Talent League

The competition is one of the primary sources of recruitment for the clubs of the Australian Football League (AFL), and 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 Talent League Girls, is also contested on an annual basis.

The league was known as the TAC Cup until 2018, the NAB League in 2019 to 2022, and since 2023 it has been known as the Coates Talent League.^[1]

History

With the focus of the VFL/AFL moving rapidly toward a national competition, the former metropolitan and country zoning recruitment system for the Victorian VFL/AFL clubs was abolished, and the league's under-19 competition was shut down at the end of 1991.

A new competition, administered by the

In 1993 an additional four country teams were included – the Murray Bushrangers, Bendigo Pioneers, Gippsland Power 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 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

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.[4] 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.^[5]

From 2019, the newly named NAB League introduced six new teams: the AFL Academy sides of

Competition timeline

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

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.^[citation needed]

Nonetheless, age eligibility requirements remain for the

Awards

Morrish Medal

The

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.^[11] 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 TV 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 radio station.
• TAC Cup matches were broadcast live on C31 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

Colours	Team	Region(s)	Seasons	Premierships	Home ground	Training ground
	Bendigo Pioneers	Mallee regions	1993–present	0	Queen Elizabeth Oval, Bendigo	Golden Square Football Oval
	Calder Cannons	North Western Melbourne, Sunbury District	1995–present	6 (2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010)	Highgate Recreation Reserve, Craigieburn	Highgate Recreation Reserve
	Dandenong Stingrays	South Eastern Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula	1992–present	1 (2018)	Dandenong	Shepley Oval
	Eastern Ranges	Eastern Melbourne	1992–present	2 (2002, 2013)	Box Hill City Oval	Kilsyth Recreation Reserve
	Geelong Falcons	Barwon South West region	1992–present	3 (1992, 2000, 2017)	Kardinia Park (Stadium)	Highton Reserve
	Gippsland Power	Gippsland	1993–present	1 (2005)	Morwell Recreation Reserve, Morwell	Morwell Recreation Reserve
	Greater Western Victoria Rebels	Wimmera Region	1993–present	1 (1997)	North Ballarat	Eureka Stadium
	Murray Bushrangers	Goulburn Valley, North Eastern Victoria	1993–present	2 (1998, 2008)	WJ Findlay Oval, Wangaratta Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta Lavington Sports Ground, Albury Albury Sports Ground, Albury Deakin Reserve, Shepparton	Norm Minns Oval
	Northern Knights	Northern Melbourne, North Eastern Melbourne	1992–present	4 (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)	Preston City Oval	Preston City Oval, La Trobe University
	Oakleigh Chargers	South Eastern Melbourne, Inner Eastern Melbourne, Central Melbourne	1995–present	5 (2006, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2019)	Warrawee Park, Oakleigh	Warrawee Park
	Sandringham Dragons	Bayside Melbourne, Inner South East Melbourne, Frankston	1992–present	5 (1999, 2011, 2016, 2022, 2023)	Trevor Barker Beach Oval	RSEA Park, Moorabbin
	Tasmania Devils	Tasmania	1996–2002; 2019–	0	Bellerive Oval, York Park
	Western Jets	Western Melbourne, Wyndham Region	1992–present	0	Burbank Oval	W.L.J. Crofts Reserve, Altona North Brookside Oval, Caroline Springs
	Brisbane Lions Academy	Wide Bay-Burnett , Outback Queensland	2019–	0	Brisbane Cricket Ground
	Gold Coast Suns Academy	Northern Queensland, Northern Rivers region (NSW)	2009; 2019–	0	Metricon Stadium
	Greater Western Sydney Giants Academy	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
	Sydney Swans Academy	Central New England, Wollongong and the Illawarra region	2019–	0	Sydney Cricket Ground

Clubs

Northern Knights

Western Jets

Dandenong Stingrays

Sandringham Dragons

Eastern Ranges

Oakleigh Chargers

Calder Cannons

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Current TAC Cup clubs (metropolitan Melbourne)

Geelong Falcons

Greater Western Victoria Rebels

Bendigo Pioneers

Murray Bushrangers

Gippsland Power

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Current TAC Cup clubs (regional Victoria)

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
• Geelong Falcons -
  Werribee Tigers
• Gippsland Power - Casey Demons
• Northern Knights -
  Preston Football Club
• Oakleigh Chargers -
  Port Melbourne Borough
• Sandringham Dragons -
  Sandringham Zebras
• Western Jets -
  Williamstown Seagulls

Premiers

Total premierships by club

• 6 – Calder Cannons
• 5 – Oakleigh Chargers, Sandringham Dragons
• 4 – Northern Knights
• 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, Eastern Ranges
• 5 -
• 4 -
• 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

Talent League Girls

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

External links

• Official website
• TAC Cup history

References