Following consultation with players, the playoffs to select Australia’s representative teams will move to a fixed spot in the calendar.  This will commence with the playoffs to select the 2017 teams.

Playoffs to select Australia’s representative teams for 2016
The Open Playoff be held from 6-11 February, 2016.  The Women’s and Seniors’ Playoffs will be held from 12-17 March 2016.

Playoffs to select Australia’s representative teams for 2017
The Open Playoff will start on 12 November 2016.  The Women’s and Seniors’ Playoffs will start on 3 December 2016.  The venue, format and finishing date will be advised when the current consultation process is complete.

Changes to the “PQP Year”
The change in the dates of the playoffs for the 2017-2020 teams will require a one-off change to the events in which PQPs will count towards qualification for the playoffs.  For the 2016 playoffs, the “PQP year” is the same as the calendar year, i.e. it starts with the 2015 Summer Nationals and concludes with the 2015 GNOT.

As the 2017 Playoffs will be held earlier than in recent years, the “PQP year” will move.  The first event will be the 2015 Spring Nationals and the last event the 2016 Hans Rosendorff Memorial Congress.

Consequently, the 2015 Spring Nationals and the 2015 GNOT will count towards the Playoffs to determine both the 2016 and the 2017 Representative Teams.