FINALS ELIGIBILITY REMINDER

Finals Eligibility
Finals eligibility rules are found under Rules 51-55 of the Association.
Below is a brief summary which can be read under the menu Info for Clubs > Fact Sheets or if you click here:
Senior – (1st XVIII teams) Any player with a permit can play finals including VFL or TAC players who have fulfilled finals eligibility – see below
Reserve – (2nd XVIII teams) A player must have played at least four (4) reserve grade matches and not more than ten (10) senior matches in the home and away season. Where both senior and reserve XVIII’s are playing on the same day the reserve grade player must only have played two (2) games in either the seniors or reserves to qualify.For clubs with teams drawn in semi finals on different days of the same weekend (ie. 1st semi Saturday, 2nd semi Sunday) read as above teams playing on the same day.
Thirds – (3rd XVIII teams) A player must have played at least four (4) third grade matches and not more than ten (10) senior or reserve matches in the home and away season.Where both reserve and third XVIII’s are playing on the same day/weekend, the third grade player must only have played two (2) games in either the reserves or thirds to qualify.Where the senior, reserves and third XVIII’s are playing on the same day/weekend, the third grade player must only have played two (2) games in the seniors, reserves or thirds to qualify.
Under-19 – A player must have played at least 2 home and away games matches for the club. If a player has played 6 or more senior and reserve matches he must have played 6 or more Under-19 matches during the season.
Where a Club is represented in a match in the finals of the senior grade OR reserve grade on the same day OR on the same weekend the 6 match provision above shall not apply.
Where a Club is represented in a match in the finals of the reserve grade on the same day OR on the same weekend the 6 match provision above shall not apply only if the player has met the eligibility criteria for second round reserve matches
Where a team has (2) Under-19 teams or is involved in hybrid arrangement, the following shall apply.
1.    Where a club has two Under-19 teams, a player must have not played more than 10 matches with the Under-19 (1) side to play in the (2) team.
2.    To represent a hybrid team in the finals the player must have represented the hybrid team in (5) home and away matches – not including finals.
3.    Under-19 grade teams obtaining “Top Up” players during home and away matches from another Under-19 grade team is not considered to be a hybrid team arrangement. “Top Up” players are not permitted in finals matches.
Under-18 – A player must have played at least 2 home and away games matches for the club. If a player has played 6 or more senior and reserve matches he must have played 6 or more Under-18 matches during the season.
Where a Club is represented in a match in the finals of the senior grade OR reserve grade on the same day OR on the same weekend, the 6 match provision above shall not apply.
Where a Club is represented in a match in the finals of the reserve grade on the same day OR on the same weekend the 6 match provision above shall not apply only if the player has met the eligibility criteria for finals reserve matches.Where a team has an Under-19 team as well as an Under-18 team, a player must have not played more than 10 matches with the Under-19 side to play in the Under-18 team.
Club XVIII teams – A player must have played in at least four (4) Club XVIII matches (for the team they wish to represent) and not have played in more than a total of eight (8) senior and reserve matches during the home and away season. Where a club has two or more Club XVIII teams a player must have not played more than 8 matches with the higher placed side to play in the lower team’s finals – if teams are in different sections.Where both Club XVIII teams are in the same section the following apply:
1.    A player cannot alternate between teams after June 30. Once he plays with a team after June 30 he can represent only that team for the rest of the season.
2.    The player is allowed only to play finals for the team he represents after June 30.
3.    To be eligible for finals with either side, a player must have played a minimum of 4 matches with the side he wishes to represent and
4.    The player must have played more games for the side he wishes to represent than the club’s other side in the same section.
A VFL or TAC Cup listed player must play a minimum of five (5) VAFA home and away matches including two (2) matches after 30th June for the team he wishes to represent in the finals. An Under-19 player may combine senior and under-19 matches in order to be eligible to play for his senior grade team in the finals. Players cannot combine matches for reserves or Under-19 finals.
Where a player plays in more than one VAFA game on the same weekend (either with the same club, or involving the club and a hybrid arrangement referred to in Rule 53) the higher ranking game shall count for finals eligibility purposes and the lower ranking game(s) shall not count.  This Rule applies to games played in all VAFA Grades and the order of ranking for games shall be Senior, Under 19, Reserves, Thirds, Under 18 and Club XVIII.