A WINTER weekend in Victoria means footy – and not just at the MCG and Etihad Stadium, with amateur leagues around the state offering entertainment, ‘local’ action and open arms for communities.
On Friday night and Saturday, more than 500 players from 16 nations taking part in the AFL International Cup had the opportunity to experience that unique footy culture, with a host of the tournament’s round three games played as curtain-raisers to local matches.
There were curries in Bendigo, pastis and saucisson in Kew and kimonos in Box Hill North, while an all-British Isles clash was played to a backdrop of palm trees.
The AFL International Cup’s community round opened with two tight finishes under floodlights on Friday night, with maiden victories for the South Africa Lions and the Pakistan Shaheens.
The Lions roared back from three goals down to beat the Fiji Tribe by three points in South Geelong, while the Shaheens lifted the Dosti Cup with a nine-point win over India in Bendigo. Dosti is the Urdu and Hindi word for friendship and the game stayed true to that spirit, despite historical political tension at home.
Ireland and New Zealand set up an intriguing round four meeting as both remained unbeaten, while division two teams China and Japan won their third consecutive matches.
Japan’s speed and skill in tight helped it prevail over the Germans’ aerial dominance.
"This was my first game and I am so pleased we got the win," said Jun Sekiguchi who plays for the R246 Lions in Tokyo.
"Germany is a tall team so we tried to keep the ball low and we did well. With each game our spirit gets stronger and we hope to win the [division two] Grand Final."
France lost heavily to Nauru despite taking inspiration from the Western Bulldogs and Greater Western Sydney the previous night at Etihad Stadium. Indeed, Le Coqs had travelled to Spotless Stadium in Sydney and trained with the Giants franchise prior to the competition. Regardless of the result, morale remained high, the tricolour rippled proudly in the breeze and the European Crusaders’ French contingent watching on were singing ‘Allez Les Bleus’ until the bitter end.
The Nauru Chiefs had their own cheer squad with year 11 students from Carey Baptist Grammar School adorning the blue and gold.
"Our Nauru jerseys were a gift from friends we made on a school trip there a few years ago," said Livy and Paris, whose school is not far from Kew’s Victoria Park.
"We are still in contact with the families we met and they told us that some of their relatives would be playing in the International Cup. We don’t know much about footy, but it’s a brilliant atmosphere."
With women’s fixtures on Sunday, the Banshees (Ireland) and Swans (Great Britain) were also in fine voice at Caulfield’s Koornang Park where their male counterparts exchanged ferocious blows until Ireland ran away with a 15-point victory.
The Caulfield Bears under-eights combined with local Auskick kids to keep the crowd entertained at half-time before the seniors ran out against Springvale Districts after the final siren.
Young families, groups of mates and international travellers were at grounds up and down the state to witness the competition in full swing – with experienced local players (and spectators) offering the internationals plenty of support and even the odd piece of advice.
Club sides welcomed the carnival atmosphere, with Montrose even painting its field to recognise the USA and Papua New Guinea teams.
PNG, the reigning champion, handed the Americans their first loss of the carnival to remain a chance to reach the division one Grand Final, while Croatia thumped Sri Lanka.
Go to AFL.com.au/internationalcup for scores, live streams of selected matches, feature stories and news from the tournament, and worldfootynews.com for reports on all matches.
