AFL Under 19 Championships

NAB AFL Under-19 Championships
Most recent season or competition:;
Formerly	Teal Cup (1953–1995)
Sport	Australian rules football
Inaugural season	1953
Administrator	Australian Football League
No. of teams	8
Most recent; champion(s)	(D1) Western Australia ; (2019)
Most titles	(D1) Vic Metro (17); (D2) Tasmania (8)
TV partner(s)	Fox Footy (Div. 1 games)
Sponsor(s)	National Australia Bank
Related; competitions	AFL Women's Under 18 Championships

The AFL Under-19 Championships (for sponsorship reasons, the NAB AFL Under-19 Championships) is an annual Australian national underage representative championship in Australian rules football tournament. It is seen as one of the main pathways towards being drafted into a team in the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL).

Originally known as the Teal Cup, it began in 1953 as a junior representative competition between the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales. The Australian Capital Territory was the first other side to enter in 1973. With the addition of teams from each Australian state and mainland territory in 1976 was rebranded as the "National Championships" and split into two divisions with the strongest states including Victoria (later split into two sides: Vic Metro and Vic Country) comprising Division 1. Papua New Guinea was the first other country to field a team in 1979. The division 2 competition was replaced by the Under-19 Academy Series in 2017, with teams from the 4 Queensland and NSW AFL clubs' academies in addition to Northern Territory and Tasmania state teams. The entire competition was changed to under-19s in 2021 (the competition has previously operated under-17s and under-18s competitions).

With the AFL Commission phasing out representative football at senior level since 1994, the National Championships are one of the few opportunities to play for their state or territory. Players typically share the senior team's guernsey (with the exception of Victorian teams which play in variations of the state team guernsey, Vic Metro has a light blue Big V insignia and Vic Country plays in a reverse white with navy Big V).

The best players from the academy competition then combine to form an 'Allies' team in conjunction with South Australia, Western Australia and two Victoria teams, Metro (Melbourne Metropolitan Area) and Country to contest the division 1 tournament.

The winner of the 2019 division 1 tournament was Western Australia.

Winners and awards[]

Under 18 All-Australian and WA's Most Valuable Player award winner Anthony Morabito from the 2009 championship.

Individual Awards[]

The Larke Medal is awarded to the best player in Division 1 of the competition. It is named in honour of a junior footballer, Michael Larke, who was killed in a bus crash while attending a trial match for New South Wales. The Hunter Harrison Medal is awarded to the best player in Division 2 and is named in honour of the former president and life member of the Northern Territory Football League, Hunter Harrison, who played a major role in the development of the AFL youth championships.^[1] Each tournament an underage All-Australian team is named and an MVP is also named for each team.

Past winners[]

Year	Division 1 Premiers	Larke Medal	Division 2 Premiers	Hunter Harrison Medal
1953	Queensland
1963	Queensland
1971	Queensland
1972	Queensland
1973	Queensland
1974	New South Wales
1975	New South Wales
1976	Victoria	(Vic)
1977	Victoria	(Vic)
1978	South Australia	Mark Weideman (SA)
1979	South Australia	(WA)
1980	South Australia	(ACT)
1981	Victoria	Paul Salmon (Vic)
1982	Victoria	Michael Phyland (NSW)
1983	Victoria	Greg Anderson (SA)
1984	Victoria	(NSW)
1985	Western Australia	(NSW)
1986	Victoria	Stephen Lawrence (Qld)
1987	Victoria	Steven Kolyniuk (Vic)
1988	Victoria	(NSW)
1989	Vic Country	Ray Windsor (Qld)
1990	Vic Metro	Paul Williams (Tas)
1991	South Australia	Robert Neill (ACT)
1992	Vic Metro	Daniel Southern (WA)	Vic Country	Michael Voss (Qld)
1993	Vic Metro	Shaun McManus (WA)	New South Wales	(NT)
1994	Vic Metro	Daniel Harford (Vic Metro)	Vic Country	Michael Martin (Tas)
1995	South Australia	Luke Godden (Vic Metro) (Vic Country)	Western Australia	Steven Koops (NT)
1996	Vic Metro	(Vic Metro)	Tasmania	(Tas)
1997	Vic Metro	Tim Finocchiaro (Vic Metro)	Queensland	Fred Campbell (NT)
1998	Vic Metro	Garth Taylor (WA)	/ NSW/ACT	Shane Young (Qld) Derek Murray (NSW/ACT)
1999	Western Australia	Paul Hasleby (WA)	Queensland	Brad Green (Tas)
2000	Vic Country	Kayne Pettifer (Vic Country)	/ NSW/ACT	Ian Callinan (Tas)
2001	Vic Metro	Sam Power (Vic Metro) Steven Armstrong (WA)	Tasmania	Tom Davidson (Tas)
2002	Vic Metro	Byron Schammer (SA)	/ NSW/ACT	Anthony Corrie (NT)
2003	Vic Country	Kepler Bradley (WA)	/ NSW/ACT	(Qld)
2004	Vic Metro	Jesse Smith (Vic Metro)	Northern Territory	Richard Tambling (NT)
2005	Vic Metro	Marc Murphy (Vic Metro)	Tasmania	Grant Birchall (Tas)
2006	Vic Metro	Tom Hawkins (Vic Metro)	Queensland	Ricky Petterd (Qld)
2007	Western Australia	Cale Morton (WA)	/ NSW/ACT	Craig Bird (NSW/ACT)
2008	Vic Metro	Jack Watts (Vic Metro)	Tasmania	Mitch Robinson (Tas)
2009	Western Australia	David Swallow (WA) Andrew Hooper (Vic Country)	/ NSW/ACT	(NSW/ACT)
2010	Vic Country	Harley Bennell (WA)	Tasmania	Sam Darley (Tas)
2011	Vic Metro	Stephen Coniglio (WA)	Tasmania	(Tas)
2012	Vic Metro	Lachie Whitfield (Vic Country)	Northern Territory	Jake Neade (NT)
2013	South Australia	Dom Sheed (WA)	Tasmania	Liam Dawson (Qld) Kade Kolodjashnij (Tas) Toby Nankervis (Tas)
2014	South Australia	Christian Petracca (Vic Metro)	/ NSW/ACT	Isaac Heeney (NSW/ACT)
2015	Vic Country	Josh Schache (Vic Country)	Queensland	Ben Keays (Qld)
2016	Vic Metro	Jack Graham (South Australia)	/ NSW/ACT	Jack Bowes (Qld)
2017	Vic Metro	Oscar Allen (Western Australia)		Nick Blakey (Sydney)
2018	South Australia	Sam Walsh (Vic Country)	Tasmania	Tarryn Thomas (Tasmania)
2019	Western Australia	Deven Robertson (WA)		Connor Budarick (Qld)

Participating teams[]

Current[]

Division 1[]

Vic Metro
Vic Country
South Australia (SA)
Western Australia (WA)

Division 2[]

/ New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory (NSW/ACT)
Queensland (Qld)
Northern Territory (NT)
Tasmania (Tas)

Past[]

Australian Capital Territory (1973-199?)^[2]^[3] (later combined within NSW/ACT)
Papua New Guinea (1979)
Victoria (1976-198?) (Split into two sides: Vic Metro & Vic Country)

Sponsors[]

The tournament is currently sponsored by the National Australia Bank, having previously been sponsored by Caltex and the Commonwealth Bank.^[4]

Notes[]

^ Barfoot, Michael (December 1995). History of NTFL. p. 107.
^ "Last chance for bottom teams". The Canberra Times. Vol. 47, no. 13,456. 8 June 1973. p. 19. Retrieved 21 December 2021 – via Trove.
^ "Qld seeks junior rules game". The Canberra Times. Vol. 44, no. 12,494. 16 December 1969. p. 23. Retrieved 21 December 2021 – via Trove.
^ Taylor, Kevin. The Story of the Teal Cup and AFL National Under 18 Championships – Full Points Footy. Retrieved 4 July 2013, from the Pandora Archive.

References[]

Lovett, Michael, ed. (2005). AFL Record Guide to Season 2005. p. 764. ISBN 0-9580300-6-5.

[NTFL-1] Barfoot, Michael (December 1995). History of NTFL. p. 107.

[2] "Last chance for bottom teams". The Canberra Times. Vol. 47, no. 13,456. 8 June 1973. p. 19. Retrieved 21 December 2021 – via Trove.

[3] "Qld seeks junior rules game". The Canberra Times. Vol. 44, no. 12,494. 16 December 1969. p. 23. Retrieved 21 December 2021 – via Trove.

[4] Taylor, Kevin. The Story of the Teal Cup and AFL National Under 18 Championships – Full Points Footy. Retrieved 4 July 2013, from the Pandora Archive.

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v t Interstate matches in Australian rules football
Section A Championships	1908 Melbourne Carnival 1911 Adelaide Carnival 1914 Sydney Carnival 1921 Perth Carnival 1924 Hobart Carnival 1927 Melbourne Carnival 1930 Adelaide Carnival 1933 Sydney Carnival 1937 Perth Carnival 1947 Hobart Carnival 1950 Brisbane Carnival 1953 Adelaide Carnival 1956 Perth Carnival 1958 Melbourne Carnival 1961 Brisbane Carnival 1966 Hobart Carnival 1969 Adelaide Carnival 1972 Perth Carnival 1975 Knockout Carnival 1979 Perth Carnival 1980 Adelaide Carnival 1983 Championships 1984 Championships 1985 Championships 1986 Championships 1987 Championships 1988 Adelaide Carnival 1993 Championships
Section B Championships	1908 Melbourne Carnival 1947 Hobart Carnival 1950 Brisbane Carnival 1951 Canberra Minor States Carnival 1954 North Hobart Minor States Carnival 1958 Melbourne Carnival 1960 Sydney Minor States Carnival 1965 Division 2 Championships 1968 Canberra Minor States Carnival 1971 Brisbane Minor States Carnival 1974 Sydney Minor States Carnival 1979 Perth Carnival 1988 Adelaide Carnival 1993 Championships
Other Events	Other State of Origin matches 2008 AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match 2020 State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match
Women's	AFL Women's National Championship 2017 State of Origin
Underage	AFL Under 18 Championships/Teal Cup AFL Women's Under 18 Championships
Awards	National: Tassie Medal Allies: Alex Jesaulenko Medal Queensland: Zane Taylor Medal South Australia: Fos Williams Medal Tasmania: Lefroy Medal Victoria: E. J. Whitten Medal Frank Johnson Medal Allen Aylett Medal Western Australia: Simpson Medal Graham Moss Medal U/18: Larke Medal (Division 1) Hunter Harrison Medal (Division 2)