History
With the focus of the VFL/AFL moving rapidly towards national competition, the old metropolitan and country Victorian zoning recruitment method for VFL/AFL clubs was phased out and at the start of 1992 the league's under-19 competition was disbanded.
In Australian rules football, zoning refers to a system whereby a given area, either region or lower-level football league, is reserved exclusively for one club.
A new competition, administered by the Victorian State Football League 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 Australian Football League players. In 1992 the competition consisted of five metropolitan teams and one country team. The initial teams were the Northern Knights, Eastern Ranges, Southern Stingrays (renamed the Dandenong Stingrays in 1995), Western Jets, Central Dragons (renamed the Prahran Dragons in 1995, then the Sandringham Dragons in 2000) [1] and Geelong Falcons.
The Victorian State Football League is a former Australian rules football governing body.
The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is the statutory insurer of third-party personal liability for road accidents in the State of Victoria, Australia. It was established under the Transport Accident Act 1986.
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football in Australia. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body, and is responsible for controlling the laws of the game. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League (VFL) as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season commencing in 1897. Originally comprising only teams based in the Australian state of Victoria, the competition's name was changed to the Australian Football League for the 1990 season, after expanding to other states throughout the 1980s.
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.
The Murray Bushrangers is an Australian rules football team playing in TAC Cup since 1993 based in Wangaratta. The team trains on Norm Minns Oval. The team is coached by Leon Higgins. Guernsey colors are Black, Purple and Yellow, with black socks and black (home) or white (away) shorts.
The Bendigo Pioneers is an Australian rules football team in the statewide Victorian under-18s league, the TAC Cup.
The Gippsland Power is an Australian rules football team in the TAC Cup, an elite under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia.
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 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 TAC Cup from 1995 until 2002 when AFL Tasmania instead entered a senior side into the VFL.
The NSW/ACT Rams is an under 18 Australian rules football representative club in the TAC Cup.
The Gold Coast Football Club 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 fielded a TAC Cup team in 2010, two seasons prior to its introduction to the AFL in 2012.
The Victorian Football League (VFL) is the major state-level Australian rules football league in Victoria. The league evolved from the former Victorian Football Association (VFA), and has been known by its current name since 1996. For historical purposes, the present VFL is sometimes referred to as the VFA/VFL, to distinguish it from the present day Australian Football League, which was known until 1990 as the Victorian Football League and is sometimes referred to as the VFL/AFL.
The Greater Western Sydney Giants, nicknamed the GWS Giants or just Giants, is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). Representing the Greater Western Sydney area and Canberra, the club is based at the Tom Wills Oval in Sydney Olympic Park. The team's primary home ground is Spotless Stadium in Sydney Olympic Park. Four games a year are played at Manuka Oval in Canberra as part of a deal with the government of the Australian Capital Territory.
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; these games are counted as part of the TAC Cup premiership season, but the interstate clubs are not eligible for the premiership. [2]
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. [3] 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. [4]
From 2019, the TAC Cup will introduce six new teams: the AFL Academy sides of Gold Coast, GWS Giants, Sydney Swans, Brisbane Lions; the Northern Territory; and the returning Tassie Mariners. [5] Additionally, teams will be able to include more 19-year-olds – previously only three could be selected. [6]
Age eligibility
Although primarily a competition for 18-year-olds, exceptions are made for bottom-aged players—16- or 17-year-olds—and since 2007, over-age players—19-year-olds—to participate in the competition.
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 AFL Draft, 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.
