The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) is the second-tier league introduced in 2011 which built upon the AFL Canberra and AFL Queensland state leagues and took the top division senior teams from Qld, NSW, ACT and NT.
Games are played in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Darwin, Alice Springs plus regional areas Newcastle, Wagga Wagga and Cairns.
Reserve sides from the four AFL clubs in those states—Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast SUNS, Sydney Swans and the Greater Western Sydney Giants—also field teams in the league, providing terrific opportunities for clubs to rise to a high standard of football.
In its second year, the NEAFL has further expanded its reach into the AFL community with an additional two teams joining the Eastern Conference. The Sydney Hills Eagles and Sydney University will complete the nine team eastern conference with a new five team final series being introduced for the first time.
Game Structure
The NEAFL consists of two conferences: the Northern Conference (Qld & NT teams) and the Eastern Conference (NSW & ACT teams).
For the majority of the year, teams play other teams within their respective conferences.
However, the key point of difference between other state leagues and the NEAFL is that all teams will be able to play cross-conference games and travel interstate.
Teams within each conference still compete for the awards and premiership success within their own conference, but the winner of each conference also then goes on to play in the NEAFL Grand Final.
