The AFL has released the fixtures for the 2023 Coates Talent League Boys and Girls season.
Formerly the NAB League, 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 Coates Talent League features 12 boys and girls programs from Victoria and one from Tasmania for the full season, while academy programs from New South Wales (GWS GIANTS and Sydney Swans), Queensland (Gold Coast SUNS and Brisbane Lions) and Northern Territory (NT Academy) compete in a selection of games mostly early in the season.
The 2023 season will feature a 17-round home-and-away fixture for both the boys and girls competitions.
Teams from Victoria and Tasmania will each play 13 matches during the home-and-away season, while the five academy programs from New South Wales, Queensland and Northern Territory will feature in up to five matches.
The 2023 home-and-away fixture for boys and girls includes community access periods to allow players to compete in community, school and representative football throughout the season.
A three-week knockout finals series will start on the weekend of September 9-10, culminating in the Coates Talent League Boys and Girls Grand Finals on Saturday, September 23.
Please click here to view the fixtures.
Coates Talent League Girls
The 2023 Coates Talent League Girls season commences on March 18, a later start than last year when the girls season ran from January-April to closely align to NAB AFLW season six.
The opening two rounds of the girls season will feature Victorian country programs, along with Tasmania Devils, GWS Giants and Sydney Swans.
The six programs from metropolitan Victoria will play their first game in Round 3.
Coates Talent League Boys
The 2023 Coates Talent League Boys season will begin on March 25, with eight matches scheduled across the opening round.
All matches in Round 1 will be played in Victoria, which includes double-headers at Highgate Recreation Reserve on Saturday and Sunday that feature New South Wales and Queensland academy program.
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. The girls competition started in 2017.
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.
37 of the 59 players picked in the 2022 AFL Draft were selected directly from what is now the Coates Talent League Boys competition, while of the 83 players selected in the 2022 AFLW Draft, 41 were directly from Coates Talent League Girls programs.
In a boost for the regional pathway programs in Victoria and Tasmania, each program now has a dedicated full-time Coates Talent League Girls coach and a dedicated full-time Coates Talent League Boys coach in 2023. The AFL has also invested in increased youth wellbeing programming and resources for all regions, as well as additional administrative, high performance and medical resources.
Additional resources will also benefit community football, with Coates Talent League coaches to work closely with AFL Victoria on providing support for community clubs and coaches. This aims to strengthen the connection between the talent pathways system and local clubs while also providing development opportunities for coaches at community level.
Broadcast and streaming
Coates Talent League Boys and Girls matches will be live streamed on the Coates Talent League app. Further broadcast details will be announced prior to the commencement of the season.
Under 16 competition
Coates Talent League under 16 matches will be played early in the 2023 season, with each Victorian team to play two matches.
The Coates Talent League Girls under 16 matches will be played across the weekends of March 18-19 and March 25-26.
Victorian country programs will feature Coates Talent League Boys under 16 matches across the weekend of March 25-26. All remaining Coates Talent League Boys under-16 matches will be played from April 11-15 during the school holiday period.
