Phants Blog

Elephants Gallant in Defeat to Bintangs 19/4/08

30 Apr 2008, 08:56am | Updated 25 Jun 2008, 03:43pm. Posted by Marty

*** Check out the photo gallery of the game at the bottom of the full article!! *** 

Match Report

The first ever game of International Australian Rules Football has been played in the Lao PDR on a very hot Saturday afternoon with the Jakarta Bintangs triumphing by 48 points over a brave Lao Elephants side at the National University of Laos Stadium in Vientiane. The Bintangs depth proved too strong for the young Elephants in front of between 100 - 1000 fans who were treated to a sporting carnival with a pre-match soccer game between the National University of Laos and Vientiane College, a better sausage sizzle than any bunnings car park, and a live band playing all the latest Laotian hits.

In the tradition of all Lao Elephants games 3 Irish lads were recruited from a bar the night before the game in a bid to fill some of the gaping holes in the Elephants midfield, defence, and attack. Local hero Souk led the side out through a magnificent banner prepar ed by the Phants cheer squad and from the beginning (perhaps inspired by the evocative 'lamvong' rendition of the Lao National Anthem played by the band) it was frenetic. The Sepo Chris was giving the midfielders every opportunity with his expert ruck work and thuggery, and the Elephants were holding their own in contests all over the park but the Bintangs are a quality side and snuck a couple of goals in front before ...

Posted by Marty

TRI-NATIONS MATCH REPORTS

08 Dec 2007, 07:34pm | Updated 25 Jun 2008, 02:46pm. Posted by Marty

November 17th 2007 will always be remembered as a great day in the history of the Lao People's Democratic Republic as it saw the debut of the Lao Elephants - its first and only National Australian Rules Football Team. Leading up to the day things were not looking good with a squad that had been decimated by injuries and softness (a curse that had seen some of our greatest talent fall by the wayside with excuses so lame it led to the destruction of talat sao at the behest of an angry national President....but that is a whole other story....).

Upon arriving at Wattay Airport the squad had 13 fit players, several of which were not 100% on the rules yet. In the immigration queue this scribe was approached by a transparent Irish chap who said something incomprehensible to me and pointed at the football I was carrying. Like most human beings I am terrified of the Irish and offered him the footy immediately just in case he was in a fightin' mood....As it turned out him and his 7 travelling pals were gaelic footballers from the west coast of Ireland.....like a gift sent from a jig dancing, guiness drinking, lepricorn loving god a light bulb flashed above my head and all of a sudden our squad had swelled to 21 and our hopes had skyrocketed!

Despite losing the Irish lads on Friday night, they were found again on Saturday morning headed out to the ground with us following the jumper ...

Posted by Marty

Elephants Gallant, Mahouts Victorious!!!!!!!!!

08 Dec 2007, 07:33pm | Updated 08 Dec 2007, 08:24pm. Posted by Marty

The Lao Elephants and Mahouts have made their international debuts in the enormously successfully tri-nations between Lao, Vietnam, and Thailand on Saturday 17th of November. While the Elephants were unable to come away with a victory they can hold their heads up high with quality performances in hard-fought matches against both the Swannies and the Tigers. The biggest news however was the debut success of the Lao Mahouts - the national netball team of the Lao PDR! The Elephants would like to send a huge congratulations to all the girls. A full match report of both the Elephants and Mahouts games will shortly follow.....when this scribe returns from holiday.

Finally I would like to send a huge thank you out to all that were involved in organizing the tri-nations, the Lao Elephants are grateful for the opportunity to compete and we look forward to similar competitions in the near future....possibly in the Lao PDR (if we can find a venue..) Stay tuned.

Posted by Marty