Aussie Rules Football : Can anyone beat the heat?

Dubai : The AFL Middle East VB Premiership Trophy will kick off its second season tomorrow, and if there is one team to beat, it has to be the Dubai Heat.

Having bagged the inaugural trophy last season, that’s not the only piece of silverware the reigning champions have picked up in the three years they have been around. Winners of the Dubai 9s for three years on the bounce, the Heat didn’t stop there, extending their supremacy to the continental level where they successfully defended their Asian Championship crown in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year.

Captain Andrew Bereza does not hide the fact that the entire squad are already dreaming about completing a unique hat-trick of Asian crowns. But if the Heat’s domestic rivals are hoping that proves to be a distraction, they are sadly mistaken.

“The Asian Championship is the biggest competition out there and if we win that next year, no team has ever won it thrice,” said 29-year-old Bereza before adding: “But we definitely want to win back-to-back league titles. It’s a title we wouldn’t trade for anything else.”

Bereza could not deny that the biggest challenge confronting the team will be keeping their motivation levels on a high after winning everything up for grabs. “It does become harder and harder to keep the guys fresh and motivated.

“But the guys are definitely fired up as no doubt the competition is going to be more determined to beat us this year.”

Compelling evidence of the quality among the Heat’s ranks comes from their record of having lost just one competitive game in 41 matches. Jess Murchie who has assumed the coaching role after picking up an injury believes trying to maintain that record is the ideal way to stay motivated. “Momentum is very important because we have such a good win-loss ratio and we certainly want to keep it at one,” said Murchie.
 

The Heat also recognise their role as ambassadors for the sport in the Gulf region which has seen the league welcome a new team to the fold – the Bahrain Blues. “It used to be just us and the Dubai Dingoes at one time, so to see the league grow from just two of us to seven teams is incredible,” said Bereza.

Cameron Hotton, the AFL Middle East Football Operations Manager added: “We’ve had a bit of interest from other countries but we’re not quite set up for that right now. But it is certainly something we are looking at doing in the future.”

Hotton said he also expects to see the AFL return to the UAE for an exhibition game “in the next couple of years” after last year’s spectacle between Collingwood and the Adelaide Crows.