Aussie Rules teams hope to return to the UAE

Dubai: It seems Aussie Rules football is here to stay going by the huge response and the evident success of the first-ever match held at the Ghantoot Racing and Polo Club in Abu Dhabi last week where the Adelaide Crows breezed past the Collingwood Magpies 136-55 in a season-opening NAB Cup encounter.

"Now that the match is over we will spend time taking stock of things to ascertain the financial success of the entire exercise," Gillon McLachlan, Australian Football League's (AFL) Chief Broadcasting and Commercial Officer told Gulf News.

"We are thrilled with the response of the public and the sponsors to this match. Now we will have to sit down and see how we can possibly go one step better."

A capacity crowd of 6,000 attended the first Aussie Rules football match at Ghantoot, thus giving organisers enough reason to think about something else in the future.

"We only hope we can come back and play here again," AFL Chairman Andrew Demetriou said.

"We are thrilled with the attendance here, the organisation, the hospitality. One of the first things we will do after we get back home is to review this and try and take it a step further. All bodes well for the future.

Enthusiasm

"We know that the interest is there for the sport. Now we can only hope that people start showing a further interest and start playing Aussie Rules football."

The Crows spent most of their build-up at home, while the Emirates-sponsored Collingwood opted to spend a couple of weeks in South Africa prior to arriving in the UAE.

The on-field approach of the teams varied also. Neil Craig, the coach of the Crows preferred to bleed a handful of youngsters, while Collingwood went ahead with their normal team and perhaps a little less enthusiasm.

"It's always good to win. We are aware Collingwood are a solid side, but we have loads of energy to take them on," Craig said before the match.

And how true he was as his young army held their own to get past the more experienced Collingwood in a thumping victory.

"We've enjoyed every moment we have been here. We deliberately chose to go through this experience as we get the opportunity of performing in not so favourable conditions rather than performing in comfort back home," Neil explained.

Adelaide skipper Simon Goodwin was at his best, adapting well in his new position in the attack. "This has been an exciting place to be. The challenge was to win and we have achieved our first goal. Now we hope we can keep this momentum going," Goodwin said.

"We are ambassadors for the sport and we are here to ensure that this is not the one and only experience for us playing outside Australia."