Summerland Australian Football League

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The Summerland Australian Football League or SAFL was an Australian rules football competition in the Northern Rivers and New England region of New South Wales, Australia, in existence from 1984 to 2011. It now is reformed under the AFL Queensland banner under various QFA divisions, currently QFA Division 2 South/Northern Rivers.

Contents

History

The Northern Rivers region is a competitive area for sports including football, rugby league and rugby union. This has caused a continual struggle for strong numbers at all the clubs and therefore has caused several teams to fold over its history.

The Summerland AFL was formed in 1984, with Ballina, Byron, the Goonellabah Swans and Lismore Kangaroos as foundation clubs. Ballina and Byron are the only clubs to have continued in the same form for the entire history of the league, and the two clubs have dominated the competition for most of its history, being premiers 17 out of 27 seasons and winning every flag between 1999 and 2009.

The Murwillumbah Hawks joined in 1985, and the league continued in this form until 1994.

In 1995 the Grafton Tigers joined from the North Coast AFL, temporarily bringing the number of clubs to six, until Murwillumbah folded after the 1999 season.

The Nimbin Demons first joined in 1988 making it to the preliminary final the first two years but after disbanding in the mid 90's re-joined in 2001, bringing the number of clubs back up to six. However, at the end of this season, Grafton returned to the North Coast AFL, and the Lismore Kangaroos went bankrupt and merged with Goonellabah to form the Lismore Swans.

The Casino Lions formed in 2003 and competed for the next five seasons. Murwillumbah also rejoined for the seasons 2004-06.

In 2009, the Tweed Coast Tigers joined the league. Byron won the premiership for the third year running, but not until after Lismore lodged an appeal against the umpires' decision that disallowed a goal after the game concluded. The appeal was dismissed.

In 2010, the league featured six senior clubs, after the admission of Coolangatta-Tweed Heads. Coolangatta field two senior teams in the AFL Queensland, and their third senior side, based around under 23 and developing players, in the Summerland AFL. [1] The Tweed Coast Tigers won the premiership in that season, the first team to break the Byron-Ballina stranglehold on the cup since 1998.

In 2011, the league started with six teams again but mid way through the season Coolangatta and Nimbin withdrew from the competition. This forced a re draw for the rest of the season. After the Home and Away season Tweed Coast finished first, followed by Ballina, Lismore and Byron Bay. The grand final was played between Tweed Coast and Lismore and Lismore won their first premiership as a merged club.

In 2012, all four clubs joined AFL South East Queensland and commenced the season in Division 4 South.

Clubs

ColoursClubMascotYears in competitionPremiershipsPremiership Years
Essendonsymbol.png
Ballina Bombers1984-201151995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006
Clunes Football Club colours.jpg
Byron Magpies1984-2011121985, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009
Casino Lions Football Club colours.jpg
Casino Lions2003–2007--
CarltonDesign.png
Coolangatta Tweed Heads Blues2010-2011--
South Melbourne Districts Football Club colours.jpg
Goonellabah Swans1984–2001, merged with Lismore Kangaroos to form Lismore Swans11984
RichmondDesign.svg
Grafton Tigers1995–2001, returned to North Coast AFL --
Lismore Kangaroos Kangaroos1984–2001, merged with Goonellabah to form Lismore Swans51986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990
Yeppoon Swans Football Club colours.png
Lismore Swans Swans2002-201112011
Hadfield Football Club colours.jpg
Murwillumbah Hawks1985–1999, 2004–200631991, 1997, 1998
Diamond Creek Football Club.jpg
Nimbin Demons1988-1992, 2001–2005, 2007-2011--
RichmondDesign.svg
Tweed Coast Tigers2009-201642010, 2012, 2013, 2015

Grand Finals

YearPremierScoreRunner UpScoreBob Hill Medal
1984Goonellabah SwansLismore Kangaroos
1985Byron MagpiesLismore Kangaroos
1986Lismore Kangaroos
1987Lismore Kangaroos (2)
1988Lismore Kangaroos (3)17.16. (118)Murwillumbah Hawks17.14. (1116)
1989Lismore Kangaroos (4)Murwillumbah Hawks
1990Lismore Kangaroos (5)12.21. (93)Murwillumbah Hawks6.14. (50)
1991Murwillumbah Hawks18.13. (121)Byron Magpies7.11. (53)Ben Sloan
1992Byron Magpies (2)19.14. (128)Lismore Kangaroos13.10. (88)
1993Byron Magpies (3)Ballina Bombers
1994Byron Magpies (4)
1995Ballina Bombers13.15. (93)Byron Magpies12.18. (90)
1996Ballina Bombers (2)6.16. (52)Lismore Kangaroos5.19. (49)
1997Murwillumbah Hawks (2)20.8. (128)Ballina Bombers13.6. (84)
1998Murwillumbah Hawks (3)
1999Byron Magpies (5)
2000Byron Magpies (6)8.8. (56)Ballina Bombers7.2. (44)
2001Byron Magpies (7)18.8. (116)Ballina Bombers8.7. (55)
2002Ballina Bombers (3)11.3. (69)Byron Magpes7.6. (48)
2003Byron Magpies (8)15.12. (102)Nimbin Demons12.11. (83)
2004Byron Magpies (9)21.8. (134)Ballina Bombers6.6. (42)
2005Ballina Bombers (4)12.6. (78)Lismore Swans7.17. (59)
2006Ballina Bombers (5)13.16. (94)Lismore Swans13.11. (89)Brian Walsh
2007Byron Magpies (10)8.8. (56)Ballina Bombers5.7. (37)
2008Byron Magpies (11)13.16. (94)Ballina Bombers9.11. (65)
2009Byron Magpies (12)12.9. (81)Lismore Swans12.4. (76)George Massa
2010Tweed Coast Tigers11.16. (82)Lismore Swans8.6. (54)Ash Gemmill
2011Lismore Swans17.10. (112)Tweed Coast Tigers16.8. (104)Ben Hughes
All ongoing teams moved to the AFLQ Northern Rivers Division
2012Tweed Coast Tigers (2)17.12. (114)Bond University9.16. (70)
2013Tweed Coast Tigers (3)9.5. (59)Byron Magpies6.6. (42)Ash Gemmill (2)
2014Bond University15.8. (98)Tweed Coast Tigers7.16. (58)John Blackburn
2015Tweed Coast Tigers (4)10.8. (68)Byron Magpies10.7. (67)James Walle
2016Byron Magpies (13)11.11. (77)Ballina Bombers6.5. (41)
2017Byron Magpies (14)12.18. (90)Tweed Coast Tigers6.3. (39)Matthew Caris
2018Byron Magpies (15)21.9. (135)Ballina Bombers4.6. (30)
2019Byron Magpies (16)12.10. (82)Ballina Bombers8.5. (53)William McBride
2020Byron Magpies (17)18.15. (123)Tweed Coast Tigers12.8. (80)Gus Staley

See also

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