Australian Football Association of North America

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

A new second-tier league in 2011 will combine the Northern Territory, NSW, the ACT and Queensland. The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) will consist of two conferences. The Eastern Conference will have seven teams, five from the Canberra league and the reserves teams from the Sydney Swans and the GWS team. The northern conference, which will replace the QAFL state league, will consist of the Gold Coast Suns reserves, the Brisbane Lions reserves, Southport, Broadbeach, Labrador, Morningside, Mt Gravatt, Redland, Aspley and the NT Thunder.

According to AFL General Manager National and International Development, David Matthews, a two year review of secondary competitions helped bring about the creation of the new competition. He and the AFL believe the new league will enhance the pathways for players and give the clubs in these areas more and better opportunities for development.

Key points of the NEAFL:

The Northern Conference will include teams from Queensland and the Northern Territory while the Eastern Conference will take in teams from NSW and the ACT.

Clubs will play primarily against teams in their own conferences but there will be some inter-conference games.

Local clubs will continue to play for awards and premiership success within their own conference but will have the additional opportunity to win the NEAFL Grand Final between the respective winner of each conference.

There will be increased AFL club content in each market. AFL Clubs will play each other seven times during the season (five times in their own state & twice interstate).

The CEO of AFL Queensland, Richard Griffiths, said the NEAFL would further enhance the quality and profile of second-tier football in the northern states and Northern Territory. He echoed Matthews in saying that the NEAFL would provide another avenue for aspiring AFL players. Gold Coast Suns Football Manager, Marcus Ashcroft, said local clubs would now have the chance to compete at a higher level. He said it would give their teams more exposure as well as giving local fans more chances to see developing players.

GWS CEO, Dale Holmes, said the new league would help the club broaden their connection to the local communities as well as promote footy in more market areas. Sydney Swans General Manager of Football, Dean Moore, said it would allow the Swans to continue their successful association with Canberra as well as give their reserves players a chance to play against other reserve-level teams. The Swans also have their newly established Academy, headed by Paul Roos, which would provide even more players for the competition and give those players a higher standard of development.

Source: Nick Johnston, AFL Media Release