The AFL has confirmed the fixtures for the 2024 Coates Talent League Boys and Girls competitions.
The Coates Talent League is Australia’s premier underage football pathway competition for boys and girls in the eastern states with teams comprised mostly of under 18 players.
The 2024 Coates Talent League seasons will again feature 12 boys and girls programs from Victoria and one from Tasmania for the full season.
Academy programs from New South Wales (GWS GIANTS and Sydney Swans), Queensland (Gold Coast SUNS and Brisbane Lions) and Northern Territory (NT Academy) will continue to compete in a selection of games mostly early in the season.
The 2024 home-and-away fixture for boys and girls again includes several community access periods. The community access breaks provide opportunities for Coates Talent League players to study and compete in community, school and representative football.
Coates Talent League Boys
The 2024 Coates Talent League Boys home-and-away season will be played across 19 rounds, commencing the weekend of March 23-24. The final home-and-away round will be played the weekend of August 24-25.
Teams from Victoria and Tasmania will compete across the full home-and-away season, while the five academy programs from New South Wales, Queensland and Northern Territory will each feature in up to four matches between Rounds 3-8.
Wildcard Round will be played the weekend of August 31-September 1, ahead of a three-week knockout finals series which will culminate with the 2024 Coates Talent League Boys Grand Final the weekend of September 21-22.
Sandringham Dragons are the Coates Talent League Boys reigning premiers after last year securing a second-consecutive premiership triumph with a 43-point Grand Final victory over Eastern Ranges.
Please click here to view the 2024 Coates Talent League Boys fixture.
Coates Talent League Girls
The 2024 Coates Talent League Girls home-and-away season will be played across 17 rounds, with the opening round to be played over two weekends.
The season will commence with an Easter Thursday match between Geelong Falcons and GWV Rebels at GMHBA Stadium on March 28, before a further three matches take place on the weekend of April 6-7.
The six country-based Victorian teams (Bendigo Pioneers, Dandenong Stingrays, Geelong Falcons, Gippsland Power, GWV Rebels and Murray Bushrangers) and the Tasmania Devils will each play their final home-and-away match the weekend of August 24-25.
The six metropolitan-based Victorian teams (Calder Cannons, Eastern Ranges, Northern Knights, Oakleigh Chargers, Sandringham Dragons and Western Jets) will finish their home-and-away season one week prior, before taking part in a Wildcard Round on the weekend of August 24-25.
The five academy programs from New South Wales, Queensland and Northern Territory will feature in up to four matches between Rounds 3-9.
A three-week finals series will commence the weekend of September 7-8, with the 2024 Coates Talent League Girls Grand Final to be played the weekend of September 21-22.
Oakleigh Chargers are the defending premiers after claiming the 2023 Coates Talent League Girls premiership with a seven-point win over Eastern Ranges in the Grand Final.
Please click here to view the 2024 Coates Talent League Girls fixture.
Broadcast and streaming
As part of the partnership between the AFL and News Corp Australia, KommunityTV will continue to live stream one Coates Talent League Boys and Girls match per week in 2024. All remaining matches will be live streamed on the Coates Talent League app.
Under 16 competition
Coates Talent League under 16 boys and girls matches will be played during March and April, with all 12 Victorian teams to play two matches.
The Coates Talent League Girls under 16 matches will be played from March 2 to March 17, while the Coates Talent League Boys under 16 matches will be played from March 23 to April 5.
The under 16 matches will assist with selecting Victoria Country and Victoria Metro squads to compete at the 2024 AFL National Development Under 16 Championships.
Please click here to view the 2024 Coates Talent League Boys under 16 fixtures.
Please click here to view the 2024 Coates Talent League Girls under 16 fixtures.
Victorian Diversity All-Stars
The Victorian Diversity All-Stars matches will again take place in 2024 involving boys and girls footballers aged 18 and under from Indigenous and culturally diverse backgrounds.
The Victorian Diversity All-Stars matches were introduced last season and feature players who are on Coates Talent League lists or have previously been involved in Talent Pathways programs.
This year’s matches are schedule to be played at Trevor Barker Beach Oval on Wednesday, April 10.
About the Coates Talent League
The Coates Talent League started in 1992 as the Victorian State Football League (VSFL) before becoming the TAC Cup from 1993-2018 and then the NAB League from 2019-2022 before. The girls competition started in 2017.
The competitions were rebranded the Coates Talent League in 2023.
Over the years the competition has produced more AFL and AFLW players than any other league and is also an important development program for emerging coaches, umpires, administrators and support staff.
A total of 42 players from the 13 programs who compete full-time in the Coates Talent League were selected by AFL clubs in the 2023 National, Rookie and Mid-Season drafts, with 32 players from full-time Coates Talent League Girls programs selected in the 2023 AFLW Draft and AFLW Expansion U18 Talent Pathway Pre-Signing Period