2015 NEAFL season

The 2015 NEAFL season was the fifth season of the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL). The season began on Saturday, 11 April and concluded on Saturday, 19 September with the NEAFL Grand Final. NT Thunder were the premiers, defeating Aspley by one point in the Grand Final.

League structure

The structure of the league follows on from 2014 with a single conference involving the three eastern states/territories (Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, and New South Wales) and the Northern Territory. Three clubs decided not to renew their licenses due to financial complications, including Canberra-based clubs, Belconnen and Queanbeyan, and Sydney-based club, Sydney Hills.

Participating clubs

Premiership season

All starting times are local.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Round 16

Round 17

Round 18

Round 19

Round 20

Round 21

Win/Loss table

Bold – Home game
X – Bye
Opponent for round listed above margin
This table can be sorted by margin

Ladder

Ladder progression

Numbers highlighted in green indicates the team finished the round inside the top 6.
Numbers highlighted in blue indicates the team finished in first place on the ladder in that round.
Numbers highlighted in red indicates the team finished in last place on the ladder in that round.
Underlined numbers indicates the team had a bye during that round.

Finals series

Elimination finals

Preliminary finals

Grand Final

Representative match

The NEAFL representative team played against the Tasmanian State League representative team in the league's sole state match for the year. The match was played on 7 June in Burpengary and the victory was the first time a NEAFL representative side had won since the competition unified in 2014.

Squad

The 2015 NEAFL representative squad consisted of players from all NEAFL clubs excluding AFL reserves teams (Brisbane Lions, Gold Coast, Sydney Swans, UWS Giants). The team contained seven former AFL-listed players, led by two-time premiership winner with Geelong and 200-gamer, Josh Hunt. The side also included young talent in the NEAFL with the inclusion of three 2015 AFL draftees, Josh Smith, Matt Uebergang, and Josh Wagner. The team was coached by AFL Queensland Hall of Famer and former AFL footballer, John Blair. Sydney University captain, Tim Barton, was named as best on ground.

Awards

The League MVP was awarded to Tom Young of Sydney University, who received 86 votes.
The NEAFL Rising Star was awarded to Maxwell Kouvaras of >(Brisbane Lions)
The NEAFL leading goalkicker was awarded to Darren Ewing of NT Thunder, who kicked 78 goals during the regular season.
The NEAFL goal of the year was awarded to Will Hoskin-Elliott of UWS Giants, for his goal during round 14.
The NEAFL mark of the year was awarded to Jarrod Garlett of Gold Coast, for his mark during round 18.

Team of the Year

Rising Star nominations

The NEAFL Rising Star was awarded to the most promising young talent in the NEAFL competition. Players were nominated each week and must have been under the age of 21 and have played less than 20 NEAFL games.

1.^ No-one nominated due to it being the representative match round.