[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjdU_6buQ1A&w=560&h=349]The Southern Dragons Football Club, which has a loose relationship with the Vietnam Swans, has just featured on BigPond AFL. The video includes a number of interviews with the players who come from a number of Asian countries, especially Vietnam. Below is an extract from Diverse tastes of local football from the AFL’s website:

It is often said the football and meat pies go hand-in-hand, and that is certainly the case at many clubs throughout Australia. But out in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, there is a footy team that features some more diverse tastes.

The Southern Dragons, who run around in the third division of the Southern Football League, have a large number of players with Asian heritage. These lads hail from countries like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, China, India and Pakistan.

“On Thursday nights the players take turns to cook,” explains the Dragons’ treasurer Jaime Pi, who was born in China. “We get everything from German schnitzels, to Chinese dumplings and Vietnamese pho. Our Thursday nights are never boring!”

When they step out onto the field, Jaime and his mates can seriously play. Last year they made the finals and one of their players, Jason Yap, won the SFL’s division three best and fairest award.

This pre-season the Dragons are being featured in a series of short films that will be screened prior to all NAB Cup matches.