a) A player must play in at least three matches for his Club in the minor round to qualify to play in the final series. A player selected as an interchange player and whose name is on the list of players exchanged before the commencement of the match and who is on the ground in uniform and ready to play and remains so ready until the conclusion of the match, shall for all purposes be deemed to have played in such match.

b) A player must play in at least three matches in a grade to be eligible to play in the final series in that grade, except in the following cases -

i) Where an Under Age player is selected to play in an open age side (Seniors or Reserves)

ii) If a Reserves player is selected to play in the Senior side

iii) Where a registered Junior player is selected to play in the Under 18 ½ or any open age side

c) A player shall not be permitted to take part in the finals series of matches unless he has previously played not less than three minor round matches with his Club during the current season. Any player who changes Club mid-season shall be deemed a new player for the Club, with which he has been granted a permit to play and shall be required to therefore complete no less than three minor round matches with his new Club before being eligible to play in the final series of matches.

d) A registered player, playing three games with the Reserves or Third Eighteen, or a total of three games in the Senior Grade, Reserve Grade and Third Eighteen during the minor rounds in any one season, shall be eligible to play in the final series in the Senior Grade competition. Any player who, during the currency of the season, has played more than 50% of matches in the minor rounds with the Senior Grade of his Club shall be ineligible to play in the finals of the Reserve Grade and Third Eighteen competition, accept and unless, the player belongs to a Club which has its Senior Grade and Reserve Grade and Third Eighteen teams playing in the finals on the same weeklend.

e) A player may only participate in one finals match in the age group the player has qualified for in any round of a finals series. No player is allowed to play in more than one finals match during the same round of finals, the only exceptions to this rule are mentioned in By-Law 71.

f) TAC Cup games are counted as senior matches played.

g) The North Ballarat Rebels are not recognized as a player's home club.

h) VFL games are not counted as senior matches played. Players may only play with their nominated home club after being released by their VFL club on an Interchange Agreement which is sent to the league on a weekly basis. Clubs found playing players who have not been released by their VFL club risk losing points and percentage.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

1. I have a player that has played a majority of the season (more than 50%) in the seniors and now that we have a number of players returning to the side, can this player drop back and play reserves? What about finals?

A player can be dropped late in the season and still play reserves football, no matter how many senior games they have played. However when it comes to finals, this player may only play in the reserve grade finals series if the senior side is still in the finals race. Once the seniors drop out, this player can no longer play with the reserves.

2. One of our players has been playing for the North Ballarat Rebels all year, can he come back and play finals?

TAC Cup games count as senior games. As long as all other qualification criteria are followed (ie three games played with the club) this player is eligible to play finals for you club in the seniors.

3. Some of our players have played for the North Ballarat Roosters for a majority of the year and have expressed an interest in playing finals with us, can this happen?

VFL players must be released by the VFL to play with their home clubs on a week to week basis, even during the finals. As long as the player has qualified by playing three regular season matches with your club and he is released to play on that weekend, that player is eligible to play finals. There is no limit on how many games a player participates in at VFL level in regards to coming back and playing in the BFL (as there is with By-Law 70 d) – playing more than 50%). As long as three games are played with their home club, they are qualified.

4. We have a player that has been out all year with a knee injury and wants to come back and play finals, is this possible?

As long as the player has played three games to qualify (please see By-Law 70 a) to see what constitutes a game played), this player can return and play finals.

5. Our seniors are playing a final on Saturday and our reserves are playing a final on Sunday. Due to a lack of numbers, can players play on both days?

No. Under no circumstances can a player participate in two finals on the same weekend except where a player is moving from the reserves to the seniors to replace an injured player.

6. Our reserves play a final on the Saturday and our seniors play their final on Sunday, one of our players has an injury cloud over his head and might not come up, can we draw on one of our reserve players if this player does not come up?

Yes, this is the only instance where a player can participate in two finals matches over the same weekend. As long as this player meets all other qualification criteria, he may play for the seniors in the final. Please note, this rule does not relate to a player wanting to move from seniors to reserves.

7. We have a player who spent all but 10 minutes on the bench in the senior final on Saturday. Can we play him in the reserves final on Sunday?

No. If a player has been deemed to have played a senior game (see By-Law 70 a)) he can not move down a grade and play in another final on the same weekend.

a) A player must play in at least three matches for his Club in the minor round to qualify to play in the final series. A player selected as an interchange player and whose name is on the list of players exchanged before the commencement of the match and who is on the ground in uniform and ready to play and remains so ready until the conclusion of the match, shall for all purposes be deemed to have played in such match.

b) A player must play in at least three matches in a grade to be eligible to play in the final series in that grade, except in the following cases -

i) Where an Under Age player is selected to play in an open age side (Seniors or Reserves)

ii) Where a registered Junior player is selected to play in the Under 18 ½ or any open age side

iii) Where a registered junior player is selected to play in a higher age group (e.g. under 15 player playing under 16.5). This is not to be at the expense of a registered and available player in that age group.

c) A player shall not be permitted to take part in the finals series of matches unless he has previously played not less than three minor round matches with his Club during the current season. Any player who changes Club mid-season shall be deemed a new player for the Club, with which he has been granted a permit to play and shall be required to therefore complete no less than three minor round matches with his new Club before being eligible to play in the final series of matches.

d) A registered player in the Under 16.5, Under 14 or Under 12 competitions having played more than 50% of games with a higher grade, shall be ineligible to play with the lower grade in the final series of matches.

e) A player who has played more than one minor round match in a day (e.g. U/13.75 Reserves and U/13.75 Seniors) shall only have their first game recorded as a game played when determining finals eligibility. The second game will not count when determining finals eligibility.

f) A player may only participate in one finals match in the age group the player has qualified for in any round of a finals series. No player is allowed to play in more than one finals match during the same round of finals, the only exceptions to this rule are mentioned in By-Law 71.

g) The North Ballarat Rebels are not recognized as a player's home club.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

1. My son currently plays in the U/14 competition and plays two games a week, one for the seniors and the other for the reserves. If both sides make the finals, who is he eligible to play for?

The match that your son plays in first (which in this case will be the reserves) will be the only match counted in regards to finals eligibility. The second match will be recorded as a game played however it will not count when determining if your son can play finals in the senior age group. For example, if a player plays every game of the season with both the seniors and reserves in either the U/12's, U/14's or U/16.5's, that player will only be eligible to play finals in the lower age group.

2. My son has been playing in the U/16.5 Seniors all season however his team looks unlikely to make the finals. He wants to play U/16.5 Reserves, come finals time, can he move back down a grade to play finals with the rest of the U/16.5 Reserve boys?

If your son has played more than 50% of matches in a higher grade, he is not eligible to move back down a grade to play finals, regardless of whether he is within the age bracket or not. If your son has played 50% or less matches in the higher grade, he still needs to play no less than three minor round games for the club to qualify for finals.  

3. My son plays for the U/12 Seniors but has been filling in for the U/14 Reserves and playing a second match each week because they are short of numbers. Because he has played more than 50% of matches with the U/14 Reserves as a fill in player, does that mean he cannot play for the U/12 Seniors in the finals?

No. The U/12 Seniors is your son's primary team and because he will play for them first in the day, this will be the first game counted in regards to finals eligibility. Any game played (in the same round) after your son's first game will not count towards finals eligibility which unfortunately means that if the U/14 Reserve side makes the finals, your son will not be eligible to play in that match as he will not be qualified.

4. My son has qualified to play finals for both the U/14 Seniors and U/16.5 Reserves (by playing six matches in each age group on separate weekends) and both sides have made the finals for this year. The U/14 Seniors play on Saturday and the U/16.5 Reserves play on Sunday, can he play in both?

No. In no situation can a player play twice in the same round of a finals series. In this case, the player must choose which grade he wishes to play with. Under no circumstances shall a player, at senior or junior level, play in two matches during a finals weekend.

5. My son plays for a club which relies on a group of 18 kids to play in both the Senior and Reserve age group week after week. To their credit, they have qualified for finals in both age groups. Can the kids play for both sides come finals time?

Unfortunately in this situation, the team playing in the higher age group will have to forfeit their final as none of their players have qualified to play finals. The good news is that the players would not be missing out on playing in a finals series as they will be eligible to play in the lower grade however, based on the rules above, the higher side would have to forfeit their game.