VFL 2014 NEAFL Draw released

[ugg]

http://neafl.com.au/uploads/media/NEAFL_2014_Fixture.pdf

Summary:

• 8 home games and 10 away games. Exactly the same as in 2013.
• 6 games will be curtain raisers to a Swans home game, and one will be a curtain raiser to a Swans away game (GC). The seniors home games that miss out on a reserves curtain raiser are R2 Collingwood @ SCG, R11 Geelong @ SCG, R13 Port @ SCG, R17 Carlton @ SCG and the final round fixture against Richmond which will be the first week of NEAFL finals. In 2013 7 games were curtain raisers to a Swans home game.
• 10 games against AFL Reserves sides (4 vs UWS, 3 each vs Suns and Lions), 8 games against non AFL Reserves sides. Exactly the same as in 2013. The demise of Tuggeranong has been filled in with a first visit by the NT Thunder to Sydney, but sadly it's been scheduled for Blacktown instead of the SCG as one of the non-curtain raiser home games.
• Besides the NT Thunder and the AFL Reserves sides, who we've played previously, we play none of the Queensland based NEAFL sides. So in reality while there is now one NEAFL ladder, there is still a pseudo-conference system happening with none of the AFL Reserves sides playing a non AFL Reserves side not located in the same state (yes I know the ACT is not a state for all you pedants out there) as them. There is still cross-state battles between the non AFL Reserves sides.
• SCG is hosting 5 games, Blacktown has 2 and one game each at ANZ Stadium, Bruce Purser Reserve, Cooparoo, Giants Stadium, Harrup Park, Kippax Oval, Manuka Oval, Metricon Stadium, North Dalton Park, TIO Stadium and one To Be Confirmed.
• 2 rep games for the NEAFL team, one against the WAFL and one against the TSL (Tassie). Last year, the NEAFL Northern representative team were allowed to select Lions and Suns players who were on the rookie list, I wonder if this rule will be translated to the now combined rep outfit.
• 6 team, 3 week finals series. That's 2 less weeks than the finals series in 2013 and most importantly gets rid of the utterly superfluous and irrelevant cross-conference grand final where both sides didn't seem to care that much about it.
  • Week 1 - 3v6, 4v5, 1 and 2 byes
  • Week 2 - 1v(winner of 4v5), 2v(winner of 3v6)
  • Week 3 - Grand Final

[Triple B]

As usual, brilliant work ugg.

Worthy of a sticky as a quick reference...

[sharp9]

Thanks for that Ugg....I noticed that the NEAFL 2013 team had no Swans Senior players on it....just Robinson, Biggs and Lloyd. I didn't check the GWS players selected. Do you know if senior players (who played enough games) were eligible for that team?

And so would that team named this year be the rep team to play those 2 games in 2014? Or will it be a combined Eastern and Northern NEAFL team

Actually answering some of my own questions....Darley (GWS) and Karnezis (Lions) are/were fully listed players...

[ugg]

sharp that's the NEAFL (Eastern) Team of the Year which isn't the same as the rep team that I was referring to. The rep team is chosen during the middle of the year to play another league (the Tasmanian pre side in 2013) and definitely did not have any Swans or Giants on it. The fact that our 3 players named in the NEAFL (Eastern) Team of the Year were all on our rookie list is just pure co-incidence. Senior listed players have been named in previous NEAFL (Eastern) Teams of the Year, such as Jarred Moore, Sam Reid, Patrick Veszpremi, Trent Dennis-Lane, Jesse White and Mitch Morton (who will probably go down in history as the only player to win an AFL premiership medal and a NEAFL Team of the Year listing in the same season).

The draw lists 2 separate rep games, one against the WAFL and one against the Tassie State league. Two rep games in one season is very unusual and I can only speculate that those games were agreed upon before the AFL decided to merge the NEAFL conferences and so not to leave one of those two leagues in the lurch without a rep game, both games have been given the go ahead.

[R-1]

Disappointing that Ainslie home game is in Wollongong instead of almost across the road from me.

[ScottH]

Reserves ical Fixture updated -> ICAL Fixtures for @sydneyswans games