General Information
The AFL (Australian Football League) Premiership Season is contested between the 16 teams from around Australia. It lasts for 22 competition rounds and begins in late March. The McClelland Trophy is awarded to the team that finishes the home and away rounds in first position (the minor premiership). At the end of the 22 rounds, the top eight teams compete in the four-week AFL Finals Series. In the first week the top four teams play in Qualifying Finals (1st vs 4th & 2nd vs 3rd), the two winning Qualifying Final teams progress directly into a Preliminary Final in the third week, with the other four teams playing in Elimination Finals (5th vs 8th & 6th vs 7th). In the second week the two losing teams from the Qualifying Finals play the two winning teams from the Elimination Finals in the Semi Finals. The winners of the Qualifying Finals play the winners of the Semi Finals in the preliminary finals. The two winning Preliminary Final teams play in the Grand Final in the fourth week of the finals. The Premiership winning team is the team that wins the Grand Final. The winning team receives a Premiership Cup, Premiership Medallions and a Premiership Flag. The Premiership Flag is a giant triangular flag which is blue with a white border, has the AFL logo on it and the word PREMIERS and the YEAR.
Teams include: Adelaide Crows, Brisbane Lions, Carlton Blues, Collingwood Magpies, Essendon Bombers, Fremantle Dockers, Geelong Cats, Hawthorn Hawks, Melbourne Demons, North Melbourne Kangaroos, Port Adelaide Power, Richmond Tigers, St Kilda Saints, Sydney Swans, West Coast Eagles, Western Bulldogs.
Match Venues: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Telstra Dome, Skilled Stadium, Gabba, Gold Coast Stadium, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), ANZ Stadium, Subiaco Oval, AAMI Stadium, Aurora Stadium.
A number of prestigious awards are given out for outstanding performance throughout the normal season matches. They include: the Brownlow Medal for the Best and Fairest Player, the Coleman Medal for player who kicks the most goals and the NAB Rising Star Award for the best rookie or up and coming player. The best player in the AFL Grand Final is awarded the Norm Smith Medal.
Pre Season NAB Cup is a tournament played and completed prior to the commencement of the Premiership season, which is why it is also known as the pre-season cup.
The Pre-season Cup competition is currently a four round format with a round of 16, quarter finals, semi finals and final. Teams that win move through to the next round, losing teams are eliminated and play practice matches until the competition finishes.
The player adjudged best on the ground in the final is awarded the Michael Tuck Medal, in honour of the footballer who has played more league matches than any other (426).
