Irish Banshees

The 2017 International Cup is about a week and a half away, and here is a preview of the Irish Banshees women's footy squad as they head to Melbourne for the tournament.

            Australian Rules Football has a brief history in Ireland.  However in the years following, the level of interest, participation, and quality of play have all taken leaps forward.

History         

            The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland (ARFLI) was founded in 2000, but Aussie Rules actually came to Ireland in 1999 when squads in Belfast and Dublin recruited through the off season. The new Dublin Demons traveled to London in April, 2000 to take part in preseason matches with the British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL), and finished third out of 12 teams. The Demons then won a best-of-three series with the Belfast Redbacks to be crowned the first footy champion on the Emerald Isle.

            “The standard of the local league is quite competitive. It’s very welcoming and we have players of all standards involved from the social player right up to those aiming to play international footy,” Banshees coach Pat Leavy said. “In addition we have had two new University teams start up in 2016/17 and this is the area that we see a lot of new players coming from.”

            Leavy said he got his start in footy with the Midland Tigers in 2003, having been

introduced to the game by his brother Mark. Both men went on to represent Ireland in the 2013 Euro Cup, and since then Leavy hasg teamed up with Shaun Saurin and Brendan Kelly to develop the women’s game in Ireland. There are two women’s teams in Ireland—the Dublin Angels and the Ulster Kookaburras.

                

The Banshees

            Ireland’s strengths lie in the interchangeable skillset learned in Gaelic Football, skills that translate well onto the footy pitch. A potential disadvantage could be stamina because they don’t play a lot of 18-a-side footy due to the size of available fields. Most of their games are played nine, 12, or 14 to a side.

            The Banshees won the inaugural five-team International Cup in 2011 with an 18-point win over Papua New Guinea. In 2014 there were seven sides and the Banshees fell in the Grand Final to Canada Northern Lights. So not only has the interest level risen in Ireland, it’s also gone up on the world stage as eight women’s teams will compete for the 2017 International Cup.

Current run of play

            Ireland is rounding into form as they prepare for IC17. They are ranked fourth in the most recent World Footy News rankings. The Banshees won the 2016 Euro Cup in Lisbon, Portugal, and in May they traveled to the London Footy Carnival and opened with a 50-point win over the London All-Stars. A 22-1 win over the Canada Midnight Suns followed, and the Banshees fell by six points to the Great Britain Swans. Ireland took home the trophy based on having the highest percentage.

            “The players have been working very hard over the past 15 months in preparation for the tournament with many players receiving sponsored assistance from local personnel; trainers coupled with club and national team training sessions.  The London Footy Carnival against three quality teams also proved very beneficial for any new players on the team,” Leavy said.

            Rising star Onora Mulcahy agreed.

            “Even though Ireland won, it was a good wake up call to the level of physicality to expect in August from the non-European teams.”

            The Banshees team is made up of players who have competed in the local league as well as the London league and various country leagues in Australia.  The Australian based players comprise of a mix of girls who are taking a year out and have decided to “give it a go” while in Australia, as well as and those who have settled in Australia after falling in love with the lifestyle.

  

Who to watch for

            Laura Corrigan Duryea from Diamond Creek and the Melbourne Demons needs no introduction to anyone who followed the inaugural AFLW season, while Carol Breen and Gillian Behan are really impressing for UTS Shamrocks in the Sydney Premier League. Leavy is excited about having Marie Keating from IC11 back in the squad, while Carolann Cassidy has grown into a real leader for the team since playing at IC14. Of those making their International Cup debut, expect big things from Onóra Mulcahy and Clara Fitzpatrick. Duryea and Mulcahy are team co-captains.

Fixture and expectations

            The Banshees face the United States on Sunday, August 6, the European Crusaders on August 9, and Papua New Guinea on August 13. Tough matches await against the United States, an improving Papua New Guinea side, and against the European Crusaders. But expect Ireland to get out of pool play and compete for a premiership. They have competed in the first two IC Grand Final matches and they also add veteran experience and firepower with international players joining the side.

Squad/Players:

1   Claire Donnelly, Ulster Kookaburras

2   Amanda Maginn, Ulster Kookaburras

3   Rachel McGee, Ulster Kookaburras

4   Sarah O’Donovan, U.C.C. Crusaders

5   Laura Flannery, Dublin Angels

6   Emma Kelly, Ulster Kookaburras

7   Fiona Roarty, Ulster Kookaburras

8   Carolann Cassidy, Ulster Kookaburras

9   Olivia McCann, Ulster Kookaburras

10 Onora Mulcahy, Wandsworth Demons

11 Laura Corrigan Duryea, Diamond Creek / Melbourne Demons

12 Carol Breen, UTS Shamrocks

13 Niamh Hainsworth, UTS Shamrocks

14 Linda Connolly, Wandsworth Demons

15 Clara Fitzpatrick, Diamond Creek

16 Megan Creegan, Sydney University

17 Molly Cullen, Dublin Angels

18 Marie Keating, U.C.C. Crusaders

19 Aisling Gillespie, Ulster Kookaburras—leading goalkicker at European Championships

20 Rachel Fox, Perth Angels

21 Sandra Ryan, UTS Shamrocks

22 Colleen Quinn, Ulster Kookaburras

23 Gillian Behan, UTS Shamrocks

24 Emma Treanor, UTS Shamrocks

25 Maebh Moriarty, Diamond Creek

26 Leona Russell, Ulster Kookaburras

28 Aine Higgins, Dublin Angels

29 Deborah Geraghty, UTS Shamrocks

36 Christine McCutcheon, UTS Shamrocks

30 Bronagh Sheridan, Dublin Angels

Tyler Ames' Footy Odyssey, Part II

Editor's note: this is the second part of my interview with Tyler Ames. He's part of an exchange program with the USAFL and is suiting up with the Montrose Demons. Part I of the story is here.

The Darwin Buffaloes celebrated their 100^th anniversary in season 2017, and Tyler was very complimentary about his time with the Double Blues. “The greatest things about living in Darwin were the relationships I made with my Coach Mark Motlop who will forever be an inspiration and father-like figure to me, my teammates, and becoming a real part of the Buffaloes family.”

He’s been mentored by Motlop, spoken to former Adelaide Crow champion Andrew McCloud, and met the Longs, Riolis and so many others. Tyler even had the chance to meet Darwin legend Ali Muir (Nicholls Medallist 1968-69) before Muir’s recent passing.

His adventures have now taken him to Montrose in the Eastern Football League, where he is taking advantage of his chance to improve as a player and student of the game. “I still also feel like I have a lot of untapped potential and I’m continuing to improve leaps and bounds each and every week,” Ames said. “I hope after a full season here and an entire offseason of hard work and dedication, I’d really like to contest for a regular ones spot with the Demons and hopefully play a role in getting a flag.”

Tyler said he’s played all over the ground. He worked almost exclusively as a ruckman with Darwin, which involved some transition since he played the forward line as a Denver Bulldog. He’s been all over the field with Montrose, but says he’s most comfortable at centre half forward and rotating into the ruck position at times.

“(Playing in Australia) has been nothing short of incredible in every sense of the word. For someone who is just experiencing footy for the first time really to embark on a journey like this has been mind-blowing. The thing that I think strikes me most is the culture of football and the community aspect that surrounds it. What I learned very quickly, especially in Darwin, footy is family and family is footy and I’ve never seen anything like it in the world,” he said.

 

So if the USAFL wanted someone to truly immerse himself in footy and in Australia, they found their man. It’s something Tyler has trouble believing. “In all honesty I still wake up and can’t believe I’m actually living this life. I’m so unbelievably fortunate and there’s still so much that I want to experience and get out of my footy and my Australian adventure,” he said. “I do still have high aspirations of being one of the best American players and I’d like to represent our team in the 2020 as well as the 2023 footy World Cups.”

Tyler Ames' Footy Odyssey, Part 1

So many times the dream and our reality are vastly different. It is certainly true in Tyler Ames’ case, but his current reality is somewhat of a dream, and it certainly doesn’t resemble what he saw for himself.

Tyler went to college as many of us do. He figured he’d become a businessman and have the American dream-- a wife he loved, two kids, two cars, and such. He settled on accounting and finance at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and landed a job.

One day he became good friends with Michio McGrath, an Australian expat who persuaded him to try his hand at footy. Ironically, it was Tyler who helped recruit Michio to his accounting firm. McGrath in turn spent an entire Colorado winter selling Tyler on the game as well as on his favorite club the West Coast Eagles.

 

McGrath wore him down and eventually Tyler began to play for the Denver Bulldogs, a strong American club in Colorado.

“The moment I really bought fully in and truly started loving the game was during the 2015 USAFL National Championships in which I played on the Bulldogs’ Division 4 team. I had never played in the ruck before that tournament but because of injuries I had to step up and play the entire time. I didn’t feel like I played well but I was somehow given the Most Consistent on ground for the tournament in Division 4. From that point on I was motivated and driven to get good at footy,” Ames said.

Ames also thinks the camaraderie is something special. “(In the states) we can’t play every weekend like here in Australia so instead large tournaments are held roughly once a month during the summer with smaller 3 or so team tournaments intermixed as well. These were where I fell in love with not just the game of footy but with the Australian culture, team camaraderie, and spirit. We would all stay in a hotel as a group, throw 4 guys to a room, play a full day of footy, and then go out on the town totally beat up where the tournament was being held with the other teams. The stories and fun from these and the relationships I developed with my teammates was what gave me the passion and excitement to make Australia and footy a bigger part of my life.”

Once he gained a foothold in the game another seed grew. “The first person to even float the thought of Australia was my now Montrose teammate Sam Nix. He was playing for the (USAFL) Austin Crows and we were in Austin for a tournament and said I should look into it. I then talked to a few of my Denver Bulldogs teammates and word must have traveled through the grapevine because at the USAFL National tournament last October, I met with Tony Fairhead from Perth and Rod Buncle of Melbourne both of whom work with the USAFL. Tony had said they’d been looking for someone from the US to be the first chosen to represent the USAFL in an exchange through Darwin. I believe they wanted someone who’d embrace the full Darwin experience and everything it had to offer,” Ames said.

Still to come: Tyler embraces the Aussie and footy experience.

All Sides Win as AFL Travels to China

This week over a year’s worth of groundwork and preparation come together as Port Adelaide and Gold Coast take the field for a Round 8 match at Jiangwan Stadium (capacity 10,964) in China on Sunday, May 14.

This game is the first ever to be played for premiership points in China, and it became official in April 2016. Last October we learned the Gold Coast Suns would be the opposition.

This is the crown jewel in a new agreement between Port and China, but it’s far from the only element. The Power’s Round 3 match with Essendon and Round 5 match against Geelong were both televised nationwide as part of the TV agreement with Chinese Central Television. CCTV is also televising the 25-week series The AFL Show.

In addition to AFL scores and highlights, the Power’s Chinese international recruit Chen Shaoliang is featured regularly on the 30-minute program to share his experiences into Port Adelaide, the AFL, and living in South Australia.

There’s more.

In addition to sponsoring Team China at the International Cup 2017, Port is also sponsoring the South China Football League and has formed the Power Footy program in 14 schools across three provinces.

The Power’s China engagement team expanded to seven full-time staff, and they also have game development officers on the ground working in southern China as well as in Shanghai. Port is also running its pre-season camps in Shanghai. So Port has made a tremendous investment in China.

Port Adelaide has also signed a multi-million-dollar partnership with Shanghai Cred, a property developer and agribusiness leader based in Shanghai. The deal has the club develop Australian Football in China for the next three years. Shanghai Cred founder Gui Guo Jie is a footy fan, having seen a game at the Adelaide Oval in 2015.

Port Adelaide executive Andrew Hunter has played a key role in the Power’s push into China. He seems to be the right man for the job since he has experience in international engagement from his time with the South Australian government. He believes Port can make the game an annual event for the short-term future.

The Power has generated $4 million in corporate backing for this match, so financially the match can do no worse than break even.  It also took commitment from the very top, with Port Adelaide’s chief executive Keith Thomas onboard. Thomas has said the China strategy has brought in over $6 million, with there being the chance of pushing that number even higher.

In order to make the China trip work, Port had to ‘buy’ the rights to another club’s home game, as they (and the Adelaide Crows) are required to play all 11 home games at the Adelaide Oval. Gold Coast emerged as the willing partner last fall. Port Adelaide president David Koch said the Power paid $500,000 to get the Suns to come onboard. This may give us a peek into the thought process, as Gold Coast’s financial report shows they lost $300,000 in 2015 and lost $2.9 million last year.

The Gold Coast Suns averaged about 11,500 per home game and membership is down eight percent. The club is expected to get about $20 million in central AFL funding this season, according to Australian Financial Review.

Jiangwan Stadium, site of the Round 8 Suns-Power match.

In addition to Chen Shaoliang, China and the AFL have a bit of a common history. In 1908 Wally Koochew, whose father was Chinese, played in four games for Carlton. Lin Jong, of Chinese/Timorese descent plays significant minutes for the Western Bulldogs. And in October 2010, Melbourne and Brisbane played the AFL Kaspersky Cup Shanghai Showdown, as both sides missed the postseason. The Demons rallied from a 31-point deficit and got a goal from Liam Jurrah on the siren to win 84-79.

As for off-the-oval gamesmanship, given that this match is Port Adelaide’s effort they expected to wear home guernseys. It makes some sense because they feel they bought all the home rights with that half million payout.

Unbeknownst, Gold Coast wanted to wear their home red kits since this was one of their ‘home’ games though it would not be played in Metricon Stadium. The teams couldn’t reconcile their differences, and eventually the AFL stepped in and sided with the Suns.

Apparently this set Koch over the edge and he’s on record saying this is the last time the Suns are asked to play in China. This threat may be a tad empty, as Port has wanted to take the AFL to China for a while but has had trouble lining up an opponent. Plus, Port still plans to bring their traditions along, such as playing their anthem ‘Never Giving In’ from Rudimental, as well as INXS’ ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ theme in the 60-second countdown to first bounce. So it seems both sides are getting something positive.

Obviously preparation changes dramatically for both squads. Gold Coast won’t have much time to build on their big win over Geelong, as total travel time with buses, layovers, and planes is about 20 hours. Port Adelaide will also be challenged by travel as they try to bounce back following their loss to the West Coast Eagles.

Gold Coast moved to 11th on the ladder with their win last weekend, while Port dropped to 7th. The Power won last year’s head to head by 33 points at Metricon Stadium. Smog and warm temperatures near 29 degrees should both be factors for both sides to deal with.

Regardless of the final score both Port Adelaide and the AFL get exposure into a very lucrative Chinese market, Chinese sports fans get to follow the exploits of one of their own, and business relationships between the two nations are strengthened. Additionally, the Suns are set to be winners too with China being a favorite travel destination for Gold Coast residents and vice versa.