DALLAS — The Dallas Magpies Australian
Rules Football Club faces one of its toughest challenges of the season when it
takes on the Chicago Swans on Saturday. Both teams are coming off key wins in
round one of the Mid-American Australian Football League, and a win in this
match would put the victor in the driver’s seat on the road to the MAAFL
championship.
The game between the league rivals
will begin at 12 noon at Lookout Park in Richardson.
Dallas, playing its first home
MAAFL match of the season, earned a hard-fought road victory over the Milwaukee
Bombers on May 7. The Magpies 67-41 win against a team that finished 2004 tied
for the best record in the league got the MAAFL season off to a great start and
kept the Magpies undefeated, including a non-conference win over Baton Rouge in
April. Chicago, however, had an even more impressive opening match, running out
to a 113-16 home win over the Nashville Kangaroos. The 97-point win has Chicago
atop the MAAFL leaderboard on percentage points.
The Magpies, under new
player/coach Stuart Rackham, will be counting on key contributions from several
players to help combat the Swans. In addition to Rackham, Grant Campbell, named
the most outstanding player at the 2005 United States Australian Football
League All-Star game, held in Dallas in April, will play a key role in the
Magpies attack. The Magpies will also be counting on 2004 rookie of the year
Seth Haesecke. The Swans
will be lead by Jeff
Sakata, who kicked four goals in the win over the Kangaroos.
The Magpies will also be seeking
revenge against the Swans after last year’s hotly contested match in Chicago.
The Swans, after trailing most of the game, stormed back in the fourth quarter
to pull out a narrow 89-84 win.
“We’re going to have to play one
of our best games of the year to beat Chicago,” Rackham said. “We’re coming off
a great performance in Milwaukee where every player contributed to a win, and
we’ll need that same type of effort Saturday.
“I’ve seen tremendous improvement
in our play already this year, and I expect it to continue against the Swans,”
he said.
Admission to the game is free.
The 2005 Magpies MAAFL
Schedule/Results:
|
Date |
Opponent |
Results |
|
April 2 |
vs. Baton Rouge |
W 42-10 |
|
May 7 |
@ Milwaukee |
W 67-41 |
|
May 21 |
vs. Chicago |
|
|
June 11 |
@ Cincinnati |
|
|
June 25 |
vs. Atlanta |
|
|
July 16 |
@ Baton Rouge |
|
|
Aug. 13 |
vs. Nashvillle |
|
|
Aug. 27 |
@ St. Louis |
|
About the Dallas Magpies:
The Dallas Magpies are a 501(c)3
non-profit organization, dedicated to fostering national and international
amateur sports competition as well as promoting a cultural exchange between
Americans and Australians. The Magpies participate in the Mid American
Australian Football League, a division of the United States Australian Football
League. The team is active in promoting the Australian national sport and
Australian culture through clinics at area schools and by sponsoring events
such as the annual Australia Day and ANZAC Day celebrations in the Metroplex.
For more details on organizing a
school clinic, playing footy with the team or supporting the Dallas Magpies
Australian Football Club, e-mail the recruiting department (recruiting@dallasfooty.com).