The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and metropolitan

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

with each team representing twelve Victorian regions, while a thirteenth team from

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

was reintroduced in 2019. The competition is sponsored by

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...

(NAB), having previously been sponsored by the

Transport Accident Commission The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is the statutory insurer of third-party personal liability (CTP insurance in other states) for road accidents in the State of Victoria, Australia. It was established under the Transport Accident Act 1986 ...

(TAC) since its inception. The competition is one of the primary sources of recruitment for

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) clubs. 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. An equivalent competition for female footballers, known as the

NAB League Girls 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 ...

, is also contested on an annual basis.

History

With the focus of the

VFL/AFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

moving rapidly towards national competition, the old metropolitan and country Victorian

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

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 The Victorian State Football League is a former Australian rules football governing body. The VSFL was established at the end of 1991 to take over administration of football in Victoria from the Australian Football League, which was now becomi ...

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

players. In 1992 the competition consisted of five metropolitan teams and one country team. The initial teams were the

Northern Knights The Northern Knights is an Australian rules football club playing in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based in Preston, representing the northern suburban area of Melbourne. The Knights a ...

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Leagu ...

, Southern Stingrays (renamed the Dandenong Stingrays in 1995),

Western Jets The Western Jets is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Victorian premier U19 competition, the NAB League, since its inception in 1992. The club have developmental squads in the U16, however much of the attention is towards its U ...

Central Dragons The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

(renamed the Prahran Dragons in 1995, then the Sandringham Dragons in 2000) and

Geelong Falcons The Geelong Falcons is a youth Australian rules football representative club in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition, Victoria, Australia. The club takes in talented junior players from the Geelong, Colac and Warrnamboo ...

. In 1993 an additional four country teams were included – the

Murray Bushrangers The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in Victorian statewide under-18s competition, presently known as the NAB League, since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval. The team is coached by Mark ...

Bendigo Pioneers The Bendigo Pioneers is an Australian rules football team in the statewide Victorian under-18s league, the NAB League. Synopsis The Bendigo Pioneers is an Australian rules football team playing in NAB League since 1993 based in Bendigo, Victoria ...

Gippsland Power The Gippsland Power is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. Honours *Premierships (1): 2005 *Runners-up (3): 1999, 2010, 2012 *Wooden Spoons (1): 2003 *Morrish Medal ...

and Ballarat Rebels (renamed the North Ballarat Rebels in 1996, then the Greater Western Victoria Rebels in 2017). In 1995 two additional metropolitan regions were established with the

Oakleigh Chargers The Oakleigh Chargers is an Australian rules football club playing in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based at Warrawee Park in Oakleigh, Victoria, representing the southeastern suburban ar ...

and

Calder Cannons The Calder Cannons is an Australian rules football club from Melbourne, Australia. The club competes in the NAB League, the Victorian Statewide Under-18s competition, and fields squads in the Under-15s, Under-16s and Under-18s. The club was forme ...

teams included in the competition. In 1995, a Tasmanian-based team, the

Tassie Mariners The Tassie Mariners is an under-18 Australian rules football club representing the state of Tasmania. They currently play in the AFL Under 18 Championships and also played in the Victorian statewide under-18s competition (then known as the TAC Cu ...

, commenced in the competition, becoming the league's first non-Victorian side. The following year, the

NSW/ACT Rams The NSW/ACT Rams is an under 18 Australian rules football representative club in the TAC Cup. The team, under the guidance of AFL NSW/ACT represented New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and had the moniker of the Ram, partly der ...

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 The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

recruited several under-18s players in the 2008/09 summer, and participated in the TAC Cup in 2009 (before playing in the VFL in 2010 and the AFL from 2011). Similarly, the

Greater Western Sydney Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

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 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 ...

; 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

was reestablished as a TAC Cup team, with players from the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

and

young academy sides being picked for the NSW/ACT team. From 2019, the newly named NAB League introduced six new teams: the AFL Academy sides of

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

GWS Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

; the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

; and the returning Tassie Mariners, who were later renamed the Tasmania Devils. Additionally, teams were able to include more 19-year-olds – previously only three could be selected. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and from 2021 the competition fully transitioned from under-18s to under-19s – although the draft age to senior football remained at 18.

Competition timeline

ImageSize = width:1400 height:580 PlotArea = width:800 height:500 left:130 bottom:50 AlignBars = late BarData= bar:NS text:NSW/ACT Rams bar:SS text:Sydney Swans bar:BL text:Brisbane Lions bar:WS text:Greater Western Sydney bar:GC text:Gold Coast Football Club bar:TM text:Tassie Mariners bar:OC text:Oakleigh Chargers bar:CC text:Calder Cannons bar:GW text:GW Victoria Rebels bar:MB text:Murray Bushrangers bar:GP text:Gippsland Power bar:BP text:Bendigo Pioneers bar:WJ text:Western Jets bar:SD text:Sandringham Dragons bar:NK text:Northern Knights bar:GF text:Geelong Falcons bar:ER text:Eastern Ranges bar:DS text:Dandenong Stingrays Colors = id:grey value:gray(0.4) id:lgrey value:gray(0.8) id:vlgrey value:gray(0.95) id:premier value:brightblue legend:Premier id:spoon value:rgb(0.7,0.3,0.3) legend:Last_place id:rup value:powderblue legend:Runner_Up id:minor value:orange # legend:Minor_Premier # need more data id:rup&minor value:lightpurple # legend:R-Up&Minor_Premier # need more data DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1992 till:2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1992 gridcolor:lgrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1992 gridcolor:vlgrey PlotData= color:lgrey width:12 bar:NK from:1992 till:end bar:ER from:1992 till:end bar:DS from:1992 till:end bar:WJ from:1992 till:end bar:SD from:1992 till:end bar:GF from:1992 till:end bar:MB from:1993 till:end bar:BP from:1993 till:end bar:GP from:1993 till:end bar:GW from:1993 till:end bar:OC from:1995 till:end bar:CC from:1995 till:end bar:GC from:2009 till:2010 bar:GC from:2019 till:end bar:TM from:1995 till:2002 bar:TM from:2019 till:end bar:NS from:1996 till:2002 bar:WS from:2010 till:2011 bar:WS from:2019 till:end bar:BL from:2019 till:end bar:SS from:2019 till:end color:premier width:12 bar:GF from:1992 till:1993 bar:NK from:1993 till:1997 bar:GW from:1997 till:1998 bar:MB from:1998 till:1999 bar:SD from:1999 till:2000 bar:GF from:2000 till:2001 bar:CC from:2001 till:2002 bar:ER from:2002 till:2003 bar:CC from:2003 till:2005 bar:GP from:2005 till:2006 bar:OC from:2006 till:2007 bar:CC from:2007 till:2008 bar:MB from:2008 till:2009 bar:CC from:2009 till:2010 bar:CC from:2010 till:2011 bar:SD from:2011 till:2012 bar:OC from:2012 till:2013 bar:ER from:2013 till:2014 bar:OC from:2014 till:2015 bar:OC from:2015 till:2016 bar:SD from:2016 till:2017 bar:GF from:2017 till:2018 bar:DS from:2018 till:2019 bar:OC from:2019 till:2020 bar:SD from:2022 till:2023 color:rup width:12 bar:WJ from:1992 till:1994 bar:GF from:1994 till:1995 bar:ER from:1995 till:1996 bar:NS from:1996 till:1997 bar:DS from:1997 till:1998 bar:GF from:1998 till:1999 bar:GP from:1999 till:2000 bar:ER from:2000 till:2001 bar:BP from:2001 till:2002 bar:CC from:2002 till:2003 bar:MB from:2003 till:2004 bar:ER from:2004 till:2005 bar:DS from:2005 till:2006 bar:CC from:2006 till:2007 bar:MB from:2007 till:2008 bar:DS from:2008 till:2009 bar:DS from:2009 till:2010 bar:GP from:2010 till:2011 bar:OC from:2011 till:2012 bar:GP from:2012 till:2013 bar:DS from:2013 till:2014 bar:CC from:2014 till:2015 bar:ER from:2015 till:2016 bar:MB from:2016 till:2017 bar:SD from:2017 till:2018 bar:OC from:2018 till:2019 bar:ER from:2019 till:2020 bar:DS from:2022 till:2023 color:spoon width:12 bar:SD from:1992 till:1993 bar:BP from:1993 till:1994 bar:BP from:1994 till:1995 bar:TM from:1995 till:1996 bar:SD from:1996 till:1997 bar:WJ from:1997 till:1998 bar:WJ from:1998 till:1999 bar:NS from:1999 till:2000 bar:NK from:2000 till:2001 bar:TM from:2001 till:2002 bar:WJ from:2002 till:2003 bar:GP from:2003 till:2004 bar:NK from:2004 till:2005 bar:BP from:2005 till:2006 bar:BP from:2006 till:2007 bar:SD from:2007 till:2008 bar:NK from:2008 till:2009 bar:SD from:2009 till:2010 bar:BP from:2010 till:2011 bar:BP from:2011 till:2012 bar:ER from:2012 till:2013 bar:GW from:2013 till:2014 bar:BP from:2014 till:2015 bar:BP from:2015 till:2016 bar:NK from:2016 till:2017 bar:BP from:2017 till:2018 bar:BP from:2018 till:2019 bar:GF from:2019 till:2020 Legend = left:50 top:20 columnwidth:90

Age eligibility

For many years the league was primarily a competition for 18-year-olds, though exceptions were made for bottom-aged players—16- or 17-year-olds—and since 2007, over-age players—19-year-olds—to participate in the competition. In 2021 the league shifted to an under-19 level, though the entry age for the

AFL Draft The Australian Football League draft is the annual draft of unsigned players, especially new nominations, by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League (AFL). History ...

remains 18. 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

, 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 The Morrish Medal is an Australian rules football award. Formerly awarded to the best and fairest player in the VFL Under-19 competition (known as the Thirds prior to 1959), since 1992 the award has been given to the best player in the Victori ...

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 The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

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.TAC Cup Coaches Award details
/ref> At the end of the 2015 season, the award was discontinued.

Coverage

All matches are live streamed on the AFL app. Former coverage included: * The Match of the Round being broadcast live on Rumble 103, an internet radio station based in Melbourne. * A TAC Cup show screening on Channel 9 in Melbourne and across Victoria and Inland NSW border regions on

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television station covering the Wollongong region. The WIN Netwo ...

from 1 p.m. every Sunday from late March until the end of September. * TAC Cup news and results being seen on C31's Local Footy Show and heard on the ABC's

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

radio station. * TAC Cup matches were broadcast live on Channel

C31 Melbourne C31 Melbourne is a free-to-air community television channel in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its name is derived from UHF 31, the frequency and channel number reserved for analogue television, analogue broadcasts by metropolitan community tele ...

television in Melbourne, Geelong & regional Victoria in 2010. * Radio stations SYN FM & RRR FM broadcast coverage of TAC Cup football matches every weekend during the season.

Clubs history

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 Football Club * Eastern Ranges -

Box Hill Hawks Box Hill Hawks Football Club is an Australian rules football club playing in the Victorian Football League. It has an alliance with the Hawthorn Football Club, which plays in the Australian Football League. Early Australian rules football in B ...

* Geelong Falcons -

Werribee Tigers The Werribee Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football club, based in Werribee. The club was formed in 1964 and currently plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It is the western-most Melbourne-based VFL club as ...

* Gippsland Power -

Casey Demons The Casey Football Club, nicknamed the "Demons" and formerly the "Scorpions", is an Australian rules football club based in Cranbourne East, Victoria. The club, which was known until 2005 as the Springvale Football Club and the Casey Scorpions ( ...

* Northern Knights - Preston Football Club * Oakleigh Chargers -

Port Melbourne Borough The Port Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Borough, is an Australian rules football club based in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Port Melbourne. The club was founded in 1874 and has been competing in the Victorian Football Association/Leag ...

* Sandringham Dragons -

Sandringham Zebras The Sandringham Football Club, nicknamed The Zebras, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne which was formed in 1929 and plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL) which was formerly called the Victorian Football Associatio ...

* Western Jets -

Williamstown Seagulls The Williamstown Football Club, nicknamed The Seagulls, is an Australian rules football club based in Melbourne. The club currently competes in the men's and women's Victorian Football League and VFLW competitions. History The Williamstown F ...

NAB League premiers

Total premierships by club

*6 – Calder Cannons *5 – Oakleigh Chargers *4 – Northern Knights, Sandringham Dragons *3 – Geelong Falcons *2 – Eastern Ranges, Murray Bushrangers *1 – Dandenong Stingrays, Gippsland Power, Greater Western Victoria Rebels *0 – Bendigo Pioneers, Western Jets NSW/ACT Rams, as of 2015, do not play a full season, and therefore cannot compete for the premiership.

Total runner-up placements by club

*6 – Dandenong Stingrays *5 - 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

A female youth competition, equivalent to the NAB League, was inaugurated in 2017.

External links

Official websiteTAC Cup history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:NAB League Australian rules football competitions in Victoria (Australia) Recurring sporting events established in 1992 1992 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 1992 Articles which contain graphical timelines NAB League Girls