NAB Cup
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The NAB Cup is the pre-season/night series Australian rules football competition of the Australian Football League, sponsored by National Australia Bank. It is run for four weeks before the start of the regular premiership season, involving all sixteen clubs in a knockout competition with the Grand Final played at night.
History
Naming Rights
- National Panasonic Cup (1987-1988)
- Panasonic Cup (1989)
- Foster's Cup (1990-1994)
- Ansett Australia Cup (1995-2001)
- * Also in 1996, the "Lightning Premiership" was held for the one time (see below).
- Wizard Home Loans Cup (2002-2005)
- NAB Cup (2006-2010)
The cup was known as the Foster's Cup until 1995, and Ansett Australia won the rights to own the Cup. Wizard Home Loans owned the naming rights to the event from 2002 (when Ansett Australia folded) through 2005. The event was known formally as the Wizard Home Loans Cup, and popularly as the Wizard Cup. National Australia Bank took over naming rights for the tournament for 2006 through 2010, renaming it The NAB Cup.
Competition
The competition was run from 1956 to 1971 as the Night Premiership at the Lake Oval, Albert Park, then the home ground of South Melbourne. It wasn't played between 1972 and 1976, before being revived in 1977 at Waverley Park. Up until 1988, the competition was played during the middle of the year, and often involved interstate teams as well as those from the then VFL.Since 1988, it has been run before the regular season as a series of warmup matches, usually in a knockout format. On occasions, a four-pool round-robin has been played before semi-finals and a grand final. Under the existing knock-out format, the eliminated teams are scheduled practice matches for the remaining weeks of the pre-season, with most of them moved to regional locations, in order to promote the game.
Prize Money
In 2006, $A220,000 will be awarded to the winning club (by comparison, the prizemoney for the winner of the AFL Grand Final in 2005 was only nominally larger at $250,000). Smaller amounts are awarded to clubs based on participation and progression through the competition.
Runner-up: $110,000
Losing semi-finalists: $55,000
Week 2 losers: $27,000
Week 1 losers: $16,500
Total prize money on offer: $682,000
Attendances
Although many clubs and coaches (especially the wealthier clubs) do not take the pre-season competition seriously and use the competition as a chance to test young and inexperienced players, the NAB Cup format has proven quite popular with spectators.
| Season | Night Premiers | Total Attendance | Average | Grand Final Teams | Grand Final Venue | Grand Final Crowd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Geelong Cats | 235,980 | 18,152 | Adelaide Crows vs Geelong Cats | AAMI Stadium | 30,707 |
| 2005 | Carlton Blues | 307,181 | 20,479 | Carlton Blues vs West Coast Eagles | Telstra Dome | 43,391 |
| 2004 | St. Kilda Saints | ? | ? | St Kilda Saints vs Geelong Cats | Telstra Dome | 50,533 |
| 2003 | Adelaide Crows | ? | ? | Collingwood Magpies vs Adelaide Crows | Telstra Dome | 43,571 |
| 2002 | Port Adelaide Power | ? | ? | Port Adelaide Power vs Richmond | Colonial Stadium | 36,481 |
Regional Challenge
Since 2003, the AFL has run a series of pre-season practice matches called the Regional Challenge for clubs that are eliminated from the NAB Cup. The dual aim of the series is to bring the game to fans in remote areas and to provide the eliminated teams with match fitness. Although the games are informal and there is no actual winner or prize, they have attracted a large amount of interest in regional areas and grown in popularity.In 2005, Regional Challenge matches were played at venues such as: Port Lincoln, South Australia; Joondalup, Western Australia; Carrara, Queensland; Alice Springs, Northern Territory; Lavington and Newcastle in New South Wales and Bendigo and Morwell in Victoria.
In 2005, the total Regional Challenge attendance was 117,552 up from 87,000 in 2004 and 76,000 in 2003.
The Regional Challenge in 2006 includes regional centres such as Cairns in the northern Queensland, Shepparton in northern Victoria & Mandurah In Western Australia. A match was also played in Mildura as a memorial game for the teenagers that died in a Mildura road accident.
New Rule Trials
The pre-season competition has been a place where the AFL has trialled new rules. The NAB Cup has the intentions of being modern and promoting a fast-paced pre-season competition. Such rules have included:- No requirement to wait upon the goal umpires before playing on - this rule has been in play since 2006 Premiership season, attracting plenty of scrutiny over first few rounds.
- Extra players on the interchange bench, although this is intended mainly so that coaches can try extra players, and ensure that none are over-worked, during the pre-season.
- Nine points for a goal kicked from outside of the 50 metre arc, known as a Super Goal.
- A larger centre circle.
- 4 field umpires
- Umpires coming in 10m from the boundary line to throw in the ball.
- Play on if the ball hits the goal post and bounces back into the field of play.
- For a player kicking it backwards, except when that kick takes place within the attacking team's forward 50m, there can be no mark to a team-mate of that player and the umpire simply calls `Play On'
Lightning Premiership
The Lightning Premiership was held for the only time in 1996, the Centenary Season of the AFL. It was a knock-out competition played from Friday, 9th February until Sunday, 11th February, with four games each evening at Waverley Park, each consisting of two 17.5 minute halves. The game trialled a number of highly experimental rules including three points awarded both for deliberate rushed behinds and balls which hit the post, and timekeepers not blowing the siren if scores are tied; however, the rule which altered the game most significantly was that where the ball was not thrown in from the boundary line, but a free kick given against the last team to touch the ball. Essendon won the series.See also
- List of Australian Football League night premiers
- Michael Tuck Medal, awarded to the best player in night series grand final
External links
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