NAB League
The NAB League is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Victoria, Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne with each team representing twelve Victorian regions, while a thirteenth team from Tasmania was reintroduced in 2019. The competition is sponsored by National Australia Bank, having previously been sponsored by the Transport Accident Commission since its inception.
The competition is one of the primary sources of recruitment for AFL clubs from Victoria. It provides an opportunity for talented regional players to participate in a high standard competition without having to relocate too far from their place of origin. The competition has a very successful pathway with players missing AFL selection often being recruited by semi-professional state, country and regional leagues throughout Australia.
History
With the focus of the VFL/AFL moving rapidly towards national competition, the old metropolitan and country Victorian zoning recruitment method for VFL/AFL clubs was phased out and at the start of 1992 the league's under-19 competition was disbanded.A new competition, administered by the Victorian State Football League and sponsored by the Transport Accident Commission, was formed as an avenue to where many young Victorian under-18 players make their transition to becoming senior Australian Football League players. In 1992 the competition consisted of five metropolitan teams and one country team. The initial teams were the Northern Knights, Eastern Ranges, Southern Stingrays, Western Jets, Central Dragons and Geelong Falcons.
In 1993 an additional four country teams were included — the Murray Bushrangers, Bendigo Pioneers, Gippsland Power and Ballarat Rebels. In 1995 two additional metropolitan regions were established with the Oakleigh Chargers and Calder Cannons teams included in the competition.
In 1995, a Tasmanian-based team, the Tassie Mariners, commenced in the competition, becoming the league's first non-Victorian side. The following year, the NSW/ACT Rams were admitted. The Mariners and Rams both exited the competition as full-time members at the end of the 2002, returning the competition to twelve teams.
The Gold Coast Football Club recruited several under-18s players in the 2008/09 summer, and participated in the TAC Cup in 2009. Similarly, the Greater Western Sydney Giants fielded a TAC Cup team in 2010, two seasons prior to its introduction to the AFL in 2012.
Four interstate teams—the Tassie Mariners, NSW/ACT Rams, Queensland Scorpions and the Northern Territory Thunder—each play a handful of games each year against TAC Cup teams, particularly in the lead-up to the annual AFL Under 18 Championships; these games are counted as part of the TAC Cup premiership season, but the interstate clubs are not eligible for the premiership.
Between 1995 and 2008, the finals system was in a knock-out format. This reverted to a traditional finals system in 2009 with the introduction of the Gold Coast team. In 2010, this was extended to include 12 of the 13 clubs participating that season, with the extra matches forming an extended knockout format. In 2011 the finals system was reverted to the traditional eight-team AFL finals series. Prior to the 2014 season, the NSW/ACT Rams was reestablished as a TAC Cup team, with players from the Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney Giants young academy sides being picked for the NSW/ACT team.
From 2019, the newly-named NAB League will introduce six new teams: the AFL Academy sides of Gold Coast, GWS Giants, Sydney Swans, Brisbane Lions; the Northern Territory; and the returning Tassie Mariners. Additionally, teams will be able to include more 19-year-olds – previously only three could be selected.
Competition timeline
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Age eligibility
Although primarily a competition for 18-year-olds, exceptions are made for bottom-aged players—16- or 17-year-olds—and since 2007, over-age players—19-year-olds—to participate in the competition.Since the beginning of the 2007 TAC Cup season, clubs have been granted permission to select up to five over-age players permitted on their lists.
Nonetheless, age eligibility requirements remain for the AFL Draft, where players must have turned seventeen years of age by 30 April of that draft year to be eligible for selection by an AFL club.
Awards
Morrish Medal
The Morrish Medal is awarded to the best player in the competition each year. The same medal was previously awarded to the best player in the Victorian Football League Thirds/Under-19s competition, which the TAC Cup superseded.TAC Cup Coaches Award
The TAC Cup Coaches Award is voted on by both coaches in a 5–4–3–2–1 format at the end of each game. At the end of the 2015 season, the award was discontinued.Coverage
The Match of the Round is broadcast live on Rumble 103, an internet radio station based in Melbourne.There is a TAC Cup show screening on GTV Channel 9 in Melbourne and across Victoria and Inland NSW border regions on WIN Television from 1 p.m. every Sunday from late March until the end of September.
TAC Cup news and results can be seen on C31's Local Footy Show and heard on the ABC's Triple J radio station.
TAC Cup matches were broadcast live on Channel C31 Melbourne television in Melbourne, Geelong & regional Victoria in 2010.
Radio stations SYN FM & RRR FM will broadcast coverage of TAC Cup football matches every weekend during the season.
Clubs history
| Team | Region | Seasons | Premierships | Home ground | Training ground |
| Northern Knights | Northern Melbourne, North Eastern Melbourne | 1992–present | 4 | Preston City Oval | Preston City Oval, La Trobe University |
| Eastern Ranges | Eastern Melbourne | 1992–present | 2 | Box Hill City Oval | Kilsyth Recreation Reserve |
| Dandenong Stingrays | South Eastern Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula | 1992–present | 1 | Shepley Oval, Dandenong | Shepley Oval |
| Western Jets | Western Melbourne, Wyndham Region | 1992–present | 0 | Burbank Oval | W.L.J. Crofts Reserve, Altona Brookside Oval, Caroline Springs |
| Sandringham Dragons | Bayside Melbourne, Inner South East Melbourne | 1992–present | 3 | Trevor Barker Beach Oval | RSEA Park, Moorabbin |
| Geelong Falcons | Geelong, Western Region | 1992–present | 3 | Chirnside Park, Kardinia Park | Highton Reserve |
| Murray Bushrangers | Goulburn Valley, North Eastern Victoria | 1993–present | 2 | WJ Findlay Oval, Wangaratta Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta Lavington Sports Ground, Albury Albury Sports Ground, Albury Deakin Reserve, Shepparton | Norm Minns Oval |
| Bendigo Pioneers | Bendigo, Central Murray, North Central, Sunraysia Mallee regions | 1993–present | 0 | Queen Elizabeth Oval, Bendigo | Golden Square Football Oval |
| Gippsland Power | Gippsland | 1993–present | 1 | Morwell Recreation Reserve, Morwell | Morwell Recreation Reserve |
| Greater Western Victoria Rebels | Ballarat, Wimmera Region | 1993–present | 1 | Eureka Stadium, North Ballarat | Eureka Stadium |
| Oakleigh Chargers | South Eastern Melbourne, Inner Eastern Melbourne, Central Melbourne | 1995–present | 5 | Warrawee Park, Oakleigh | Warrawee Park |
| Calder Cannons | North Western Melbourne, Sunbury District | 1995–present | 6 | Highgate Recreation Reserve, Craigieburn | Highgate Recreation Reserve |
| Tassie Mariners | Tasmania | 1996–2002; 2019- | 0 | Bellerive Oval, Aurora Stadium | |
| NT Thunder | Northern Territory | 2019- | 0 | TIO Stadium | |
| Gold Coast Suns | Gold Coast region, Northern Queensland, Northern Rivers region | 2009; 2019- | 0 | Metricon Stadium | |
| Brisbane Lions | Brisbane region, Sunshine Coast, Darling Downs, Wide Bay-Burnett, Outback Queensland | 2019- | 0 | Gabba | |
| Sydney Swans | Central Sydney, Southern Sydney, North Shore and Northern Beaches, Central Coast, Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, New England, Wollongong and the Illawarra region | 2019- | 0 | Sydney Cricket Ground | |
| Greater Western Sydney Giants | Greater Western Sydney, the Blue Mountains, Canberra and the ACT, Broken Hill and western New South Wales, Albury, Riverina, Sunraysia and southern New South Wales | 2010, 2019- | 0 | Spotless Stadium | Tom Wills Oval |
Clubs
VFL Affiliations
Nine of the 12 Victorian-based NAB League clubs are affiliated with a heritage VFA/VFL club. This allows for a natural development pathway between under-18s football and state-level senior football; and top age players are permitted to play senior games under the VFL's 23rd man rule:- Calder Cannons - Coburg Lions
- Dandenong Stingrays - Frankston Dolphins
- Eastern Ranges - Box Hill Hawks
- Geelong Falcons - Werribee Tigers
- Gippsland Power - Casey Demons
- Northern Knights - Northern Blues
- Oakleigh Chargers - Port Melbourne Borough
- Sandringham Dragons - Sandringham Zebras
- Western Jets - Williamstown Seagulls
NAB League premiers
Total premierships by club
- 6 – Calder Cannons
- 5 – Oakleigh Chargers
- 4 – Northern Knights
- 3 – Geelong Falcons, Sandringham Dragons
- 2 – Eastern Ranges, Murray Bushrangers
- 1 – Dandenong Stingrays, Gippsland Power, Greater Western Victoria Rebels
- 0 – Bendigo Pioneers, Western Jets
Total runner-up placements by club
- 5 – Dandenong Stingrays, Eastern Ranges
- 3 – Murray Bushrangers, Calder Cannons, Gippsland Power
- 2 – Oakleigh Chargers, Geelong Falcons, Western Jets
- 1 – Sandringham Dragons, Bendigo Pioneers, NSW/ACT Rams
- 0 – Greater Western Victoria Rebels, Northern Knights
NAB League Girls
The first season was a five-round competition. The Calder Cannons won all five of their matches and overcame the Murray Bushrangers on percentage to claim the inaugural premiership. The second season was a nine-round competition culminating in a grand final. The inaugural grand finalists were the Geelong Falcons and the Northern Knights. The Falcons won 32–21, completing an unbeaten season.