2026 QAFL season
| 2026 QAFL season | |
|---|---|
| Date | 28 March − 19 September 2026 |
| Teams | 13 |
The 2026 QAFL season is the 115th season of the Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Queensland. The season features 13 clubs and runs from 28 March to 19 September, comprising an 18-match home-and-away season over 20 rounds, with a four-week finals series featuring the top eight clubs.[1][2]
Background
Heading into the 2026 season, the Australian Football League (AFL) announced nine rule changes to be introduced to the competition.[3] As a subsidiary of the AFL, AFL Queensland (AFLQ) closely aligns the QAFL's rules with the national competition's laws of the game. As a result of this, the last disposal out of bounds between the arcs rule was present in the QAFL for the first time. The 2026 season also marked the first time in the QAFL's history without the centre bounce to restart play after a goal or at the beginning of a quarter.[4]
Multiple ex-AFL players also joined QAFL clubs prior to the start of the 2026 season. Two-time Gold Coast Suns leading goalkicker Alex Sexton signed with Redland-Victoria Point after the Suns declined to offer him a new contract. After being delisted by the Western Bulldogs at the end of the 2025 AFL season, key defender Liam Jones returned to Palm Beach Currumbin, the club that he played for when he sat out the 2022 AFL season. Gold Coast's 2025 VFL captain and ex-AFL player James Tsitas signed with the Noosa Tigers for the 2026 season.[5]
Mount Gravatt appointed Cameron James as their head coach for the 2026 season. They entered the season having not won a game since 8 July 2023, having gone winless over their last two seasons. As of the start of the season, their winless streak stood at 995 days.[6] The club celebrated its breakthrough victory in round 1 of the season, when it held on for a narrow victory at home against Sherwood.[7]
Ladder
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | D | PF | PA | PP | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morningside | 17 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 2040 | 1031 | 197.9 | 56 | Finals series |
| 2 | Palm Beach Currumbin | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1995 | 1022 | 195.2 | 56 | |
| 3 | Surfers Paradise | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 1629 | 1130 | 144.2 | 48 | |
| 4 | Maroochydore | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1647 | 1267 | 130.0 | 44 | |
| 5 | Redland Victoria Point | 16 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 1658 | 1429 | 116.0 | 44 | |
| 6 | Labrador | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1389 | 1341 | 103.6 | 36 | |
| 7 | Broadbeach | 16 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1367 | 1418 | 96.4 | 36 | |
| 8 | Noosa | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 1271 | 1468 | 86.6 | 24 | |
| 9 | Sherwood | 17 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 1365 | 1735 | 78.7 | 20 | |
| 10 | Aspley | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 1211 | 1608 | 75.3 | 20 | |
| 11 | Coorparoo | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 1136 | 1515 | 75.0 | 20 | |
| 12 | Wilston Grange | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 1155 | 1905 | 60.6 | 12 | |
| 13 | Mount Gravatt | 16 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 853 | 1847 | 46.2 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
Win–loss table
| + | Win | Qualified for finals | |
| - | Loss | X | Bye |
| Draw | Eliminated |
| Team | Home-and-away season | Ladder | Finals series | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | F1 | F2 | F3 | GF | ||||||
| Aspley | MAR -54 | LAB | COO | BRO | MTG | MOR | RVP | X | WIL | LAB | COO | PBC | NOO | SHE | PBC | RVP | X | MAR | SUR | WIL | 1 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Broadbeach | LAB -2 | NOO | SHE | ASP | SUR | X | LAB | RVP | PBC | NOO | MTG | SUR | WIL | MOR | COO | X | MTG | SHE | MAR | PBC | 2 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Coorparoo | NOO -8 | X | ASP | SHE | MAR | PBC | MOR | WIL | NOO | SUR | ASP | MTG | SHE | X | BRO | MTG | PBC | WIL | RVP | LAB | 3 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Labrador | BRO +2 | ASP | PBC | SUR | WIL | MTG | BRO | MOR | MAR | ASP | NOO | X | MTG | MAR | X | MOR | SUR | RVP | SHE | COO | 4 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Maroochydore | ASP +54 | WIL | MTG | NOO | COO | SHE | X | PBC | LAB | RVP | WIL | SHE | SUR | LAB | NOO | X | MOR | ASP | BRO | RVP | 5 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Morningside | PBC +13 | SUR | RVP | WIL | SHE | ASP | COO | LAB | MTG | PBC | RVP | NOO | X | BRO | MTG | LAB | MAR | NOO | X | SUR | 6 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Mount Gravatt | SHE +1 | PBC | MAR | RVP | ASP | LAB | WIL | SUR | MOR | X | BRO | COO | LAB | NOO | MOR | COO | BRO | X | WIL | NOO | 7 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Noosa | COO -8 | BRO | WIL | MAR | X | RVP | SUR | SHE | COO | BRO | LAB | MOR | ASP | MTG | MAR | SHE | X | MOR | PBC | MTG | 8 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Palm Beach Currumbin | MOR -13 | MTG | LAB | X | RVP | COO | SHE | MAR | BRO | MOR | SUR | ASP | RVP | WIL | ASP | SUR | COO | X | NOO | BRO | 9 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Redland-Victoria Point | SUR -30 | SHE | MOR | MTG | PBC | NOO | ASP | BRO | X | MAR | MOR | WIL | PBC | SUR | SHE | ASP | X | LAB | COO | MAR | 10 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Sherwood Districts | MTG -1 | RVP | BRO | COO | MOR | MAR | PBC | NOO | SUR | WIL | X | MAR | COO | ASP | RVP | NOO | WIL | BRO | LAB | X | 11 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Surfers Paradise | RVP +30 | MOR | X | LAB | BRO | WIL | NOO | MTG | SHE | COO | PBC | BRO | MAR | RVP | WIL | PBC | LAB | X | ASP | MOR | 12 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
| Wilston Grange | X | MAR | NOO | MOR | LAB | SUR | MTG | COO | ASP | SHE | MAR | RVP | BRO | PBC | SUR | X | SHE | COO | MTG | ASP | 13 (0–0–0) | ||||||||
Source: PlayHQ
References
- ↑ "2026 QAFL FIXTURE". Play AFL. 19 January 2026. Retrieved 14 February 2025.
- ↑ "2026 Fixture Released". Play AFL. 19 January 2026. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
- ↑ Beveridge, Riley (29 October 2025). "Watch examples of the seven rule changes that will impact 2026". afl.com.au. Archived from the original on 10 November 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
- ↑ "AFL ditches centre bounce for men's game, and sub rule after grand final criticism". ABC News. 1 October 2025. Archived from the original on 4 November 2025. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
- ↑ "QAFL/QAFLW off-season transfer tracker: 2026 recruits and fixtures". CODE Sports. 15 December 2025. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ↑ "Longest winless run in Qld? How new coach will restore club's pride". Courier Mail. 20 March 2026. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ↑ Andrew Browne (31 March 2026). "Thrilling finishes and upset results highlight round one". play.afl.
External links
- QAFL website at play.AFL