New NTFA Premier Division 2025

[Cunnington Cartel]

Today the NTFA announced the four clubs that were successful in joining North Launnie and Launceston for debut season of the premier division in 2025. The AFL Tas plan to scrap the state league and go back to regional footy was always going to impact the North of the state the hardest. People from Launceston and surrounds were quick to point out some of the drawbacks of this plan for their region and (judging by social media) it’s fair to say that the controversy and criticism has continued since today’s announcement.

Joining the Bombers and Blues in the premier division next season will be: South Launnie, Longford, Deloraine and Scottsdale. The attached article is a media release from AFL Tas that briefly outlines some of the selection criteria. I recall reading previously that Bridgenorth were going to apply, does anyone know if Rocherlea applied as well?

When you look (holistically) at the senior and junior clubs, South and Longford were obvious choices; however, Deloraine and Scottsdale are more contentious selections. Obviously, their junior pathways and women’s programs helped them to be successful. Although I’m really concerned about their ability to be consistently competitive from next year onwards.

What’s everyone else’s thoughts?
Also, does anyone have any insights about the process or views from the particular clubs who were successful / unsuccessful?

On another note, next year’s Div 1 could potentially be a cracking competition. I’m hoping that Old Scotch and St Pats join the remaining clubs in Div 1 - Bracknell, Bridgenorth, George Town, Hillwood and Rocherlea. There might be some serious player movement at the end of this season, but by last year’s results, this Div will be way more competitive than the premier Div.

Six clubs to form inaugural NTFA Premier League revealed | AFL Tasmania

www.afltas.com.au

 

[Gak Attack]

Typical AFL arrogance with absolutely no understanding of the area.

By aligning the whole club in same division they've given a big **** you to the women's competition. North have shown they couldn't care less about women's football and Scottsdale and Longford struggle massively. It's similar with the under 18s, I mean Scottsdale didn't even have a team last season.

Now North and Launceston have basically come out and shat on it too. Unfortunately NTFA lacks the leadership or intelligence it seems to stand up to AFL Tas. Complete lack of transparency with their member clubs.

Personally I can't see it happening and even if it does they'll have to redo within the first 2 years as it will most certainly fail.

Agree though that at least Div 1 would be exciting with the remaining Premier League clubs and probably Scotch, St Pats and Lilydale.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

Typical AFL arrogance with absolutely no understanding of the area.

By aligning the whole club in same division they've given a big * you to the women's competition. North have shown they couldn't care less about women's football and Scottsdale and Longford struggle massively. It's similar with the under 18s, I mean Scottsdale didn't even have a team last season.

Now North and Launceston have basically come out and shat on it too. Unfortunately NTFA lacks the leadership or intelligence it seems to stand up to AFL Tas. Complete lack of transparency with their member clubs.

Personally I can't see it happening and even if it does they'll have to redo within the first 2 years as it will most certainly fail.

Agree though that at least Div 1 would be exciting with the remaining Premier League clubs and probably Scotch, St Pats and Lilydale.

It will be embarrassing for AFL Tas and the NTFA if the comps require a restructure or clubs end up being demoted within such a short timeframe of the NPD starting. You can tell that AFL Tas approached the whole premier league idea with a biased lens because it’s an easy transition for footy in the South, but that model conjures up so many problems when they try to implement it in the North. Like you said, it probably boils down to the representatives of AFL Tas having complete ignorance about footy in the North. Bridgenorth are particularly aggrieved with being overlooked.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

North Launceston and Launceston have really teed off on AFL Tas and the NTFA in today’s Examiner. I must say they make a hell of a lot of sense. From the moment the premier division model was announced, everyone from the North of the state could tell that this was going to be a disaster for footy in that region, as well as for players with aspirations for playing footy at a higher level.

Anyone who wants to play at a standard higher than regional footy will have the option of relocating to Hobart and vying for the limited list spots available for the VFL side, or moving to the mainland to play in better comps like the VFL, SANFL, WAFL etc. I’ve already heard rumours of QAFL coaches heading to Tassie on the search for talent in 2025. What’s the point of this model if we lose more of our best community players to the mainland?

As Thane Brady mentions, it will also create disparity between the 6-team Northern and Southern premier leagues because the North will only have two former state league clubs (not counting South), while the South will have five (+ Brighton). If the Southern league is a significantly stronger league (which it will be) then Northern players may also relocate there to play in a better standard comp and to also have a better chance of getting noticed in relation to the Devils’ VFL squad. These decisions from AFL Tas are at best ignorant, and at worst, intentional (as Brady suggested).

 

[DANMAN]

well this has gone pear shaped already

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

well this has gone pear shaped already

To be expected. Is doing nothing for footy in Northern Tas. Be interesting to see how it develops. I’ve seen that the NWFL have rejected the breakaway league proposal so Launnie and North might be running out of options.

 

[tassiemagpie]

Would Launceston & North try and come in to the SFL ?


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[Cunnington Cartel]

Would Launceston & North try and come in to the SFL ?


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That is being spoken about. North and Launceston wouldn’t be in there forever, but they want more investment and work to be done to prepare the smaller NTFA clubs for the premier league. IIRC they commented that a 3 year lead in would be appropriate for clubs to get ready for the increase in standard.

 

[DANMAN]

Would Launceston & North try and come in to the SFL ?


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possibly, but i doubt the SFL would want them .

To be expected. Is doing nothing for footy in Northern Tas. Be interesting to see how it develops. I’ve seen that the NWFL have rejected the breakaway league proposal so Launnie and North might be running out of options.

spot on, they have no other options that I can see, apart from trying to persuade the Coastal teams into some sort of Greater Northern Comp.
Interesting times coming up, decisions have to be made soon.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

possibly, but i doubt the SFL would want them .

spot on, they have no other options that I can see, apart from trying to persuade the Coastal teams into some sort of Greater Northern Comp.
Interesting times coming up, decisions have to be made soon.

NWFL have come out and said they aren’t interested. This was backed up by Damian Gill who said the concept was discussed and rejected by the coastal clubs because they said the current NWFL model is the best they’ve had in ages.

 

[Ozguy]

What is the rumour going about in regards to NL and Launceston going to some Vic Amateurs comp?

Assume that is just all it is, a rumour.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

What is the rumour going about in regards to NL and Launceston going to some Vic Amateurs comp?

Assume that is just all it is, a rumour.

Haven’t heard. Do you know which comp?

 

[Ozguy]

Haven’t heard. Do you know which comp?

Nah, haven't heard anything more than "some Vic Amateur comp"

I think it may have been someone getting confused about the joint statement. I hadn't heard it anywhere else.

 

[Gibbke]

Four team comp. You know that South would be able to get themselves up to par, and the best facilities in the country part of Northern Tassie are at Longford, plus you know they'd want to get back on top if it was viable for them...the first sixty years of both the NTFA and TFL looked like this, and since these comps aren't modelled on getting huge crowds and newspaper coverage these days, it's all about competitiveness and viability...

Deloraine and Scottsdale though...Deloraine are the only team in Tassie to have played top tier footy in two regions, discounting the obvious requirements of statewide. They are in an awkward zone between the N and NW, and have historically found it hard to attract top talent willing to drive! Scottsdale...you'd love it to work, because of the history, but how's the community going up there? They seem to be like Circular Head...footy contracting, clubs dying, comps struggling or going under...these days it's like they can have either get a good top level team or a good local comp, not both like they used to have, and at the moment both regions are getting neither...

The top league should be fully focused on being elite, and the talent who want to represent should go there. Every other team on NT should be working to a community model, with the primary focus being numbers and keeping the clubs alive...and if one is at the expense of the other, then make it one team per club. The death knell would be kids leaving Launceston and going south. The south, by the way, struggle with their top tier teams not having drawing power...a lower league team can pay more quite often, which is a ridiculous situation...

An alternative would be an expanded intrastate comp. N, NW and S, playing each other four times, five or six even, designed to keep VFL Devils playing consistent hard footy, and flexible within it (e.g. if you're not playing VFL Devils and your intrastate team has the bye, you can swan in and play as a guest for another region).

 

[OneEyedPie7]

The whisper doing the rounds is that North and Launceston have conceded, and the Premier League will be going ahead.

 

[madmug]

The whisper doing the rounds is that North and Launceston have conceded, and the Premier League will be going ahead.

They really had no option.
It is the complete abrogation of Tassie footy by AFL Tas. We know regional footy doesn't provide a good enough level for players to go up to the VFL standard. We need a State league representing the N, NW & S. Also the umpires will lose out too. Its a fact. It happened last time we had a VFL team. I can't believe how pathetic & ignorant AFLTas have been, & still are.

 

[Ozguy]

I can't believe how pathetic & ignorant AFLTas have been, & still are.

Mate, you are being too nice.

We can all believe it. We have all lived it for the past 30 years.

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

It’s nearly halfway through the season and the performances of South and Longford, compared with Deloraine and Scottsdale are stark (across all teams). Bridgenorth were really pissed off at being snubbed and you can see why, because they’re really running a tight ship with their entire footy program. I know clubs were assessed according to a set of criteria, and on-field performance is not the be all and end all, but it’s pretty important to have a competitive competition. Particularly when there’ll only be six clubs involved.

 

[DANMAN]

the NTFA clubs not in Premier League have now been circulated the 3 options available to them for next years competition

 

[Cossy]

the NTFA clubs not in Premier League have now been circulated the 3 options available to them for next years competition

Which are? I would assume only two options, apply to play in a division 1 or division 2 competition

 

[DANMAN]

Which are? I would assume only two options, apply to play in a division 1 or division 2 competition

Premier (already decided)
Options for remainder of teams are as follows-
Option 1 - Division 1 comp. 7 or 8 teams , Division 2 comp. 7 or 8 teams
Option 2 - Division 1 with 15 teams . play every side once + potentially 4 more games. 2 separate finals .
1 - 6 play 1 lot of finals , 7-12 separate finals. 13-15 no finals
Option 3 - similar to Option 2 but a conference style comp. scoring more Bonus Points Conference 2 sides to beat Conference 1 teams (very complicated)

 

[Cunnington Cartel]

Premier (already decided)
Options for remainder of teams are as follows-
Option 1 - Division 1 comp. 7 or 8 teams , Division 2 comp. 7 or 8 teams
Option 2 - Division 1 with 15 teams . play every side once + potentially 4 more games. 2 separate finals .
1 - 6 play 1 lot of finals , 7-12 separate finals. 13-15 no finals
Option 3 - similar to Option 2 but a conference style comp. scoring more Bonus Points Conference 2 sides to beat Conference 1 teams (very complicated)

So complicated. After the premier division was sorted, I thought the obvious decision would be to just do this:

NTFA Division 1 (Sen, Res, Unders)

Bracknell
Bridgenorth
George Town
Hillwood
Old Scotch
Rocherlea
St Pats

NTFA Division 2 (Sen, Res)

Bridport
East Coast
Evandale
Lilydale
Meander Valley
OL’s
Perth
UTAS

 

[Ozguy]

So complicated. After the premier division was sorted, I thought the obvious decision would be to just do this:

NTFA Division 1 (Sen, Res, Unders)

Bracknell
Bridgenorth
George Town
Hillwood
Old Scotch
Rocherlea
St Pats

NTFA Division 2 (Sen, Res)

Bridport
East Coast
Evandale
Lilydale
Meander Valley
OL’s
Perth
UTAS

Possible CT in the future

 

[Gibbke]

I'd conference it, absolutely. Getting in the car and driving...it's just un-Tasmanian!

Division 1 South
Bracknell
East Coast
Evandale
Meander Valley
Perth
Old Scotch
St Pats
OL’s
plus Deloraine

Division 1 North
Bridgenorth
Bridport
George Town
Hillwood
Lilydale
Rocherlea
UTAS
plus Scottsdale

This is all geography, and to be honest should be. Any old Esk team or old Tamar Valley side is going to be happiest playing their old rivals as often as possible...the three private school old boys would probably be happy in a separate Old Boys division, maybe inviting Uni. If you're going to convince young players to sign up to community footy, they need to know their weekends can still be their own. Numbers are the key factor for all of these teams, and it has to be aided in every imaginable way. If a kid decides not to join because of a few too many 100km journeys, then you've lost a player - you can bemoan the attitude of today's youth forever, but bottom line, that's bad...

Not convinced of the merits of Scottsdale or Deloraine in the top league. Scottsdale are talking the talk, but it's not 1973 anymore. I'd have a 4 team Premier division, Longford the only country side, full S/R/U19's. The other lower division sides could pick and choose their structures. Finals between both Division 1 conferences, and a Statewide Premiership for the Premier League...or not...just make sure everyone plays with full sides, and the elites get plenty of hard competition...

 

[DANMAN]

So complicated. After the premier division was sorted, I thought the obvious decision would be to just do this:

NTFA Division 1 (Sen, Res, Unders)

Bracknell
Bridgenorth
George Town
Hillwood
Old Scotch
Rocherlea
St Pats

NTFA Division 2 (Sen, Res)

Bridport
East Coast
Evandale
Lilydale
Meander Valley
OL’s
Perth
UTAS

I think this is what would likely happen, the options are the ones being given to the clubs.
I would imagine Lilydale would likely be in Division 1 . clubs have been asked for their opinions , but I doubt they will take any of that into consideration.