Who will win the 2014 International Cup?

[cos789]

Simple question. Any ideas ?
PNG, NZ and Ireland are always up there.
There's a multitude of countries that threaten.
I'm going for a dark horse GB, they seem to be taking a very professional approach this year.

 

[jatz14]

I think Ireland or NZ, but I am interested to see if other countries improve relative to them.

 

[cos789]

I think Ireland or NZ, but I am interested to see if other countries improve relative to them.

I was surprised a bit that Ireland won the 2013 IC.
There were plenty of countries that were right up there and that intense competition amongst other contenders could have worked in Ireland's favour. You look at a country like Canada which had manufactured a large jump in standards and were by all accounts they were equivalent to their major adversery the USA, yet went down in in IC placings (I think).
IMO nthere are three styles nof football evident at the IC - developing, attractive and AFL style. PNG seems to be the only country capable of winning with an attractive style of football. Ireland, GB, NZ, USA and Canada mimic the AFL style quite closely.

 

[sverik25]

cos, Ireland won the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS and the EURO CUP, not the international cup.
Anyway, my tip is PNG.

 

[cos789]

cos, Ireland won the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS and the EURO CUP, not the international cup.
Anyway, my tip is PNG.

Sorry typo, meant 2011

Year Host Final Third place match Number of teams
Winner Score Runner-up 3rd place Score 4th place
2002
Details Melbourne[5]
Ireland[6] 7.9 (51) - 2.7 (19)
Papua New Guinea
New Zealand 3.7 (25) - 2.4 (16)
Denmark 11
2005
Details Melbourne, Wangaratta[7]
New Zealand[8] 7.8 (50) - 5.2 (32)
Papua New Guinea
United States 10.5 (65) - 4.6 (30)
Ireland 10
2008
Details Melbourne, Warrnambool[9]
Papua New Guinea[10] 7.12 (54) - 7.4 (46)
New Zealand
South Africa 4.9 (33) - 5.2 (32)
Ireland 16
2011
Details Melbourne, Sydney[1]
Ireland[11] 8.5 (53) - 5.5 (35)
Papua New Guinea

 

[Dustin Credible]

cos, Ireland won the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS and the EURO CUP, not the international cup.
Anyway, my tip is PNG.

Last year (2013) Ireland won the European Championships (18 -a-side) England won the Euro Cup (9-a-side).

As always with these things the ability to travel will decide a lot.

 

[Aucklander]

I'm hopeful of getting a week off work and get to a few of these games. Hopefully New Zealand can win. Getting close to the AIS team should give them plenty of hope for another title.

 

[globalfooty]

I'm hopeful of getting a week off work and get to a few of these games. Hopefully New Zealand can win. Getting close to the AIS team should give them plenty of hope for another title.

I say that New Zealand will go in slight favorites over PNG. Ireland were scraping the barrel last time around and picked up a few very handy players late in their recruiting campaign. Don't be surprised to see a big step up from the USA or Great Britain too. Both squads look significantly improved. My bold prediction is that Ireland will miss the top four.

 

[SgtSchulz]

The US will shock everyone this year with their improvement.

 

[cos789]

The US will shock everyone this year with their improvement.

Any particular reason or just musing ?

 

[SgtSchulz]

Any particular reason or just musing ?

Just the number of people playing and the structure. The US team are taking fitness very seriously (as are Canada and everyone else probably).

 

[jatz14]

I agree they will improve, but I do not think they will be alone in that. NZ has been getting a lot of high caliber games in over the last few years. GB seems to be taking it pretty serious as well. PNG is getting more exposure into the younger set coming through. Not sure what is happening in SA, but what few numbers i have seen look good. America could well improve their footy significantly, but not climb up the leaderboard much.

 

[cos789]

I agree they will improve, but I do not think they will be alone in that. NZ has been getting a lot of high caliber games in over the last few years. GB seems to be taking it pretty serious as well. PNG is getting more exposure into the younger set coming through. Not sure what is happening in SA, but what few numbers i have seen look good. America could well improve their footy significantly, but not climb up the leaderboard much.

I agree.
A lot of teams are improving and the bar gets raised with every competition.
Expect to see a big improvement from the French team but they still have along way to go. I suspect the USA and Canada suffer from a lack of top competition compared to some other countries.

 

[The_Wookie]

NZ for mine as the development structures over there are greatly improved, but PNG could well take it. I also expect US improvement.

 

[ike2112]

If the development AFL players turn out for NZ then I think they'll be a class above. Their annual match with the AIS shows how much better they are overall. There's I think 4 or 5 NZ players now on AFL development lists and another 3 or 4 playing state, that's a big difference.

 

[Morten Nielsen]

Simple question. Any ideas ?
PNG, NZ and Ireland are always up there.
There's a multitude of countries that threaten.
I'm going for a dark horse GB, they seem to be taking a very professional approach this year.

Ireland and NZ in the final with NZ to win it with the US as underdog to take a final place also instead of Ireland, but still with NZ to win.

 

[JaySchultzforPM]

The Canadians will win the women's division. They came second in 2011 and have improved beyond compare. And they smashed the US in the 2013 49th Parallel Cup.

 

[The_Wookie]

I agree they will improve, but I do not think they will be alone in that. NZ has been getting a lot of high caliber games in over the last few years. GB seems to be taking it pretty serious as well. PNG is getting more exposure into the younger set coming through. Not sure what is happening in SA, but what few numbers i have seen look good. America could well improve their footy significantly, but not climb up the leaderboard much.

GB lost to Ireland by a single point at the European Championships last year, could be one to break the Big 4 stranglehold. (Currently interviewing the GB coach)

Can also report that the Danes couldnt put together the funds to send a team this year.

 

[ike2112]

Any idea when the AFL will start advertising about it on their website? Was expecting them to offer a fair bit of coverage.

Do the Irish take the Euros seriously?
Do GB take the best players from around England, Wales and Scotland or do they pick a dev squad from the London league and focus on developing them as a unit?

 

[cos789]

Any idea when the AFL will start advertising about it on their website? Was expecting them to offer a fair bit of coverage.

Probably increase from now on.
Another event seems to be overiding the news.
Australia thrashed the Nederlands in the WC (hockey) to become world champions
and what news did we have of that - so what chance the IC preliminaries ?

 

[The_Wookie]

Any idea when the AFL will start advertising about it on their website? Was expecting them to offer a fair bit of coverage.

Do the Irish take the Euros seriously?
Do GB take the best players from around England, Wales and Scotland or do they pick a dev squad from the London league and focus on developing them as a unit?

There'll be a writeup that will cover this tonight.