Further to last week’s announcement that the NEAFL competition will not proceed in 2020, AFL Queensland advised its member clubs last Thursday as to how 2020 NEAFL player point ratings will be assessed this season.
With the QAFL and QFA Divisions 1 and 2 having a player points cap in place, AFL Queensland needed to ensure the Player Points System (PPS) was adjusted to provide opportunities for NEAFL players to play in Queensland in 2020.
The revised PPS recognises and rewards existing NEAFL / QAFL player alignments through a maximum 3 point rating for any NEAFL player that plays for his aligned QAFL club, whilst the system still allows NEAFL players to play with a club of their choice, during the 2020 season.
QAFL clubs are not required to add NEAFL players to their list, however any player that requests to play for their aligned QAFL club and isn’t afforded that opportunity, can then play for another QAFL club for a maximum of 3 points or a QFA club to a maximum of 4 points.
Any NEAFL player wishing to play for a non-aligned QAFL club will be fully re-assessed under the PPS.
The QAFL player points cap has been adjusted from 45 to 56, whilst all other competitions with a points cap have increased from 45 to 48.
AFL Queensland State Manager, Senior Football Operation, Barry Gibson, said in line with the State’s talent pathway, it is incumbent on AFL Queensland to ensure opportunities exist for NEAFL listed players to be able to continue their football careers within Queensland.
“We are really disappointed for our NEAFL clubs, as they have worked so hard to build their programs and invested heavily in them. As such, it was important that we made some changes to our PPS to ensure players weren’t forced interstate to play this season.
“We also recognised that this has been an incredibly difficult time for the NEAFL players, so we wanted to make sure that they have a choice as to where they play their football in 2020, while also protecting the competitive balance of our competitions,” Gibson said.
“We have purposely geared the PPS to encourage the NEAFL players to play in the QAFL, however it isn’t overly restrictive if they wish to play elsewhere.
“We feel the changes to the PPS are fair and equitable to clubs at all levels and the NEAFL players,” Gibson added.
The future of the NEAFL competition will be addressed in due course by the AFL.
The QAFL and QFA Divisions 1 and 2 all commence on Saturday July 11.
Ends.
