Talent League

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The Talent League is an under-18s and under-16s Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Football League (AFL). It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne with each team representing one of twelve Victorian regions. The competition is the primary sources of recruitment for the clubs of the AFL with around three quarters of all players selected from its ranks in each AFL draft. It provides an opportunity for talented young regional players to participate in a high standard competition without having to relocate too far from their place of origin. The competition has a very successful pathway with players missing AFL selection often being recruited by semi-professional state, country and regional leagues throughout Australia. An equivalent competition for female footballers, known as the Talent League Girls, is also contested on an annual basis. The league has been known by various sponsored names since its inception in 1992 as the Victorian State Football League Under-18s (VSFL U18) in 1992. While the Transport Accident Commission's sponsorship commenced in the same year, the competition was not known as the TAC Cup until 1997. This sponsorship lasted two decades until the competition was renamed the NAB League (after the National Australia Bank) in 2019. Ahead of the 2023 season, the AFL returned a 'sponsorless' name to the competition with its new branding as the Talent League; albeit this was accompanied by naming rights from Coates Hire for seasons 2023 to 2025 inclusive, where it was known as the Coates Talent League. As of 14 January 2026, the league has no naming rights sponsor.