Northern Football League

The 2010 Northern Football League season will see the introduction of a Top Five finals series in Division 1.

The new structure was decided at the latest NFL Board meeting, and will see an extra final played in Division 1, with both Semi Finals now played on the same weekend.

Northern Football League General Manager, Kevin Crompton, explained the reasoning behind the decision was to have the same percentage of teams competing in finals as the AFL, and to give that extra team the experience of playing in finals.

"We looked at the AFL having eight of their 16 teams playing finals every year - at a rate of 50% - and then we compared that to our 40%, and we wanted to align with their principles of finals participation," said Mr Crompton.

"When you look at the three divisions we ran this year, there were still divisions within those divisions. We've had the same four teams compete in Division 1 finals for the last two years, and this decision gives hope to those teams on the periphery that otherwise wouldn't be pushing for finals."

"We learnt from the introduction of Division 3 this year that the boost a team gets from going beyond the home-and-away season has probably been underestimated in the past."

"In terms of furthering club moral, attracting extra supporters, sponsors and players, a finals appearance certainly adds to those elements, and they definitely support the league's strategic objective of helping to build stronger clubs."  

The new format, with the preliminary dates, is displayed below:

2010 Division 1 Finals - Week 1

Saturday August 28, 2010 - Qualifying Final - 2nd v 3rd

Sunday August 29, 2010 - Elimination Final - 4th v 5th

2010 Division 1 Finals - Week 2

Saturday September 4, 2010 - 1st Semi Final - Loser of Qualifying Final v Winner of Elimination Final

Sunday September 5, 2010 - 2nd Semi Final - 1st v Winner of Qualifying Final

2010 Division 1 Finals - Week 3

Sunday September 12, 2010 - Preliminary Final - Loser of 2nd Semi Final v Winner of 1st Semi Final

2010 Division 1 Final - Week 4

Saturday September 18, 2010 - Grand Final - Winner of 2nd Semi Final v Winner of Preliminary Final

**All dates are subject to change**

Make sure to check into to nfl.org.au throughout the next week, with a decision regarding Division 3 in 2010 to be made, and the release of the 2010 Division 1 fixture.