AFLNT today released all 2018 CAFL fixtures for the upcoming season, starting Saturday 21 April.
After a fantastic 70th anniversary season, the 2018 CAFL season is shaping up to be yet another exciting year of Territory footy with 15 rounds of Premier League on the fixture plus three weeks of finals.
Each club will play six games on TIO Traeger Park, one on Jim McConville Oval and the remainder on Albrecht Oval.
All the action kicks off in Round 1 with a Saturday afternoon grand final Premier League replay between Rovers and Federal at TIO Traeger Park.
The same finals format will remain in the Premier League with a top-four, three-round finals series commencing on Saturday 18 August and the 2018 grand finals being played Saturday 1 September.
The Women’s Competition will also kick off with a grand final replay with Alkamilya playing Pioneer E-Girls in Round 1 and it will again be a 12 round season with a break during school holidays and three weeks of finals.
The Women’s Grand Final will be a Friday night standalone feature kicking off a three day weekend of finals.
The Country League and Community Cup season begins on Sunday 13 May and will run for ten rounds with three weeks of finals and finishing with their Grand Final on Sunday 2 September. The Grand Final replay between Ltyentye Apurte and Papunya (McDonnell Districts) will be played in Round 3 on Sunday 3 June at Albrecht Oval.
This year also welcomes the first ever Central Australian Youth Girls competition which will run a five week competition kicking off Friday 23 February in conjunction with the AFLW game being played the following day between Melbourne and Collingwood at TIO Traeger Park.
CAFL General Manager Simon Hargrave said a lot of hard work had gone into ensuring 2018 would be another special year for footy fans in Central Australia.
“We are pleased to release the fixtures for all three main competitions.
“The new Youth Girls competition is a really exciting new feature which will be facilitated by our Game Development team and provide a new pathway for up and coming junior female footballers.”
“We are also excited to announce a new naming rights sponsor to our Country League Under 18 competition and this will be named the Quitline Under 18 Country League. This is on top of Quitline’s continued sponsorship and support of our Sports Centre Under 15 Quitline Cup.”
“Of course, we have Minahan Medal night on Wednesday 29 August which is a fantastic night each year and recognises the great achievements of our Centralian footballers and clubs throughout the year,” Hargraves said.
THEMED ROUNDS:
Round 5 Foster Webb Shield – Pioneer v South 3.00pm Saturday 19 May at Albrecht Oval
Round 7 Tony Cusack Shield – South v Federal 8.30pm Friday 15 June at TIO Traeger Park
Round 8 Josh Palmer Shield – Rovers v South 3.00pm Saturday 23 June at TIO Traeger Park
Round 8 Road Safety Round– Country League 22 July at Albrecht Oval and Traeger Park
AFL Indigenous Round – 2.50pm Sunday 27 May at TIO Traeger Park
2018 GRAND FINAL DATES:
CAWFL – Friday 31 August
CAFL - Saturday 1 September
Country League and Community Cup – Sunday 2 September
Download the CAFL fixture here
