The 2012 IAFL kicks of on Sunday 26th February for what promises to be one of the most exciting seasons of football ever to be played in this country. The league has expanded to 11 teams and adopted a new two division format. There is also a new play-off structure whereby the two division winners will get a bye into the Shamrock Bowl semis and the 3rd placed team will travel to the 2nd placed team in each division in the wildcard round.
IAFL North:
The new IAFL North division will contain the 3 teams who played in last years IAFL North namely Carrickfergus Knights, Craigavon Cowboys and Belfast Trojans. Two teams from the western suburbs of Dublin – West Dublin Rhinos and Dublin Dragons have been added to the division. The IAFL North is noted for its close rivalries and the addition of local rivals the Rhinos and Dragons should mean this division maintains this reputation. The Knights are the bookmakers favourites to win the division. However, the Cowboys, Trojans and Rhinos have improved over the past 12 months and should give the Knights a run for their money. The Rhinos in particular, have been aggressively recruiting over the past off-season. Indications are that the Dragons will be stronger than in 2011. They have expanded their squad, added some new coaches and have a core of veteran players returning. Overall this will be a tight division with teams regularly taking points off one another in close games.
IAFL South:
The new IAFL South is made up of the Munster teams, 3 teams from Dublin and newcomers Tullamore Phoenix. The main feature of this division is that it contains both of last seasons Shamrock Bowl finalists – the Dublin Rebels and University of Limerick Vikings. Both teams are expected to be as strong as ever and have a lot of experienced veterans. It’s difficult to predict which will come out on top in this division. UCD was the most improved team in 2011 and should win some games, however, they are short on experience in some areas. Fellow university team, Trinity College are coming off a jekyll and hyde style 2011 whereby they started strong and faded as the season progressed. In spite of having the least experienced squad in the IAFL they are expected to have more consistency this season. The Cork Admirals have changed their coaching lineup and increased the number of veteran players their squad in a bid to rebound from a poor 2012. A lot is expected from newcomers Tullamore Phoenix, who have been the most successful DV8s team since the inception of the programme. The Rebels and Vikings are the class of this division, however, the remaining four teams all see themselves as being in the running to make the play-offs.
Previews of upcoming games will be published on a weekly basis.
