North West Football League
The North West Football League is an Australian rules football competition in North West Tasmania. The league was previously known as the "Northern Tasmanian Football League" from its inception in 1987 until the end of the 2014 season.
History
The Northern Tasmanian Football League was founded in 1987 to replace the Northern Tasmanian Football Association - no relation to the current NTFA - and the North Western Football Union which suffered as a result of the defection of clubs joining the new TFL Statewide League in 1986 – the NTFA had lost North Launceston and East Launceston to the TFL Statewide League at the start of 1986, then lost City-South midway through that season when it merged with East Launceston; the NWFU lost Devonport and Cooee to the Statewide League at the conclusion of the 1986 season.After the collapse of the Statewide League at the end of 2000, the northern and coastal clubs from that competition returned to the NTFL and dominated the competition for the next eight years. With the revival of the Statewide League in 2009, the same five clubs left the NTFL again, resulting in the contraction of the league to a six-club coastal composition.
In the early years, the NTFL was contested by a mixture of smaller northern and north-western clubs, but the northern clubs gradually departed, and since 2009 the league has been contested solely by clubs from the north-western coast, all with a NWFU history. Consequently, at the end of the 2014 season, the name of the league was changed to the North West Football League.
In 2015, Burnie and Devonport rejoined the competition, each fielding its reserves team in the NWFL seniors while continuing to field its senior team in the Statewide League reserves; this increased the league numbers up to eight. In early 2017, Burnie withdrew from this arrangement, which dropped the number of teams down to seven. Then, in 2018, Burnie and Devonport withdrew their senior teams from the Statewide League and each entered the NWFL proper. The league now has seven clubs, following the withdrawal of Circular Head in 2019.
Timeline
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BarData=
bar:W text:Wynyard
bar:U text:Ulverstone
bar:SL text:South Launceston
bar:SB text:South Burnie
bar:SC text:Scottsdale
bar:P text:Penguin
bar:NB text:Northern Bombers
bar:LO text:Longford
bar:LC text:Launceston
bar:LT text:Latrobe
bar:GT text:George Town
bar:ED text:East Devonport
bar:DV text:Devonport
bar:DE text:Deloraine
bar:SM text:Circular Head
bar:BT text:Burnie Tigers
bar:BD text:Burnie Dockers
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id:grey value:gray
id:lgrey value:gray
id:vlgrey value:gray
id:premier value:brightblue legend: Premiers
id:orange value:orange legend: Reserves_team_only
id:name value:black
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1986 till:2019
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ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:4 start:1986 gridcolor:lgrey
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from:2001 till:2008
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from:2018 till:end
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from:1987 till:1994
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from:1987 till:2003
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from:2001 till:2008
from:2015 till:2017 color:orange
from:2018 till:end
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from:1987 till:end
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from:1987 till:1990
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from:1987 till:end
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from:1987 till:1993
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from:1987 till:1987
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from:2001 till:2008
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from:1987 till:end
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from:1987 till:1999
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from:1987 till:2018
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from:1997 till:1998
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from:1998 till:2008
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from:1987 till:end
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from:1987 till:end
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pos: fontsize:L text:NTFL/NWFL Clubs
Clubs
Current clubs (2019)
Former NTFL/NWFL clubs
| Club | League years | Fate |
| Burnie Tigers | 1987–93 | Merged with the Burnie Hawks |
| Circular Head Giants | 1987–2018 | Club recess since February 2019 |
| Deloraine Kangaroos | 1987–2003 | Joined the NTFA Division I |
| Launceston Blues | 1987–93, 1998–2008 | Joined the Tasmanian State League |
| Longford Tigers | 1987 | Joined the NTFA Division I |
| North Launceston Bombers | 2001–08 | Joined the Tasmanian State League |
| South Launceston Bulldogs | 1998–2008 | Joined the Tasmanian State League |
| Scottsdale Magpies | 1987–99 | Joined the NTFA Division I |
| South Burnie Hawks | 1997–98 | Joined the Darwin Football Association |
;Notes
Grand Finals
- 2019 Burnie 9.17 def Devonport 9.8 at Latrobe
- 2018 Burnie 10.14 def Ulverstone 8.10 at Latrobe
- 2017 Ulverstone 11.10 def Latrobe 7.10 at Latrobe
- 2016 Latrobe 10.12 def Penguin 9.15 at Latrobe
- 2015 Wynyard 19.14 def Ulverstone 11.10 at Latrobe
- 2014 Wynyard 24.16 def Ulverstone 6.8 at Latrobe
- 2013 Latrobe 22.16 def Wynyard 14.17 at Latrobe
- 2012 Wynyard 11.12 def Latrobe 8.17 at Latrobe
- 2011 Latrobe 18.15 def Penguin 17.17 at Latrobe
- 2010 Latrobe 20.13 def Ulverstone 16.7 at Latrobe
- 2009 Ulverstone 22.14 def Smithton 8.10 at Latrobe
- 2008 Launceston 17.18 def Burnie Dockers 14.23 at Latrobe
- 2007 Launceston 19.9 def Ulverstone 16.12 at Latrobe
- 2006 Launceston 22.14 def Devonport 13.11 at Latrobe
- 2005 Burnie Dockers 8.15 def Devonport 6.10 at Latrobe
- 2004 Burnie Dockers 23.19 def Devonport 7.8 at Latrobe
- 2003 Burnie Dockers 14.11 def North Launceston 6.13 at Latrobe
- 2002 Burnie Dockers 14.5 def Ulverstone 5.12 at Latrobe
- 2001 Burnie Dockers 17.14 def North Launceston 7.10 at Latrobe
- 2000 Ulverstone 13.8 def Latrobe 7.10 at Latrobe
- 1999 South Launceston 11.19 def Smithton 7.8 at Latrobe
- 1998 South Launceston 9.11 def East Devonport 9.4 at Latrobe
- 1997 Ulverstone 21.8 def East Devonport 8.8 at Latrobe
- 1996 Ulverstone 18.13 def Wynyard 8.11 at Latrobe
- 1995 Ulverstone 18.15 def Wynyard 14.9 at Latrobe
- 1994 Ulverstone 11.8 def Latrobe 7.8 at Latrobe
- 1993 Ulverstone 14.12 def Scottsdale 8.7 at Latrobe
- 1992 Burnie Tigers 18.10 def Penguin 10.5 at West Park
- 1991 Smithton 18.9 def Ulverstone 10.9 at West Park
- 1990 Ulverstone 18.13 def Scottsdale 12.7 at West Park
- 1989 Scottsdale 13.10 def Smithton 10.10 at West Park
- 1988 East Devonport 20.7 def Burnie Tigers 18.15 at Devonport Oval
- 1987 Ulverstone 13.19 def East Devonport 12.12 at West Park
Ladders
2008
FINALS| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| Elimination | South Launceston | 19 | 12 | 126 | Northern Bombers | 13 | 8 | 86 |
| Qualifying | Burnie Dockers | 16 | 13 | 109 | Ulverstone | 14 | 14 | 98 |
| 1st Semi | Ulverstone | 19 | 14 | 128 | South Launceston | 11 | 13 | 79 |
| 2nd Semi | Launceston | 12 | 12 | 84 | Burnie Dockers | 12 | 9 | 81 |
| Preliminary | Burnie Dockers | 17 | 21 | 123 | Ulverstone | 15 | 10 | 100 |
| Grand | Launceston | 17 | 18 | 120 | Burnie Dockers | 14 | 23 | 107 |
The competition as of 2009 consisted of 18 rounds with 3 weeks of finals.
2009
FINALS| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| 1st Semi | East Devonport | 15 | 16 | 106 | Latrobe | 6 | 12 | 48 |
| 2nd Semi | Ulverstone | 10 | 11 | 71 | Smithton | 2 | 11 | 23 |
| Preliminary | Smithton | 16 | 15 | 111 | East Devonport | 11 | 12 | 78 |
| Grand | Ulverstone | 22 | 14 | 146 | Smithton | 8 | 10 | 58 |
2010
| NTFL | Wins | Byes | Losses | Draws | For | Against | % | Pts |
| Latrobe | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2341 | 1739 | 134.62% | 60 |
| Ulverstone | 13 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2265 | 1649 | 137.36% | 52 |
| Smithton | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 1558 | 1745 | 89.28% | 40 |
| Penguin | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1863 | 2032 | 91.68% | 36 |
| Wynyard | 7 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1773 | 2281 | 77.73% | 28 |
| East Devonport | 6 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 1781 | 2135 | 83.42% | 24 |
FINALS
| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| 1st Semi | Smithton | 11 | 2 | 68 | Penguin | 9 | 13 | 67 |
| 2nd Semi | Latrobe | 6 | 14 | 50 | Ulverstone | 4 | 12 | 36 |
| Preliminary | Ulverstone | 17 | 16 | 118 | Smithton | 3 | 11 | 29 |
| Grand | Latrobe | 20 | 13 | 133 | Ulverstone | 16 | 7 | 103 |
2011
FINALS| Final | Team | G | B | Pts | Team | G | B | Pts |
| 1st Semi | Penguin | 23 | 14 | 152 | Ulverstone | 17 | 9 | 111 |
| 2nd Semi | Latrobe | 20 | 9 | 129 | Smithton | 14 | 16 | 100 |
| Preliminary | Penguin | 22 | 22 | 154 | Smithton | 15 | 13 | 103 |
| Grand | Latrobe | 18 | 15 | 123 | Penguin | 17 | 17 | 119 |
2012
2013
2014
2015
Titles by club
| Club | Titles | Years won |
| Ulverstone Robins | 10 | 1987, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009, 2017 |
| Burnie Dockers | 7 | 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2019 |
| Latrobe Demons | 4 | 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 |
| Launceston Blues | 3 | 2006, 2007, 2008 |
| Wynyard Cats | 3 | 2012, 2014, 2015 |
| South Launceston Bulldogs | 2 | 1998, 1999 |
| Burnie Tigers | 1 | 1992 |
| Circular Head Giants | 1 | 1991 |
| East Devonport Swans | 1 | 1988 |
| Scottdale Magpies | 1 | 1989 |
Attendance
The Northern Tasmanian Football League is considered to be one of the strongest leagues in the state and has a strong supporter following.Games in the NTFL average around 500 spectators.