January 20, 2007 by Mark Block | View Comments (6)
With two months preparation for this event, Canada's national team traveled to Houston for their first competition under new head coach Mark Block. Given this short notice, the Northwind only sent one team down to face both the Revolution Reserves and their National team. Make no mistake; the team assembled was filled with veteran players of international experience as well as eager newcomers looking to solidify a spot on the national team. With a good winter training camp, it looked as though Canada would certainly give the Americans all they could handle.
The tournament consisted of two games. The first saw the Northwind participate in an "All Comers" game. Each player was rotated through the line-up for one quarter of footy. They joined other competitors from the American footy community to play against the Revolution's Reserve squad. The coaching staff used this as an opportunity to scout the Northwind line-up as well as warm up players for the main event to be held later in the afternoon. Daniel Zimmerman had the misfortune of being injured in this game and was unable to showcase his abilities in the feature match. The others performed well and squeezed out a win in an unofficial game shortened by a quarter due to time constraints.
The main event was a great battle. With the Revolution winning the wind advantage in cold and rainy conditions, the Northwind displayed remarkable defense. It was their best quarter. Lead by team captain Stefan Leyhane, (FB) Matt Lowden and (CHB) Kevin Minaker, the Northwind held off an enormous amount of pressure as the Revolution used their wind advantage to flood the forward line.
Changing ends in the second quarter, the Northwind struggled to use the wind to their advantage. The Revolution answered with the same tenacity Canada showed in the first quarter and were able to push most of the play just out of danger. Later in the half (Ruck Rover) Murray Lovett broke the goose egg with his first goal in international competition and boosted the Northwind into the lead. Assistant Captain Aaron Falcioni stood out as a major threat in the eyes of the Revolution coaching staff as they attempted to tag him up. (Ruckman) Dale Simnett and (Rover) Danny MacIlravey began to take over in the centre as well. The Northwind finished the half with a narrow 2 point lead.
During the half time intermission, Houston hosted its first youth game. It was a showcase of Houston's junior development program proving the Americans are serious about promoting and developing their US Footy program.
The half time break didn't serve the Northwind well. They took a while regaining the intensity they had in the first half. With the wind once again in their favor, the Americans flooded the forward line; at times with only their fullback left behind centre to defend their goal. To their credit however, they were able to apply enough pressure to kick three goals in the third quarter, a tally that proved to be enough to capture the win. Calgary native, (HBF) Gareth Williams saved a goal with some desperate diving plays, while (Winger) Nick Dirago, (BP) Bruce Parker and (HFF) Frank Luisser kept the game interesting with enthusiastic tackles.
The fourth quarter was Canada's last chance to use the wind and capture a much needed victory but the Revolution smelled victory with their third quarter tally. They were often able to chase the Northwind down in open territory. Canada showed good creativity there, but lacked enough speed and endurance to execute. The Revolution kicked another goal as they finished the stronger team on the day. Northwind players like Dale Simnett, Matt Lowden, Kevin Minaker, Aaron Falcioni, Murray Lovett, Bill Kantartzis, and Daniel MacIlravey and captain Stefan Leyhane put on encouraging performances. The team as a whole needed more gas in the tank and deeper bench strength to win this game though. The Revolution took the victory by a final score of 4.10.34 to 1.2.8.
The Northwind return to Canada with hopes of redemption when the teams meet next, at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver, August 4th, 2007.
Comments (6)
Mark,
I enjoyed reading this report and the report on USFooty.com about the game.
I think it was great that 4 Western Canadians represented Northwind. There will be even more in the future I believe.
Aussie Rules Footy really is growing out here in the Wild West. 2 Teams in Calgary now is unbelievable growth and BC Footy has been awesome now for 2 years with 2 teams. The Junior competition in BC is helping them grow with Scott Flemming coming up through the BC Footy Junior competition. Great story!
It should be a huge 07 out here in the West.
It would be great to see the CDN West vs CDN East play eachother as well at some stage in the future. I think the West and East should be doing more together!
Go Canada!
Regards,
Myk Aussie
MYKwebTV
mykaussie.com
Could the West make up 1/2 of CDN Northwind?
After meeting up with the Roo's guys last night at the Aussie Day Party got me thinking more.
In addition to the 4 Western CDN guys that played last weekend I believe Adrian Lagan the star Gaelic player and Roo now of several years will be a key player in upcoming Northwind games. Adrian played for Northwind in Australia.
I also believe his Gaelic mate Big Tough Tim could be a chance. He would definitely add some toughness to the team with his newly "controlled aggressive" play for the Roo's.
Roo's onballer Mat Henke should make the team and I believe he could also be one of Northwind's best players in 07. Mat like Adrian could not make the trip to Houston.
Out in BC Footy in addition to Scott Flemming, Burnaby Eagles forward Randy Dicken's could also be a chance. Randy can be a bit hot and cold but when he is hot he is a awesome forward. One game in 05 between the Eagles and the Cougars Randy was voted Best On Ground with his approximate 7 goals. This was a great effort by a Canadian considering there were some very good Aussie guys playing that day.
There is another 4 Western guys, a couple more and the West could soon be 1/2 of the CDN Northwind.
Am I on the mark here or am I over estimating my Western CDN mates?
I think you have hit the nail on the head Mik. I think with some hard work the Red Deer team might have 3 or 4 guys that could make a go at the team. We have had three in the past (Matt kidd, Jeff Burkin & Darrell Smith). Our team runs much deaper than that. A bit of fitness and good coaching would do alot for some of our guys. If I have anything to do with it our side for Kelowna will be alot stronger this year! I think we should get an east west game organized later this year or sometime next year. Any one else interested?
Let's be realistic here. Ontario has 9 established clubs with two more forming this year compared with 6 out west, 2 of which didn't play at all last year. That only tells part of the story though.
OAFL clubs play a regular season of 13-15 rounds (depending on the year) plus playoffs, which are all full-length games played 18 a side. The only time short games are played here is in the pre-season tournament. The OAFL has roughly 70% Canadian players (it follows AFL Canada roster regulations) who play weekly from May to September except for byes and long weekends. There are easily 200+ Northwind-eligible players in the OAFL, some with 150 full-length games under their belts. That pool will grow as new clubs join the league and standards are rising too.
Western clubs play a handful of games each year, some of which are short tournament ones. Apparently the AFL Canada roster regulations haven't been followed, so fewer Canadian players get playing time. How many eligible players are playing out west and how many games have they played? It's probably only 1/4 of the number in Ontario or maybe less.
More western players on the Northwind would be great to see, but development out there has lagged behind Ontario. If there was a BCAFL with 6 or so teams and an Alberta AFL with 4 or so, Northwind selectors would have more western players to look at and they'd be more experienced too.
True North,
Yes you are right re Ontario leading the way with Aussie Footy in Canada.
We, the West is picking up at a rapid pace.
It's good to see the East of CDN is leading in something, ie leading in the Best sport, Aussie Rules
CFL and NHL West CDN teams kick Butt over East!
It's highly likely based on the maths alone that the east will be much stronger than the west, but it would be great to see east vs west as part of Northwind selection, or just for bragging rights and settle the debate. Could it be slotted into a mid-season break each year? No doubt too late in 2007 and 2008 is the IC so I guess 2009 would be the earliest chance. But for the easterners who might think to dismiss the west, don't wait until they've caught up - you'd hate to finally play them and lose - after a decade or more of "on paper" domination, the record would be 0 - 1. Make hay while the sun shines.
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