The 2011 NEAFL season was the inaugural season of the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL). The season featured 17 clubs and ran from 2 April to 15 September, comprising a 22-round home-and-away season across two conferences, followed by a five-week finals series.
(the Northern Conference premiers) won the inaugural NEAFL championship after defeating (the Eastern Conference premiers) by 22 points in the 2011 NEAFL Grand Final.
League structure The league is split into two divisions called the North division and the East division. The North division comprises nine teams based in South East Queensland (five in Brisbane and four on the Gold Coast) as well as one based in the Northern Territory. The East division contains five teams based in the Australian Capital Territory and two based in Sydney. The top three teams from the 2010 QAFL and the top team from the 2010 AFL Canberra season all qualified for the Foxtel Cup.
Clubs Venues and affiliations Club State Home venue(s) Capacity AFL affiliation Eastern Conference ACT Ainslie Oval ACT Manuka Oval 15,351 ACT Manuka Oval 15,351 rowspan=2; Ainslie Oval NSW Blacktown ISP Oval 10,000 rowspan=2; Robertson Oval 9,000 ACT Dairy Farmers Park 8,000 NSW Lakeside Oval 1,000 Sydney Cricket Ground 46,000 ACT Greenway Oval 1,000 Northern Conference QLD Graham Road Oval 3,000 QLD Giffin Park 5,000 Brisbane Sherwood Oval QLD H & A Oval 6,500 QLD H & A Oval 6,500 Fankhauser Reserve 8,000 Metricon Stadium 25,000 QLD Cooke-Murphy Oval 8,000 QLD Jack Esplen Oval QLD Dittmer Park 2,500 NT TIO Stadium 12,215 QLD Tidbold Park QLD Fankhauser Reserve 8,000
Home-and-away season 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
Round 22
Ladder Eastern Conference Northern Conference
Finals series Eastern Conference
Northern Conference
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Foxtel Cup
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Awards The Grogan Medal was shared between Matthew Payne of and Cameron Ilett of . Both polled 23 votes to be judged as the best and fairest players in the Northern Conference of the NEAFL. The Mulrooney Medal was shared between Daniel Currie and Jarred Moore, both of the . Both players polled 16 votes to be judged as the best and fairest players in the Eastern Conference of the NEAFL. The NAB NEAFL Rising Star Award was awarded to Ross Tungatalum of the . The NAB NEAFL Rising Star Award is given to the player voted as the best rising star in the Northern Conference of the NEAFL. The Gary Robb Rising Star Award was awarded to Hayden Armstrong of the . The Gary Robb Rising Star Award is given to the player voted as the best rising star in the Eastern Conference of the NEAFL. The Ray Hughson Medal was awarded to Darren Ewing of the , who kicked 115 goals during the season. Seven of the Queensland-based clubs entered their reserves teams in the QAFL reserves competition for the 2011 season. won the premiership, defeating 14.11 (95) to 8.10 (58) in the grand final.
Best and fairest Club Award name Player Hibberson Cup Perpetual Trophy Robert Shirley Carl Herbert Medal Robert Copeland Lexie Bennett Syd Guildford Trophy Dayne Zorko Aaron Bruce Jacob Gillbee Danny Newman Medal Steve Wrigley Devery-Kelly Medal Nathan Kinch Jim Fletcher Medal Gavin Grose Jake Dignan Tony Wynd Medal Ryan Quade Dowling Medal Tom Salter Matthew Payne Ben Cleaver
Team of the year
Eastern Conference
Northern Conference
AFL draftees
Draft pick Player Club Drafted to88N Alex Sexton 91N Jackson Allen 14R Tom Bell 22R Stephen Wrigley 51R Simon Tunbridge 57R Richard Newell 93R Harry Cunningham 94R Josh Hall 95R Jack Lynch 96R Sam Michael — Dayne Zorko — Peter Yagmoor N – national draft R – rookie draft
Footnotes Notes 1. QLD zone selection acquired during the 2011 trade period.
References