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Vikings Retain Title
After eight weeks of solid training, the 1999 DAFL representative team to play Great Britain was finally at Kastrup airport and ready to head for England.
As far as DAFL representative sides go, it was very much a new-look team. Only two of the Danes had played in DAFL's last side. Also, ten of the 24 had made their DAFL debuts last year, with a further seven having done so the year before. The side averaged in at 25.8 years of age and 30.2 games. The age range extended from Fredrik Sajjadi (34) to Andreas Christensen (18), while in terms of games played, the experience ranged from Cameron Fisher (88) to Mads Brinks and René Storgaard (12 each).
The writing was on the wall from the word GO, as Cameron Fisher tried to go through immigration without a boarding pass. On the plane, things were not much better. Everyone was a little excited, maybe because of the sour faced hostess. Then it happened, the saftey demo began. This was obviously the signal for Cameron and company to start the ball rolling! In all my years of travelling, I have never seen the safety demo stopped, and in this instance it was to tell Cam and the boys to shut up.
One little tip about GO! airlines - if you are in the back of the plane, take a packed lunch, as they run out of food by the time they get to the last ten seats. When they say no-frills and low-cost, they're not kidding.
By the time we landed, the team had been finalized. The coaching staff was satisfied that the starting line-up was as strong as could be expected. We safely made it to the Porchester Hotel, thanks to BARFL GM, Matt Glynn, who met us at Liverpool Street station. Matt had had his arm twisted, and decided to stay for a beer. A quick team meeting was convened and the team was read out - then it was off to find some local tucker.
The players were under strict orders regarding their behaviour on the Friday night, particularly concerning the consumption of alcohol. It was fortunate that these orders did not also apply to the coach (who had given them) as he was not allowed out of the Explorer's Club. One of the local footy hierarchy had locked the door - high praise indeed!
On the morning of the match, another team meeting was held and the side was once again read out. A breakfast fit for a king was duly put away, and after a while, the side gathered at 11.00 and set off for the ground. The journey was compounded by some repair work which always seems to be going on on the Underground no matter when you're there, and a distinct lack of awareness of where we were supposed to be going. Also in the back of my mind was the snoring of Messrs Ghazouani and Øllgaard which rendered my night sleepless (nothing to do with being locked in at the bar, eh?)
Arriving at the ground (which was new to DAFL players, international or not), was a shock. It brought back memories of Fælledparken in 1992 - 28 degrees, a public park, and a surface like the Hume Highway. The only thing missing was the topless sun-worhippers around the boundary line!
Danny Finn had offered to run the water for us, which under these conditions was just crucial. In addition to that, he also managed to find the meeting place for all the George Michaels that were around.
The arrival of two DAFL Executive Committee members was a bonus. Having lost their way to the ground, too, they had wandered into a pub to ask directions and stumbled across the British team, complete with coach and pre-match address. With this unexpected advantage, a quick review of our pre-game plane was essential.
Immediately prior to the bounce, our skipper Henrik Dahl, delivered a marvellous speech to the team. Having played rugby for Denmark, he knew what events like this were all about. We had deliberated for weeks over the choice of captain, and Henrik's performance both on and off the field left us in no doubt that we had made the right choice.
The first quarter of the game left no-one in any doubt that this game was not going to be won easily - clearly both sides were hell-bent on winning. The match had been preceeded by a game between BARFL Victorians and the Rest of Australia. The contrast between a social game of skilled Australians and a fair dinkum stoush between non-Australians was not lost on anyone.
The British threw everything at us early on. Our skill level had allowed us to withstand it pretty well. But the tightness of the contest meant that there was hardly any scoring early on. The ball was in our forward line for almost the entire quarter but we had only managed one goal. With the end of the quarter in sight, we dropped our guard somewhat and they put through two goals. The scoreboard still showed the Vikings with twice as many scoring shots, and the players knew very well which statistic represented the balance of play the most.
There was some great football played during the game. Lars Schønnemann was winning well in the ruck, our half-back line of Allan Petersen, Patrick Ghazouani and Eric Krolmark went from strength to strength, and Cameron Fisher and Mathias Øllgaard really provided focal point up forward. But the stand-out was Pàlle Finnsson whose two great second quarter goals broke the game open. In many ways he was the difference between the teams. The Vikings were just starting to get on top when the half-time siren interrupted their momentum.
Those who were concerned about that need not have worried. The Vikings wrapped up the match with a devastating third quarter - as ever, the premiership quarter. Fisher and Mads Brinks were on fire as they continually drove the ball down forward and had it not been for our poor kicking in front of goal, the result might have been embarrassing.
The most impressive aspect of the match was that neither side ever gave up. Despite the gradually widening gap on the scoreboard, the British continually made us earn the ball the hard way. From a coaching viewpoint, it was particularly pleasing that what we had spent so much time practising was coming out in our play - from Christian Jacobsen at full back to Øllgaard at full forward, we ran the ball as much as possible, and at times even overdid the handball.
The last quarter was a pulling-up affair, and at the final siren we were fully in control of the game. Both Joacim Aulin and myself were very proud of the 24 players that represented DAFL. For their part, the players were over the moon. We went back to the Alexandra to have a few quiet ones with the Great British team, and then back to the Explorers Club (if we could find it).
After the match, an elated and relieved DAFL president announced that as the guernseys the players were wearing were five years old, rotting, and in some cases adorned with the logo of a certain provider of alcoholic beverages who hasn't given DAFL a cracker in five years, the players could keep them. It was a popular announcement.
My final impressions of a very satisfying day were at 2.00 on the Sunday morning, sitting outside the pub talking to our president, and listening to another DAFL committee-man snoring on the step behind us. At least he wasn't crying!
I would like to thank everyone at BARFL for their hospitality, in particular Matty Glynn. I'd also like to make particular mention of Joacim Aulin, and thank him for his imput to the team and his tireless efforts on the day, and to Danny Finn who ran water to a needy team.
Stuart Stevens (coach).
(The DAFL Executive Committee would also like to thank and congratulate Stuart on his commitment and success in this match, which we consider crucial in terms of measuring our development).
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