Miguel Sanchez
(Unique injury) TBC
Why did the previous Tasmanian VFL side fold, and what steps are being taken to ensure that history doesn't repeat?
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The VFL team is a reasonable result. Despite all the gnashing of teeth, Tasmania is a small market and as such it needs to have wild parochial support to show that it can flourish despite the small market.
The VFL team isn't ideal but it at least gives Tassie something to unite behind to show they can support a team at the highest level. Stop attending Hawthorn games and pack out the stadium for every Tassie VFL game. Show that a Tasmanian team will be well followed, even at VFL level. Develop facilities in conjunction with the government and get a reasonable sized boutique stadium. Make that Tasmanian team the most widely followed state league team in the country and then you'll turn heads.
So.. what happens if the plans of an AFL reserves league goes ahead? What happens to the Tassie team then?
This all seems a little ill thought out just something to make it look like the AFL have done something when really they’ve done nothing to help Tasmanian football. Having a Tassie team in a glorified Victorian reserves league isn’t the answer, nobody gives a s**t about the VFL anymore.
This is the sort of campaign I think the government and fans need to launch.
Why did the previous Tasmanian VFL side fold, and what steps are being taken to ensure that history doesn't repeat?
But we're happy to give a transient destination like the Gold Coast a team who has failed to support a local team from any other sporting code in the past? Makes sense...
the original VFL Tassie Devils side actually got a pretty decent following locally and could have evolved into something bigger.... then they got forced to align with North Melbourne and it was no longer a stand alone side... interest fell knowing that Tassie was just another feeder club for an AFL side and interest and crowds dropped....
But we're happy to give a transient destination like the Gold Coast a team who has failed to support a local team from any other sporting code in the past? Makes sense...
The Gold Coast area has a larger population (592,330 by 2017) than the whole state of Tasmania (519,166 by 2017), is growing steadily each year (around 2-3% growth each year over the past decade), is a more attractive winter tourist destination, and is in a strategic area for the growth of the game. It's pretty easy to see the logic behind putting a team there ahead of Tasmania, and backing that you have the right infrastructure and financing in place for it to succeed better than other teams in other sporting codes have.
The Gold Coast area has a larger population (592,330 by 2017) than the whole state of Tasmania (519,166 by 2017), is growing steadily each year (around 2-3% growth each year over the past decade), is a more attractive winter tourist destination, and is in a strategic area for the growth of the game. It's pretty easy to see the logic behind putting a team there ahead of Tasmania, and backing that you have the right infrastructure and financing in place for it to succeed better than other teams in other sporting codes have.
People need to let to go of the 'team in every state' romanticism and accept the reality.
Tasmania is a small state with less people than the Gold Coast and growing at a snail's pace. Not to mention that, unlike other states, the majority of the state's population live outside the capital city as well which means that selecting Hobart as the home means shutting out people from Launceston. And Hobart is tiny.
Gold Coast and western Sydney were always the most logical places for expansion. Even a third WA team has far more merit than Tasmania.
It would be a statewide team. Both Hobart and Launceston have AFL-ready venues. Home games can be split, North and Hawthorn already do it between Melbourne and Tassie.
If the third WA club is the next most attractive, the Tas and WA govts should join forces and properly fund studies so they can put something serious on the table for clubs 19 and 20.
The Gold Coast area has a larger population (592,330 by 2017) than the whole state of Tasmania (519,166 by 2017), is growing steadily each year (around 2-3% growth each year over the past decade), is a more attractive winter tourist destination, and is in a strategic area for the growth of the game. It's pretty easy to see the logic behind putting a team there ahead of Tasmania, and backing that you have the right infrastructure and financing in place for it to succeed better than other teams in other sporting codes have.