The Northern Knights is an Australian rules football club playing in the Talent League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based in Preston, representing the northern suburban area of Melbourne.
The Knights are one of the six original clubs set up as part of a plan by the Victorian State Football League to replace the traditional club zones with independent junior clubs.History of TAC Cup This was to help aid in player development and the process of the AFL draft, which allows U18 players the opportunity to be selected by AFL clubs.
Northern Knights have had many of their players drafted into the AFL, including the first two selections in the 2007 AFL draft, Matthew Kreuzer and Trent Cotchin,Knights Make Draft History and the fifth selection in the 2008 AFL draft, Michael Hurley. Previously drafted players include Anthony Rocca, Brent Harvey, Jack Grimes, Lance Whitnall, Brent Stanton, Heath Shaw, Marcus Bontempelli and David Zaharakis.Northern Knights honour roll
Honours
Talent League Boys Premierships (4): 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 Runners-up: Nil Minor Premiers (2): 1994, 2026 Wooden Spoons (5): 2000, 2004, 2008, 2016, 2022
Talent League Girls Premierships (1): 2019 Runners-up (1): 2018 Northern Knights were the first club to achieve 3 consecutive premierships in either of the Talent League competitions. They won 4 premierships in a row between 1993 and 1996. They have not won a Talent League Boys premiership since.
AFL Draftees History
1992: Daniel Tramontana, Gerard Power, John Barker 1993: Shannon Gibson, Chris Johnson, Angelo Lekkas, Adam Simpson, Justin Mallon 1994: Anthony Rocca, Daniel Harford, Blake Caracella, Stuart Mangin, Michael Polley, Matthew Collins, Gary Moorcroft, Danny Stevens, Robert Powell, Dean Grainer 1995: Simon Prestigiacomo, Shane Clayton, Paul Licuria, Andrew Ukovic, Luke Godden, Scott Grainger, Brent Harvey, Ewan Thompson, Daniel Lowther 1996: Lucas Fleming, Jim Plunkett, Andrew Eccles 1997: Nick Stevens, Lionel Proctor, Trent Hoppner, Troy Kirwen, Frankie Raso 1998: Brad Oborne, Nicolas Lowther 1999: Rhyce Shaw, Paul Wheatley, Ben Johnson 2000: - 2001: Shane Harvey, Leigh Montagna, Ben Finnin, Brent Colbert, Mark McKenzie 2002: Tim Walsh 2003: Brent Stanton, Brayden Shaw, Ricky Dyson, Heath Shaw 2004: Adam Pattison, Ryan Willits 2005: Ben McKinley, Jack Anthony, Ryan Jackson, Cathal Corr, Paul Currie, Andre Gianfagna 2006: Daniel Currie 2007: Matthew Kreuzer, Trent Cotchin, Patrick Veszpremi, Jack Grimes, Brett Meredith 2008: Michael Hurley, David Zaharakis, Michael Still, Luke Stanton 2009: Sam Grimley, Dylan Grimes, Jaryd Cachia 2010: Josh Caddy, Tom Hill 2011: Billy Longer, Jack Newnes, Michael Mascoulis 2012: Nick Vlastuin, Aidan Corr, Nathan Hrovat 2013: Marcus Bontempelli, Ben Lennon 2014: Kyle Langford, Reece McKenzie, Jayden Short, Jason Castagna 2015: Jade Gresham, Brayden Fiorini, Brayden Sier, Tyrone Leonardis, Darcy Macpherson 2016: Patrick Lipinski, Matthew Signorello 2017: Nick Coffield, Patrick Naish, Jack Petruccelle 2018: Justin McInerney, Tom McKenzie 2019: Sam Philp 2020: Nik Cox, Liam McMahon 2021: Josh Ward, Darcy Wilmot, Jackson Archer, Ned Long 2022: Cooper Harvey 2023: Nate Caddy, Will Green 2024: Jesse Dattoli, Thomas Sims, Zak Johnson 2025: Nick Driscoll
References