BANGKOK: The Hong Kong Dragons have won the annual Asian Championships Aussie Rules tournament in front of 2,000 fans in Bangkok.

The Dragons took the crown in the ten-team event after beating Bali by eight points in a Grand Final that was taken to extra time after both sides were tied at 5 goals 4 points (34). For Bali it was their third consecutive second placing, while the Dragons won their third title after finishing seventh last year.

The Dragons began the day by thumping Singapore by 40 points, effectively ending their quest for a hat-trick of titles.

The second Dragons game saw them withstand a brave challenge from the much-improved Malaysia Warriors, winning by two goals.

In the third game of the day, the Dragons comfortably accounted for the Japan Goannas.

The third game of the day pitted Asia's oldest club against tournament newcomer the UAE Heat. Effectively a semi final, the UAE took a two point lead into the half time break but the Dragons regrouped to beat a very tough football side.

The other game taking place then saw the Bali Geckos also playing a semi final against the Indonesia Bintangs. Bali won by 15 points and a blockbuster grand final showdown was in place.

The Dragons and Geckos finished the game tied at 5.4-34 after a Bali player had a free kick on the boundary line after the final siren with the Dragons one point ahead. He kicked a point, to send the game into extra time. The Dragons kicked a goal into the wind and held on to win by eight points after the change of ends.

(Full match reports/pics to follow)

The Nicos: Ellie, Chris and Dominic

The following announcement from Chris Nicolay:
"Ellie and I are very proud to announce the addition of another colt to the stable! We now have St Kilda's 2022 half back line all sorted.

Dominic David Nicolay arrived at 2am last night without too much fuss (I didn't feel a thing..)

He came in at 3.795kg or 8'6" in the old scale 51cm long
Head circ: 37cm

Mum is doing very well and has assured me that the bout of Tourette's syndrome that suddenly overcame her at 1.50am was only temporary.

Dad on the other hand may need some counseling to get over it, and will be likely to seek the combined wisdom of Mr Asahi, Mr Tsingtao and Mr Boag at some stage in the next few days. Will keep you all posted on the details for the celebration.

Ellie is at a shabby little place known as the Matilda Hospital (here's cheers to the GS health plan) and will be there chilling out for a few days.

Auspicious debut: On his first night at training, new arrival Tom joined the injured list

Injury news
Byrneseye and Nico sat out training this week (July 1) as a preventative measure as they watch their hammy and calf complaints.
Rob Caldwell made a tentative return to the training track a fortnight ago. The self-proclaimed Big Man is recovering from a hammy (or some such degenerative elder statesman condition). He got through the training drills unscathed and then umpired the scratchy. He has pencilled in the morning of the first game of the Asian Champs for his next fitness test.
On his first night of training for the Dragons, Hong Kong new arrival Tom injured his shoulder when diving for a mark during a match drill. He wandered off to the local hospital caked in Happy Valley soil and doing a Riggsy (sans shirt) in the hope of attracting some quick medical attention from the nurses. He had earlier mentioned that he had not played footy for four years since sustaining an ankle injury and was hoping to see how it stood up at training.
Colin Mitchell last week broke his lower leg at training on Sunday (June 3) in a sickening tackling accident. Mitch will be sorely missed for the Champs and out of action for an indefinite period.
Dave 'Lips' Kerr, a regular in this column, resumed training this week after weeks sidelined with a torn calf muscle, acquired in the opening minutes of the Jakarta match in Mong Kok. The doctor dismissed claims he had been kicked by a Bintang (without even knowing their reputation), saying it always feels like that.

Besty looks for a place to apply the vaso'

THE FIREBREATHER
Monthly top ten
The biggest movers in the top ten this month were Indonesia, achieving a career-high chart position of 2, in the wake of their visit to Hong Kong. It was the first time Britain had been dislodged from that slot since records began. And also reading about their own exploits were the United Arab Emirates, who perhaps read here first the exclusive breaking news that they were playing in the Asian Champs. Canada slipped down the charts and Hong Kong readers accounted for a larger than usual proportion of the audience.
And here's a glimpse of just who is tuning in around the globe to the website:

May top 10...............................April
United States...............................United States
Indonesia.....................................Great Britain
Great Britain................................China
Thailand.......................................Canada
China...........................................Malaysia
Singapore....................................Thailand
UAE..............................................Indonesia
Malaysia.......................................Singapore
Japan...........................................Japan
Canada.........................................Netherlands

(Big-hitting Hong Kong and Australia not included)

QUOTE OF THE MONTH
You can be forgiven for getting a little excited on game day. Playing against the Bintangs, Besty yelled out to the bench to quickly get some vasolene out to him.

"You're not out there to make friends with them, Besty." Unnamed Dragon bench player.

Asian Champs attracts ten sides
As reported first by the Firebreather, a record field is confirmed for the Asian Champs in Thailand this year, with some real unknown quantities in the mix. They are: Bali Geckos, China Reds, Hong Kong Dragons, Jakarta Bintangs, Malaysian Warriors, Singapore Wombats, Thailand Tigers, Tokyo Goannas, United Arab Emirates Heat and Vietnam Swans.

Latest results
Bali Geckos, runner up in the past two Asian Champs, recently knocked over the Thailand Tigers in their own backyard, during the annual Anzac meet at Kanchanaburi. Score 9.6 vs 3.5. Bali veteran Gunny Muir proved as dangerous as ever, picking up the BOG. The Tigers had earlier in the year thumped the visiting Malaysians by ten goals.

Anyone with kids should take a look at Auskick

Registration is HK$500 per child. The program is run by the Hong Kong Australian Rules Junior Football Club, a non-profit volunteer group. If you have any enquiries please email aussierules_hkkids@yahoo.com.au

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The Dragons work some set pieces, with Byrnes up against Tim and Mick crumbing.

Training Sunday June 17 saw the Dragons, after some standard exercises, move into the first of a month-long series of set piece drills. The committee has put its gigantic wealth of football knowledge together and devised a series of set-piece gameplans that will be played out until Bangkok. Tuesday markes the first time these plan will be put into match practice, with a intraclub session at Mission Rd (see map in Club Info section of website).
About 25 blokes were on the track tonight and although the skills were a little patchy at times, there were some slick moves and sequences. Among those who looked particularly sharp were Nige, Stuchy, Gribble, Taity and Byrneseye even put in a flash dash down the wing that caught the eye. A host of new guys were on the track, including Tom (who injured his shoulder and headed to hospital), Mick who accidentally shaved his head at home, Stefan from Switzerland, and the lumbering giant Tim.

Action Man Kenny: Our Barry Hall lookalike takes a leaf out of the Barry Cable book

After previous training headlines like Fun in the Sun, the fitness and balls session for Thurs June 14 and the weekend June 10 session were called off with Happy Valley under water. This only makes midweek fitness sessions all the more important.
Happy Valley, SundayJune 3
Training was marred by the tackling incident that left gun player Colin Mitchell sidelined indefinitely with a broken leg.

Happy Valley, Saturday May 26.
Twelve dragons ventured to Happy Valley for a skills training session. The club welcomes another tall option in 'Dan', who displayed sound skills and looks like a quality acquisition for the club. Players experienced 'ideal' weather conditions for training; 30 odd degrees and approx. 85% humidity - ideal in the sense that the upcoming champs in BKK will resemble such weather. All touring Dragons need to make an effort to acclimatise themselves to such conditions, especially with multiple games being played on the day of the champs.

Dragon stalwart Sam Gribble put the team through some testing drills, with an emphasis on hard leading, hand passing and long kicking. as the session progressed, it became quite apparent that stamina will be play a vital role on the success of the upcoming asian champs. The session finished with a goal kicking drill, where it seems many dragons need to improve.

With less than seven weeks left until the Asian champs, all Dragons need to commit to both fitness training on Tues and Thurs evenings at Happy Valley with Faulks and on the weekends for skills sessions.
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The Faulks-led fitness sessions are proving gruelling and reasonably popular. Ten blokes turned out Tuesday night May 15 for the testing stint on the outer track of the Happy Valley infield. Started with some quick-stepping through the rope ladder. No obvious candidates for Dancing With The Stars. Then it was down to the serious business of nine lots of 400m sprints. A fast pace was set throughout with all ten runners getting through in a time between 1min 12 secs and 1 min 25. Tough stuff.

The April 28 training session saw the Dragons stepping out in the season's first burst of genuinely hot weather. Once again the numbers were good and after a couple of weeks off the track with an 'absent-amah injury', the Firebreather didn't know half the squad.
Among the handful of newbies on deck the Firebreather had a beer with Johnno, an Adelaide A-grader new to HK with some height who, unlike so many of his peers, is within a decade of his prime.
Coach Wines is looking increasingly magesterial in the role of clipboard toting General, especially as he recovers from shoulder injury.
Shannon, Besty, Wu-boy, Stuchy and a coterie of fit Dragons put in a solid session that augurs well for the forthcoming tour of KL.

The April 15 training session was another good run with more than 20 players on the track, including half a dozen new faces. The following training run on Saturday morning April 21 was also well-attended with more than guys putting in a solid workout. Earlier reports that there was hardly anyone there are blamed on Farmer who as a banker can be relied upon not to count beyond his fingers.

M-Rad takes a grab out front

The March 25 training session was the best of an already high standard month of footy. Twenty two blokes put in an inspired session. There were a few lapses of concentration at some points but overall the skills were good and commitment solid. Besty took the side through a crumbing and running drill and the session ended with some gruelling one-on-one drills and the obligatory 'inverted pyramid' of sit-ups and push-ups.

Again there were a few new guys on deck, including Matty Baron who last showed up five years ago. Jimmy was a ruck-sized new addition and M-Rad (pictured right) had his brother Fred on the track, which made for a particularly prickly man-on-man drill at the end of the night.

Highlight: some sterling, unbroken passages during the six-point delivery drill.
Comic relief: Longhair Mallia doing an inadvertent socceroo-style header during circle work.

Kev from Narrogin made his debut on the training track this week

Training session, March 18
Another great turnout, with about 15-20 blokes on the track. This came as a relief when there were only two there at 4.30pm, the designated start time.

Once again there were some new faces on the track, including Lips' mate Kev from Narrogin (in the WA wheatbelt).

Building on last week's start to the season, the session focused on just getting the skills right, with the usual handball, short pass drills kicking things off and circle work rounding out the night.

Make sure you get along this week (a few minutes earlier, maybe) and get involved. The season has started really well so keep it going. Malaysia tour is looming large on the calendar.

And finally, if you have any hassles getting to training on a Sunday because of the kids, just bring them along. There's always a few kids around and some footies for them to kick around.

The junior Dragons kept busy on the sidelines

Training session, March 11
An excellent turn-out of players for the first training run of season 2007 hit the track under the tutelege of the newly revamped Football Department.

Happy Valley's infield reverberated to the sound of 20 Hong Kong Dragons putting in a very energetic and polished 90 minute session.

With new coach Winesy taking the reins and Training and Fitness coaches Besty and Morgan assisting ably, the squad could be barely be held back from putting in a full-throttle skills workout.

Winesy begun his tenure by instructing his charges that he would keep the talking to a minimum except for game days. He then proceeded to explode that theory by talking it up after every drill. The former A-grade star also tried in vain to keep the session light and easy-paced but after so long off the paddock, noone paid heed to that call. One sensed this was much to coach's inner delight.

Phil and Darren were a couple of the new faces for the Dragons opening training session of the '07

Among the familiar faces were a couple of FNGs, namely Dazza and Phil.

After a particularly dazzling bout of circle work, coach Winesy regaled the squad with compliments, only to notice a slight falling off immediately after.

"Just as I gave you all effusive, ummmm, positives, it fell away a bit," said Winesy, giving some the players hint of the powers of observation and dodgy syntax they can expect this season.

On a misty night under some late light drizzle, the Dragons put in a good night full of early voice, run, backup and even some finesse and touch.

Quote of the night went to Nico, who upon being farted at by the well-travelled Besty during streches, spat: "I don't know how they let you through customs with that shit".

REMINDER: The first squash results are coming in. If you haven't organised a hit with your drawn opponent (see squash story for draw), try and get it sorted this week.

Boges