In the Australian Football League (AFL), previously the Victorian Football League (VFL), the pre-season competition, known during its history by a variety of sponsored names and most recently as the NAB Cup, was an annual Australian rules football tournament held amongst clubs prior to the premiership season between 1988 and 2013. The pre-season competition culminated annually in a grand final and pre-season premier.
The NAB League Boys 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 reintroduced in 2019. The competition is sponsored by National Australia Bank (NAB), having previously been sponsored by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) since its inception.
Jake Melksham is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, 1.86 metres tall and weighing 83 kilograms (183 lb), Melksham also has the ability to play as a defender, primarily as a half-back flanker. Growing up in Glenroy, Victoria, he played top-level football early when he joined the Calder Cannons' under 18 side in the TAC Cup at the age of sixteen. He spent three years playing for the Calder Cannons, winning a premiership in his final junior year. His achievements as a junior include state representation and the TAC Medal as the best player on the ground in the TAC Cup Grand Final.
Reece Conca is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Drafted by the Richmond Football Club with the sixth overall pick in the 2010 AFL National Draft, Conca played 104 games across eight seasons with the club before moving to Fremantle as a free agent ahead of the 2019 season.
Michael George Hibberd is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender, 1.86 metres tall and weighing 93 kilograms (205 lb), Hibberd plays primarily on the half-back flank. After spending the 2008 season with the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup, he missed out on selection in the 2008 AFL draft, which saw him spend two seasons in the Victorian Football League (VFL) with the Frankston Football Club. After winning Frankston's best and fairest and the Fothergill-Round Medal as the VFL's most promising young player in 2010, he was recruited by the Essendon Football Club with the fourth selection in the 2011 pre-season draft.
Cameron Pedersen is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne and the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A utility, 1.93 metres tall and weighing 95 kilograms (209 lb), Pedersen played the majority of his career in the forward line. After missing out on being drafted at eighteen years of age, he played five seasons in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for Box Hill. His form during the 2010 season led to him being recruited by the North Melbourne Football Club with the seventeenth selection in the 2011 rookie draft and he made his debut in the 2011 season. After two seasons with North Melbourne, playing in sixteen matches and winning the club's best first year player, he was traded to the Melbourne Football Club during the 2013 trade period.
Jesse Hogan is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). A key forward, Hogan is 1.95 metres tall and weighs 100 kilograms (220 lb). He was a standout basketballer and footballer at a young age, representing Western Australia in both sports and played in the West Australian Football League colts competition with the Claremont Football Club. He was rewarded with All-Australian selection as a junior in the 2012 AFL Under 18 Championships and in turn, he was drafted by Melbourne with the second selection in the 2012 mini-draft, meaning he was ineligible to play in the 2013 AFL season. After a back injury ruined his 2014 season, he made his AFL debut in the 2015 season and won the Ron Evans Medal as the AFL Rising Star. In his first two playing years for Melbourne, he was the leading goalkicker in both seasons. In October 2018, he was acquired by Fremantle in a trade that sent him back home to Western Australia, however, after two unsuccessful years at the Dockers, Hogan was traded to Greater Western Sydney.
Jake Kelly is a professional Australian rules football player who plays for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been initially drafted to the Adelaide Football Club. Kelly was drafted with pick 40 in the 2014 Rookie Draft, and is the son of former Collingwood player Craig.
Christian Petracca is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, 1.86 metres tall and weighing 97 kilograms (214 lb), Petracca has the ability to play dual-positions as a forward and a midfielder both on the inside and outside. Petracca had a standout junior basketball career where he played in the Victorian under-16 side and he was named in the Australian under-18 squad. He entered top-level football early when he played for Victoria at under-12 level and he represented them throughout his junior career, culminating in selection for Vic Metro in the 2014 AFL Under 18 Championships. In addition, he joined the TAC Cup competition as a bottom-aged player. His achievements as a junior included winning the Larke Medal, the most valuable player at state level, and selection in the All-Australian and TAC Cup Team of the Year sides. Petracca was recruited by Melbourne with the second selection in the 2014 AFL draft. He made his AFL debut in 2016 after missing the entire 2015 season with a knee injury and received an AFL Rising Star nomination during his debut season.
AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semiprofessional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season and 14 teams in the 2020 season. The league is run by the Australian Football League (AFL) and is contested by a subset of clubs from that competition. The reigning premiers are Brisbane.
The 2017 Australian Football League season was the 121st season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 28th under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989. There were 18 teams competing in the league, the same as the preceding five seasons. The first game was played on Thursday, 23 March, and the season concluded with the 2017 AFL Grand Final on Saturday, 30 September. Richmond defeated Adelaide in the grand final by 48 points, winning their first premiership since 1980.
The 2017 AFL Women's season was the first season of the elite women's Australian rules football competition. Eight teams competed in the league, all of which are associated with existing Australian Football League (AFL) clubs. The first game was played on Friday, 3 February, and the season concluded with the grand final on Saturday, 25 March.
Mitchell Hannan is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL), having been initially drafted to the Melbourne Football Club. A forward, 1.90 metres tall and weighing 87 kilograms (192 lb), Hannan has the ability to play as a forward and in the midfield. After failing to play in the TAC Cup as a junior, he joined the St Bernard's Football Club in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) where he won a premiership and the best on ground in the 2015 VAFA Grand Final. The next year, he played with Footscray in the Victorian Football League (VFL) where he won his second premiership in as many years. His performances in the VAFA and VFL saw him recruited by the Melbourne Football Club in the 2016 AFL draft and he made his debut in the opening round of the 2017 season.
The 2018 Australian Football League season was the 122nd season of the elite Australian rules football competition and the 29th under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989. There were 18 teams competing in the league, the same as the previous six seasons. The first game was played on Thursday, 22 March, and the season concluded with the 2018 AFL Grand Final on Saturday, 29 September between West Coast and Collingwood. West Coast defeated Collingwood by five points, winning their fourth premiership.
The 2018 JLT Community Series was the Australian Football League (AFL) pre-season competition played before the 2018 home and away season. It featured 18 matches across 16 days, reducing each team's games played from three to two, seemingly to create space for AFLX events. For the fifth year in a row, the competition did not have a grand final or overall winner. 2018 was also the first pre-season competition played without the nine-point super goal, since its inception in 2003. The competition continued under Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) as a sponsor. All matches were televised live on Fox Footy as well as on the AFL Live app.
Bayley Fritsch is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A forward, 1.88 metres tall and weighing 84 kilograms (185 lb), Fritsch has the ability to play as both a high marking and small crumbing forward. Considered a late bloomer, he missed out on selection with the Eastern Ranges in the TAC Cup as a junior. After winning the league rising star in the Eastern Football League, he joined the Casey Scorpions in the Victorian Football League (VFL) where he spent three seasons. The 2017 VFL season saw him win the Fothergill–Round Medal, play for Victoria in the state representative match, be named in the VFL Team of the Year, and finish runner-up in the league-leading goalkicker and Casey's best and fairest award. His season saw him drafted by the Melbourne Football Club in the second round of the 2017 AFL draft and he made his AFL debut in the opening round of the 2018 AFL season.
Ryan Garthwaite is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He won a VFL premiership while playing with the club's reserves side in 2019.
The 2019 JLT Community Series was the Australian Football League (AFL) pre-season competition played before the 2019 home and away season. It featured 18 matches across two weekends. For the sixth year in a row, the competition did not have a grand final or overall winner. All matches were televised live on Fox Footy as well as on the AFL Live app.
The NAB League 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.
Rhyan Mansell is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
