Those at the International Cup last year or following the Peace Team on their journey there may have noticed the cameras (and microphones) accompanying the team. That footage has come together in “Tackling Peace” the inspirational story of Israeli and Palestinian youths who unite over the game of Australian football. Along with the players and team staff the program also features Kevin Sheehan, Ron Barassi and Robert ‘Dipper’ DiPierdomenico.

The documentary narrated by Hugo Weaving premieres on Saturday 4 July 2009 on Network Ten - 1.00pm Sydney & Adelaide, 2.00pm Melbourne & Brisbane, 4.00pm Perth with replays to follow on the ONE digital channel. The film is also featuring as the Opening night Film at the 2009 AICE Australian Film Festival in Jerusalem.

With recent discussion on the 2011 International Cup, it's timely to have a look back at some of the fun the players had at Brauer College in Warrnambool at one of the functions of IC08. This Youtube posting shows the players dancing while IC08 ground announcer Rod "Grilla" Grljusich belts out a song with the Sky Rockats. Watch out for Brian Dixon and his wife Carmel on the dance floor around 2:30.

On Tuesday 26th August the AFL held an International Forum for international footy stakeholders. Convened in the Legends Room at the MCG, the day ran for about four hours and included at least two representatives from each participant country at the International Cup, as well as other people involved in football and multicultural issues. worldfootynews.com was fortunate to have two representatives involved (Troy Thompson and myself) - we ensured we were primarily observers but our thoughts were also welcomed when the representatives broke into smaller groups. The day was facilitated by the AFL's Travis Jackson, who in 2007 spent time working with AFL South Africa in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. In this article we'll briefly discuss some of the issues raised.

Luke Matias played for the British Bulldogs in both the 2005 and 2008 International Cups. After the 2005 IC he stayed on to play top level Amateur football in Melbourne and was featured in this WFN story.

Luke had an excellent tournament this year, being named Great Britain’s Best & Fairest for the Cup and was selected in the Australian Football International Cup World Team.

WFN caught up with Luke to assess his thoughts on the progress of international footy from the second to the third IC.

India was one of five nations that attended their first International Cup this year. Two thirds of the team flew in from Kolkata, India with the rest of the squad Indian students already in Australia.

WFN spoke to team captain Mario Shelton about his journey to Melbourne and his plans for the game back home.

As previously reported, Ireland's key defender Mike Finn (pictured left) was named the top player of the 2008 Australian Football International Cup. He squeezed past Sweden's Andreas Svensson and joint 2005 winner, Samoa's Fia Too-too, both on 7 votes. Below are all the players who received 4 or more votes, which were awarded on the 3-2-1 system by umpires after each match in the 5 round competition.

Remarkably, Finn scored votes in 4 of the 5 rounds, only missing out in Ireland's 98 to nil defeat of Finland in Round 2, a match in which he was rested given his heavy workload, playing in a final the next day for local club Heidelberg. A quick check of their website reveals Finn came 6th in their seniors best and fairest, a great effort at a quality club in a premiership year. Heidelberg play in the Northern Football League (formerly known as the Diamond Valley Football League) in Melbourne. He was also recently married, so it was a huge month for the Irishman.

worldfootynews.com asked China's Team Manager and Australian Football Development Officer, Andrew Sawitsch, his thoughts on the 2008 International Cup from the perspective of the Chinese Red Demons. Overall he felt it was a great experience for both the players and staff, though he left no doubt that a development division was and remains their preference for the lower ranked sides. Sawitsch also has some interesting comments on China's opponents. "Sanga" as he is known, also revealed the surprising country that China formed the closest bond with. His thoughts are given below.

It's also interesting to note that the AFL are currently surveying the countries, asking for feedback on issues such as the pool structure, facilities, host locations (Melbourne and Warrnambool), frequency of the event (3 or 4 years), costs, umpiring and medical assistance, functions and how a junior carnival could be staged.

The International Cup was a great success because of the many people who made it happen, from the AFL Development staff and a range of other people, mostly volunteers including the umpires, trainers and physios, the ground announcer and the alternative as well as official AFL IC 08 media. It also had its scenes, its images, its moments off the field as well as on – that’s footy.

Paul Duncan was one of the standouts for the US Revolution team at this year's International Cup. The mobile forward played in five matches for his country in the competition kicking goals against South Africa and China and featured as best player for the US in the match against China.

Duncan was this week featured in the Winston Salem Journal - the full article is reproduced below.

An issue that began to become obvious over the course of the 2008 International Cup was a growing frustration amongst some nations over the umpiring. Firstly we should note that the umpires were generally Australian umpires from Victoria who had volunteered their time for the tournament, doing their part for international footy, and it was greatly appreciated by those involved. What we're going to discuss here was a relatively minor issue and was primarily an issue of different interpretations.

To generalise, the main rules that were causing most cries of discontent from the benches were high contact and in the back when tackling, and holding the ball / incorrect disposal.

Additional reporting by Stephen Alomes.

After Papua New Guinea's narrow win over New Zealand in the International Cup Grand Final worldfootynews.com headed down to the rooms to get the thoughts of winning coach Andrew Cadzow, runners-up coach Robert Vanstam, and we also had a quick word to retired AFL champion, PNG's Mal Michael.

The biggest single event during the 2008 Australian Football International Cup was arguably the "Dinner with the World" function at the Palladium at Crown in Melbourne on Thursday 5th September. Around 1300 guests attended this glittering evening, with the 16 competing nations and the Multicultural Challenge teams, as well as AFL guests and sponsors.

There were a few speeches, the announcement of the World Team, and several cultural performances along the lines of those given by the teams in Warrnambool, as well as one by an Aboriginal group.

Looking out across the sea of people gave a sense of just how far international footy has come in the last few years. The event itself would have cost at least AUD$100,000. Perhaps the most significant speech was that of Australian Federal Trade Minister Simon Crean. Late in 2007 there was a change of government and the new one appears to be quite interested in working with the AFL in using Australian Football as a tool for increasing trade with other nations. This can only be a good thing for the development of our sport, and something we should hear more about in future.

Although light on detail, you can hear more of Crean's speech in our Youtube video of the night.