NAB League Girls

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NAB League Girls
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2021 NAB League Girls season
FormerlyTAC Cup (2017–2018)
SportAustralian rules football
Inaugural season2017
No. of teams13
CountryAustralia
Most recent
champion(s)		Oakleigh Chargers (1)
Most titlesNorthern Knights
Geelong Falcons
Calder Cannons
Oakleigh Chargers (1 each)
Official websitewww.nableague.com.au

The NAB League Girls (formerly known as the TAC Cup Girls) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in 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 introduced in 2019. The competition is sponsored by National Australia Bank (NAB), having previously been sponsored by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) since its inception.[1]

The league is one of the leading competitions for female footballers to be recruited to AFL Women's (AFLW) clubs. An identical competition for male footballers, known as the NAB League Boys, is also contested on an annual basis.

History[]

The league was inaugurated in 2017, the same year as the first AFL Women's premiership season was held. All NAB League Boys clubs entered teams and shared training grounds. Reaction to the establishment was positive, with Fiona Richardson, Victorian Minister for Women, praising the league for its encouragement of women's sports. Carlton vice-captain Madeline Keryk said the competition helped equalise opportunities for boys and girls in junior football.[2]

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.[3] The second season was a nine-round competition culminating in a grand final.[4] The inaugural grand finalists were the Geelong Falcons and the Northern Knights. The Falcons won 32–21, completing an unbeaten season.[5] The competition has since grown in fixture length and incorporates a team from Tasmania. The 2020 season was abandoned due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Age eligibility[]

The competition was originally classified as an under-18 competition, though as of 2021 however the competition has been classified as an under-19 competition. The draft age for both the AFL and AFLW Draft is 18.[6]

Premiers[]

Season Premiers Runners-up Grand Final score Ref.
2017 Calder Cannons Murray Bushrangers None [3]
2018 Geelong Falcons Northern Knights 4.8 (32) – 3.3 (21) [5]
2019 Northern Knights Calder Cannons 6.3 (39) – 0.6 (6) [7]
2020 No premiership awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Oakleigh Chargers Geelong Falcons 11.5 (71) – 5.4 (34) [8]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ^ Cleary, Mitch (1 March 2019). "TAC Cup no more: Elite U18 comp gets new name, new App, and Tassie". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  2. ^ Rolfe, Peter (1 March 2017). "TAC Cup Girls competition set to open doors for elite young players". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Calder TAC Cup Girls premiers". aflvic.com.au. AFL Victoria. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Greater Western Rebels to open season 2018 against Bendigo". The Courier. Fairfax Media. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  5. ^ a b Murray, Tara (21 May 2018). "Northern Knights bested in TAC Cup decider". Star Weekly. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  6. ^ "NAB League Media Release - The future of women's kicks off on Saturday". AFL.com.au. 5 February 2021. As part of the new model, age groups for all AFL Talent Pathway Programs, including the NAB League Girls and Boys and the NAB AFL / AFLW National Championships, will be re-focussed from U16 and U18 Levels to U17 and U19 in 2021.
  7. ^ "2019 NAB League Girls Grand Final". Sports TG. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  8. ^ "2021 NAB League Girls Grand Final". SportsTG. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
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