Saturday 24 September 2011

Dragons get ready to soar at EuroCup


The Cymru Red Dragons squad to compete at the Belfast EuroCup has been named and feature a strong team full of experience. Coach Kim Swain has chosen a line up with players from the Welsh Austrailan Rules Football League (WARFL) and from the London League and Southern England League.

WARFL Champions, the Cardiff Panthers have the most squad members with 8 of the 16 Dragons having played for the Champions who went unbeaten last season. They include Captain David Saunders and his brother Jon, winner of the Panthers Rookie of the Year Award. There are also 4 Great Britain representatives in the squad, Mark Horsman & Andrew Atack of the Cardiff Panthers and Tom Gillard & Harry Triggs of the West London Wildcats, the 2011 London Premiers.

Other WARFL teams represented are the Bridgend Eagles and Cardiff Double Blues, both of whom have two players in the squad, whilst Asst. Coach will be Alex Parry of the Swansea Magpies. The final two places are taken up by experienced Portsmouth Pirates duo George Llewellyn and Sam Jones.

The EuroCup will take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland on the Saturday 8th October. The competition will see around 20 teams including the likes of Russia, Sweden, England and Italy, compete with hosts Ireland and Champions Croatia for the EuroCup over a 9-a-side format. Last year the Red Dragons came a respectable 7th overall and will be hoping to go even further in the competition this time. To find out more about Aussie Rules in Wales, please visit WARFL.org.uk


Full Squad

David Saunders (Cardiff Panthers, Captain)
Andrew Attack (Cardiff Panthers)
Brian Sparkes (Cardiff Double Blues)
Bryan Bliss (Cardiff Panthers)
Gareth Griffiths (Bridgend Eagles)
George Llewellyn (Portsmouth Pirates)
Harry Triggs (West London Wildcats)
Ian Carter (Cardiff Panthers)
Jamie Evans (Bridgend Eagles)
Jon Saunders (Cardiff Panthers)
Josh Davey (Cardiff Panthers)
Mark Horsman (Cardiff Panthers)
Rhys Morgan (Cardiff Double Blues)
Sam Jones (Portsmouth Pirates)
Scott Jones (Cardiff Panthers)
Tom Gillard (West London Wildcats)

Kim Swain (Coach, Cardiff Panthers), Alex Parry (Asst. Coach, Swansea Magpies).

Wednesday 7 September 2011

Wales and WARFL represented at World level

Photo courtesy of Tobietta Rhyman.

The WARFL would like to congratulate Anthony Trigg after the Welshman was named in the World Team at the AFL 2011 International Cup. Trigg has excelled throughout the tournament and impressed AFL Coaches, performing at an elite level during the AFL Combine Trials. The trials incorporate tests which include 20m sprint, running vertical jump, agility, kicking and clean marking. AFL National talent manager Kevin Sheehan said that, "We were also pretty impressed by British ruckman Anthony Trigg who, at 207cm tall, did a 2.95s time over 20m. He can certainly move along pretty smartly", (AFL.com.au, 2011). The record is 2.83s held jointly by current AFL players Stephen Hill (Fremantle) and Joel Wilkinson (Gold Coast)

Other Welshmen and Welsh based players involved in the IC11 were Tim Atkins of the Swansea Magpies and Chris James of the South Cardiff Panthers, both played for Great Britain Bulldogs alongside Welsh Captain Tom Case whilst former Panther Srinath Lakshmaiya represented the Indian Tigers.

From left to right: Chris James (Great Britain), Srinath Lakshmaiya (India), Tom Case (Great Britain).