AFL Toyota Premiership 2011

Country snapshot

Finland is a Scandinavian nation in northern European which boasts vast forests, an archipelago, numerous lakes and 35 national parks. It borders the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Russia.

The country is known for being calm and peaceful, and boasts a long history of steaming away the troubles of life – Finland’s 5.3 million people have 1.8 million saunas between them.

Renowned for its cool design concepts and architecture, Finland has a rich history in forest industries and has more recently developed its engineering and IT sectors.

Popular sports are Pesäpallo (similar to baseball), ice-hockey, motor racing, athletics, skiing, soccer and floorball (similar to indoor hockey).

Famous for: design and architecture, Nokia phones, Father Christmas, reindeer, Finlandia vodka, Nordic walking – a low impact, pole-assisted full body workout akin to skiing with the fun taken out.

Australian football history

The story of Australian football in Finland unfolds not unlike the evolution of the game in Australia 150 years ago. Take a few Aussies, a bar and a proposal of a kick in the local park. The concept quickly catches on and the Finns form a national side, the Lions, in 2005.

Finland runs a nine-a-side competition in a four-team league, as well as playing international games against Sweden and England. The Central European champions – now known as the Icebreakers – will compete in the International Cup for the first time in 2008.

National jumper

Blue and white with an iceberg on the front.

Secret weapon

League side the Salo Juggernaughts boasted AFL premiership holder and Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel in their line-up last October. But Salo’s number eight is ineligible for the International Cup, so the Icebreakers will have to rely on their hand-eye coordination skills from volleyball and basketball, and zoning experience from soccer.

Finns are naturals at footy because…

They’ve wholeheartedly embraced the Aussie spirit. Not only do the players give each other a ribbing like any good old-fashioned Australian team, they also celebrate post-game with a barbie and a few beers.

Records

They may not have the history or high profile stars of the AFL, but the Finland national Australian football side does make the unofficial record books. The Lions' first home game in Helsinki on May 13, 2006 is believed to be the northernmost game of Australian football ever played.

The hardest thing about playing footy in Finland is…

No ovals, no goalposts. Shoes and shirts or footballs are placed as markers in public parks that are used for training.

The players have also never played an 18-a-side match as their local competitions play nine-a-side.

The good news? The Icebreakers improve every time they take to the field.

Finland Team List (.pdf)