AFL Under 19 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).
Current season, competition or edition: 2022 AFL Under 19 Championships | |
| 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 National Championships grew out of the Teal Cup which began in 1953 as a junior representative competition between the Australian states of Queensland and New South Wales. It was rebranded in 1976 to reflect its expansion to includeteams from each Australian state and mainland territory.
As part of the AFL's ongoing phase-out of representative football since 1994 it currently operates as a talent pathway for the national club competition and is contested as a hybrid representative format. The best players from the Academy competition (AFL club feeder teams) 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.
History
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
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 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Victoria | Mick Woods (Vic) | ||
| 1977 | Victoria | Rodney Watts (Vic) | ||
| 1978 |  South Australia | Mark Weideman (SA) | ||
| 1979 | South Australia | Grant Campbell (WA) | ||
| 1980 | South Australia | Darryl Murphy (ACT) | ||
| 1981 | Victoria | Paul Salmon (Vic) | ||
| 1982 | Victoria | Michael Phyland (NSW) | ||
| 1983 | Victoria | Greg Anderson (SA) | ||
| 1984 | Victoria | David Condon (NSW) | ||
| 1985 |  Western Australia | Jason Kerr (NSW) | ||
| 1986 | Victoria | Stephen Lawrence (Qld) | ||
| 1987 | Victoria | Steven Kolyniuk (Vic) | ||
| 1988 | Victoria | Robbie Wright (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 | Mark Ryan (NT) |
| 1994 | Vic Metro | Daniel Harford (Vic Metro) | Vic Country | Michael Martin (Tas) |
| 1995 | South Australia | Luke Godden (Vic Metro) Ben Setchell (Vic Country) | Western Australia | Steven Koops (NT) |
| 1996 | Vic Metro | Pat Steinfort (Vic Metro) |  Tasmania | Matthew Bernes (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 | Jake Furfaro (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 | Dylan McNeil (NSW/ACT) |
| 2010 | Vic Country | Harley Bennell (WA) | Tasmania | Sam Darley (Tas) |
| 2011 | Vic Metro | Stephen Coniglio (WA) | Tasmania | John McKenzie (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
Division 1
- Vic Metro
- Vic Country
- South Australia (SA)
- Western Australia (WA)
- The Allies (QLD, NT, ACT, Tas) (2016-)
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]
See also
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.