Formerly known as TWL North, the competition will be rebranded as NTFAW after the Northern Tasmanian Football Association accepted management responsibilities from AFL Tasmania. 

Representatives from all nine clubs met at the NTFA office on Thursday night ahead of the 2019 season, which will consist of 10 home and away rounds plus finals.  

“With expressions of interest from 296 players at this early stage, we are very excited about the numbers for the 2019 season,” NTFA director Louise Millwood said. 

“We were overwhelmed by the initial response, the high standard of applications resulting in nine women’s teams.”

The women’s competition will start on March 30 – the same weekend as the men’s division 1 – while the premier division will kick off a week later on April 6.

Windsor Park will again host the NTFA’s grand finals at the end of the season.  

The three new women’s teams were each allowed to recruit three players from existing clubs, with the remainder either new players or players returning to football. 

The NTFA confirmed that both men’s and women’s competitions would field representative teams against either the South or North-West regions in 2019 following clashes with the SFL this year.

“As a regional association we must commit to growing our player base and providing players with pathway for development,” Millwood said. 

“The NTFA women will showcase our talent with a representative football team, side by side with our male counterparts in a gala day against the other regions.”

Prospect, who finished bottom of the TWL North ladder in 2017 ad 2018, will fall under the Meander Valley banner in 2019 but will retain its links with the Hawks’ junior club.