During the NAB Cup second-round match between Collingwood and Sydney on Friday night, footy's multiculturalism went a bit Anglo when we had an American and a Canadian facing off in the ruck.
The American, Collingwood's Seamus McNamara (there's an Irish connection in there somewhere), grappled with Sydney's Mike Pyke at several ball-ups. Both had come late to the game, having decided in their mid-20s they might like the challenge of playing Australian football.
Their stories reflect each other's to a degree. McNamara, 25, is a former college basketballer, who showed on Friday night that he's comfortable in traffic. Pike, 26, is a former rugby union international, who reverted to his rugby days with a kick for which he cupped the ball in the kicking hand at 45 degrees to his boot.
The result was an up-and-under that slewed in the general direction of the Swans' forward line. As if by magic, Adam Goodes emerged with a bustling run from full-forward to take the ball neatly on his chest. Pike was made to look like a genius, or at least a lucky former rugby player.
McNamara, wearing No.50, played his first game in senior company. At one stage he made us sit up by out-manoeuvring his Sydney opponent, Andrejs Everitt, who sure enough has an exotic name but he comes from Hastings.
McNamara converted his mark into a goal. He played his part as his Pies saw off those pesky Swans with a well-earned victory.
The most impressive victory of the weekend was St Kilda's 56-point win over Geelong, which admittedly was undermanned.
The Saints' best were Riewoldt (German) and Montagna (Italian). Both would have been happy with a white-bread victory after the club's multi-hued off-season.
Of the NAB Challenge matches, Richmond defeated Port Adelaide by three points in Alice Springs. The Tigers' best included recruit Bachar Houli, who created headlines a few years ago at Essendon when he became the first Muslim to play in the AFL.
Adelaide thrashed Fremantle in their match at Thebarton Oval in Adelaide. The Crows' best included the big Baltic bruiser Ivan Maric.
Carlton thrashed Greater Western Sydney by 157 points in their match at Manuka Oval, Canberra.
The Blues were the original multicultural club, gaining strong support from the suburb of Carlton's Italian and Jewish communities because they welcomed players from those backgrounds into their ranks. On Saturday the Blues' line-up was found wanting in terms of a rainbow of nations, but they did have a Scotland among their best players.
At Visy Park on Saturday, the Bulldogs added another chapter to Brisbane Lions' lamentable pre-season when they defeated the Lions by 70 points. The Bulldogs' best included Veszpremi and Giansiracusa, who both kicked two goals, while the Lions played their first game officially without Brendan Fevola as a listed player.
A decade ago, Fevola's name interested Irish reporters who were in Australia to cover an international rules series. The Irish found it highly amusing that such an Irish first name as Brendan could be coupled with such an Italian surname as Fevola.
The Australian reporters admitted they'd never thought of it that way, but the Irish were keen to make the point. To their way of thinking, Fev was quite an exotic creature.
