teams from Europe.

Follow the Tournament at @AFL_Europe, #AFL_Europe and #ChampionsLeague

 

Sarah Ongarello

Excitement brews a week out from Amsterdam

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Here at AFL Europe headquarters we had a chat to three of the ten qualifying teams participating in the Champions League in Amsterdam next Saturday 21st March.

On behalf of the West London Wildcats, Nathan Costley, was able to shed some light on the excitement down at the club. The Wildcats are bringing probably the most diverse team of the bunch, with nationalities ranging from Welsh, Irish, Kiwi and Australian. This variety could mean some fierce competition en route to Amsterdam next week!

With similar excitement Zagreb Hawks President, Josip Kraver, enlightens us that the Hawks are coming off a turnover of players due to the unique and specialised draft/trade system in Croatia and is ready to showcase some fresh legs and talent. A special mention to young gun and Croatian National, Tomislav Cvetko, who has returned to his local club the Zagreb Cvjetno Dockers. The Champions League is giving this Croatian team a good opportunity to show their skills and head back to Croatia to continue their domination of the SANH.

Finally, William English and The Malmö Red Eyes are excited to be joining us in Amsterdam after having dominated The SAFL for the past 6 years. Forming in 2006, the Red Eyes won 5 straight SAFL premierships then their 6th in 2014. The Red Eyes will be the first team from Skåne to participate in the AFL Europe Champions League!

Count down is on! One week to go!

 

Sarah Ongarello