Courtesy: richmondfc.com.au

Published: 26th August, 2011.

Two of Richmond’s international rookies will square off in the grand final of the Australian Football International Cup to be held at the MCG tomorrow (August 27).

The Tigers’ Irish recruit, John Heslin, and Papua New Guinean youngster Gideon Simon, will be on opposing sides when the two countries meet in the grand final, as the curtain-raiser to the Round 23 Hawthorn v Western Bulldogs match.

Ireland won the International Cup, which is held every three years, back in 2002, and it was ranked fourth overall for this year’s series.

Papua-New Guinea, which won the last International Cup, in 2008, was ranked No. 1 of the 18 competing nations.

Meanwhile, the Indian team competing at the International Cup, scored its first victory of the tournament on Wednesday against East Timor.

The India Tigers are being supported by Richmond, and have competed in the tournament wearing replica Richmond guernseys.

India’s Jay Himat booted eight of the team’s nine goals, to help the Tigers to a seven-point win.

He met Richmond’s own goalkicking star, Jack Riewoldt, at the ME Bank Centre, Punt Road Oval, yesterday.

Courtesy: worldfootynews.com

Published: 23rd August, 2011

As referenced in an earlier article, the India Tigers today touched down in Melbourne in preparation for the final leg of the International Cup. The team were quickly bused to Punt Road where local media was on hand to watch Trent Cotchin, Daniel Jackson and David Astbury put the Indian players through their paces.

This was followed by a dinner for the players and several notable members of Melbourne’s Indian community, such as Arun Sharma of Celebrate India (the organisation who coordinates Melbourne’s Diwali Festival) and Manjula O’Connor of Australia India Society of Victoria. Brett Kirk and his documentary crew were also present at the event.

The Richmond Football Club have been a huge help to the India Tigers, and not only due to today’s event. The AFL club provided the squad with their jumpers, shorts and socks and Todd Sigalas (Richmond’s Multicultural Development Officer) gave up several Sunday afternoons assisting with training for the Melbourne-based players in the lead-up to the tournament. Simon Matthews, Michael Lacy and Adrian Ceddia have all helped coordinate things behind the scenes.

Whilst the Indian Tigers are yet to achieve their first International victory, they are winning fans off the field. The squad appeared at the Australia-India Friendship Fair in Sydney and managed to not only sell footy to Sydney’s Indian community but to Simon Katich and Lisa Sthalekar.

They also managed to get on national television last Friday. The boys woke up early and stood outside the Sunrise studio and were brought in for the show’s closing routine; being asked who they were and why they were in Australia. Furthermore, interviews have been done for SBS radio, and additional interviews are scheduled whilst the team is in Melbourne.

Courtesy: worldfootynews.com

Published: 18th August, 2011.

India took on China today at Holroyd Oval, Gipps Road Sports Complex, at 12pm on Wednesday 17th August.

In light rain the game started with India getting on the scoreboard first kicking 2.2 to China’s 1.4 in the first quarter. Both sides went hard at the ball, but India’s small men were able to link up with chains of handball and come out in front. Jay Himat (#7) and Vishnu Rishe (#17) were the goalkickers for the Tigers while Zhou Min (#10) scored China’s only major, inaccurate kicking hurting their cause. India’s Rakesh Ghosh (#4) looked dangerous around the packs, while Ayush Gupta (#24) won many contests. Keeping track of the players was proving hard with quite a few changes to jumper numbers for the Indian squad.

Update Wed 8pm AEST: Good news as Indian player Merv Nathaniel has been given the all clear and left hospital after full brain and spinal scans.

Update Thursday: Chinese play Lu Hao was also injured and underwent surgery for a broken ankle. There was also a suspected AC (Timor Leste) and a broken jaw (Tonga) earlier in the tournament – there will always be injuries and the players are going hard at it, but there seems to be an unlucky run at the moment.

In the second quarter China booted 2.3 to no score, Wang Ji Hao (#12) for China slotted one major and Jamie Pi, well known for his AFL TV commentary in Chinese, kicked another. Xu Qing Hong (#17), Ku Hao (#19) and Pi Jia Ming (#6) dominated around the ball as the Red Demons swung momentum. Late in the quarter Merv Joseph Nathaniel for India had his arms pinned in a tackle over the boundary line and lay motionless for a period. Trainers from both sides rushed to his aid, and later it was decided to take him by ambulance to hospital.

In the 3rd quarter India’s running game got going, especially Rishie (#7) using good handball but in the slippery conditions they failed to convert. A steadying goal to Ding Guan Qun (#5) for China gave a 3/4 lead 4.9 to 2.2 and in wet conditions and would be hard to overhaul.

The ambulance arrived and the match stopped for an extended period as the Indian player was treated by the boundary (presumably a decision was made to play it safe and not move him).

The match was actually very even to 3/4 time with only China’s stronger marking in the forward line giving them a scoreboard dominance, despite wet conditions. Brett Kirk addressed the Indian team at the last break and pointed out the sacrifice their team mate had made and coming from so far away they had to give their all in the last term.

The final quarter got underway when the ambulance left the ground with Team Manager Ash Nugent riding up front. China were able to get out forward of the ball, giving them a target after earlier in the game crowding too much. Wang Ji Hao (#12) goaled as a result, but generally it was a tough battle between halfback and halfforward. China’s Lu Hao (#19) was also injured which with no time on reduced the actual game time further. The match concluded with India unfortunately unable to add to their quarter time score after such a promising start, perhaps a little dispirited after the injury to their team mate.

Early report from the hospital from India’s Team Manager is that Nathaniel is talking okay but likely suffering from concussion.
China
Goalkickers: Ji Hao 2, Zhang Wei 1, Xu Jian 1, Pi Jia Ming 1
Best Players: Gao Bo Ran, Gao Yang, Dong Hao, Chen Yong Fei, Zhang Hao, Ding Guan Qun

India
Goalkickers: Vishnu Rishie 1, Jay Himat 1
Best Players: Jay Himat, Vishnu Rishie, Prakash Kailasanathan, Donovan Drozario, Dan Flory, Ayush Gupta

Courtesy: sportzpower.com

Published: 8th August, 2011.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Tigers team is leaving for Australia on 10 August for the International Cup 2011, the Australian Football tournament, armed with a variety of sponsors that shows that even an unknown sport can find financial support for basic survival if the effort is earnest.
This is the second time that the Indian team will play in the once-in-three years International Cup, or the world cup for Australian Rules Football, which 17 teams will participate in, excepting Australia since it is their national sport and they want other countries to win, not monopolise the Cup. This style of football arrived in India in 2008 and since then is slowly picking up pace.
Twenty one-year-old Sudip Chakraborty told SportzPower that an Australian Company, Speedy Promotions is providing the Team India T-shirts, while Celebrate India Inc is chipping in with general help, inckuding hosting a few dinners for the team in Australia. This is an NRI organization in Australia.
Richmond Football Club, hosts of the Indian team in Australia, are providing team jerseys and other playing kit, a chance to train at their stadiums, use their infrastructure first hand and also hosting a few dinners. The Indian team is wearing their jersey colours this time, in black and yellow.
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan – Australia – has become the biggest Indian sponsorship entity coming in with a financial help of around A$ 3,000.
“I am an ex student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Kolkata along with another team mate. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is the only institution which had sponsored the Indian Team in the International Cup 2008 as well, because Bhavan’s alumni were in the team.
It is interesting to note that after the first round of energy burst which led to Ricky Ponting boosting Australian Football in Kolkata in 2008, the initialmanagers of the sport lost their appetite for pushing it further, but even the new team under Sudip have managed small, but significant sponsors.
Thus it is that Mega Cabs – Kolkata – is providing a complete complementary cab service in the city for promoting Australian Football league – India.
Australian sports management expert Peter Jess is getting financial help along with promotions for the Indian team. “His involvement is future oriented, since he is backing the ‘AussieX’ programme which will be launched in India later this year. This is a programme run by an Australian named Emile Studham in Canada, where they have taught around 70,000 school students, the game of Australian Football. Emile, with the help of Jess, is going to launch Aussie X Internationale-India very soon, which will help the sport develop from grassroots here, by teaching school students,” Sudip told SportzPower.

Jata Consultants, Accountants & Auditors – Melbourne, VIC, will most probably be sponsoring the team’s accommodation in Melbourne.

“The Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata branch, has invited us to present Australian Rules Football to their students and organize an exhibition match at their campus, in front of the West Bengal media. Australian media from Delhi is also expected at the event. This is a big platform to promote the game and the sports consultant at the Institute – Pradipto Kr. Roy – a Taekwondo Hall of Fame member, took the initiative personally to make this possible,” Sudip said.

However, it is Australian Football League (AFL) – the parent of the sport – that is the main source of funds for the Indian team. Impressed by the efforts put in to develop the game in India, and considering the lack of sponsorship for the sport in India, AFL has stepped in to fill the gaps and are sponsoring the flights and various other necessities.

Courtesy: worldfootynews.com

Published: 1st August, 2011.

The India Tigers return in 2011 to contest their second International Cup. Like Ireland, a majority of India’s players are Australia-based although in India’s case these players are largely inexperienced.

The squad’s average age is 24. Most players are from or originally from West Bengal, Kerala or Goa; the “soccer states” of India. Nine players from the 2008 tournament remain in the squad. Making his debut for his country is Srinath Lakshmaiya, who played football in the Welsh Australian Rules Football League. Another possible debut is GWS Academy-listed player Dhruv Kaushik, although he is currently sidelined with an injury.

The squad will be lead by Sudip Chakraborty (Captain) and Vishnu Rishie (Vice Captain).

Courtesy: worldfootynews.com

Published: 25th May, 2011.

It took nearly 40 years to develop the first competitive team of Australian Football in India, after the very 1st exposure of the game in India in 1969, when Western Australia Football League toured India, to when the Indian Tigers participated (jumper pictured left) in the International Cup 2008 in Melbourne. The team then comprised of players mostly drawn from West Bengal and Indian residents in Melbourne.

Thereafter it has taken three more years to spread the joy outside the state of West Bengal in eastern India to the state of Kerala in southern India.

Rajeev Raj, a member of the Kerala Olympic Association and a big sports enthusiast, has taken up the responsibility to promote the game in his state. Hence 40 odd players from different sporting backgrounds are practicing the game in the city of Kozhikode, where a week long footy clinic was organised in April and it led on to the first ever Aussie Rules match played on 22nd April 2011.

The good work has been carried forward by Rajeev, who has started organising footy clinics in a few schools of the city and is looking forward to spread the game to all the districts of Kerala and have a state championship very soon.

See also our story about AFL India now recruiting players within Australia for the fourth International Cup.

Courtesy:< worldfootynews.com

Published: 5th May, 2011.

Brett Kirk, retired former Sydney Swans captain, and now International Ambassador of the AFL, stopped in India as part of his World Tour.

Kirk’s base in India was Mumbai, and this is where he kicked off his tour with a clinic in the city at the Oval Maidan, Churchgate. It was followed by a meeting with Austrade officials in Mumbai to join hands and help develop the game in India.

Next stop was Kolkata, where most of the country’s existing footy players are located, many of whom were part of India’s last International Cup campaign. The session was fruitful, but due to the very short notice not all players could attend. But the sports-crazy city, which has played host to the likes of Maradona, Ziko, Oliver Kahn, Forlan, can now add another feather in its crown; ‘Captain Kirk’.

The next day was probably most fruitful. Brett hunted down the football-manufacturing companies in Jalandhar and Punjab. As quoted by Michael McIntyre (Australian film maker; accompanying Brett on his tour), “We eagled and we landed.” Brett was in his element, swimming in a mound of footies. Following Kirk’s visit, AFL India are in the process of establishing relations with the manufacturing companies.

It was a small step for Brett Kirk, but a giant leap for AFL India.

Courtesy: dnaindia.com

Published: 3rd March, 2010.

Imagine 36 players on the lush green outfield of DY Patil Stadium. Imagine furious action and amazing skill on display, Aussie style.
But we are not talking about any new avatar of cricket. If things fall in place for the Australian Football League (AFL), Essendon Football Club, one of the strongest Australian rules football teams, will soon introduce this unique sport on Indian soil.

In the city to talk business, Essendon FC’s MD & CEO Ian Robson said the large presence of Indian community in the suburb of Essendon makes this opportunity more unique. “Knowing that the sporting culture of India revolves mostly around cricket, our game which has been invented by cricketers can be a welcome break,” explained Robson, who visited the DY Patil Stadium as a possible venue for an exhibition game.

Australian Rules Football was invented in 1858 by a bunch of
cricketers to keep themselves fit during the winter. Essendon FC want to find some business and then arrange a possible match between players of the club and an Indian outfit.

In fact the club has already introduced the sport in New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and South Africa.

“It is an expensive exercise but we are looking at something feasible in the next couple of years,” explained Richard Burnet, chief commercial officer.