At the end of the rainbow is ... Tassie

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Pessimistic

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30k Posts 10k Posts HBF's Milk Crate - 70k Posts TheBrownDog
Sep 13, 2000
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Great news is the AFL and TFL seem to be wanting to put a Tassie side in the VFL. The Saints would be aligned with them, extending their 'territory' south of Portsea
With Melbourne FC showing interest and Hawthorn actually playing games there, It seems like Tassie is more a crock of gold than the leftovers in Sydney and Brisbane.

Good luck Taswegians and I'll see you next weekend when I come to visit !
 

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Great to see Tassie getting some attention at long last. I think that the VFL is a great way of pushing up some of the locals that get missed at 17/18 y.o to get another chance.
With that & I believe the Northern Territory getting a team in the SANFL we are giving something to 2 places that don't have the population or money (yet in the case of N.T) but have contributed so much to the game which I think gets forgotten by the suits as they chase the cash.
The Northern Territory has contibuted 3 Norm Smith medalists in the 21 years of the award who between them have won 4 medals. This is an amzing achievment considering the population & facilities they have.
Goatmaster
 
I know from watching the VFL this year how difficult it was to have a list of 42 plus rookies and try to form a reserves side after the senior players and injuries were taken into account. There was a core half a dozen supplementary or top-list players used every week. With the list now reduced to 38, this number will only grow.

For that reason, it makes sense for an AFL club to align themselves with an existing VFL club or a specific geographic area like the Murray kangaroos or Tassie. I do admit to love seeing the saints play in their own right but if the move was to go ahead, I would have no real objections. (In the VFL, not the AFL!) The saints have strong support in Tasmania. Let's face it, if it weren't for Tassie we would probably not have our one premiership victory and that is reflected in our support.

Even David Parkin doubted whether AFL clubs should field their reserve teams in the VFL in their own right, sighting the escalating costs as the major factor.

With a large club like Collingwood moving quickly to secure a partnership with Williamstown in the VFL after the bulldogs choose Werribee, the only clubs left fielding stand alone clubs are Essendon, Carlton, Geelong, Richmond and St Kilda.

I agree with you Pessimistic, the interest shown in Tasmania is long overdue and I'm very pleased for them.
 
Woo Hoo

Great news for Tasmania - they should have pushed for this years ago instead of messing around with this State-Wide League nonsense which has been a bit of a disaster really.

CJ, golions, other Tasmanians, what do you reckon ?

Pess - who knows if the Hawthorn experiment works you guys might be playing a few games down there soon. York Park has been re-developed, Bellrieve in Hobart has just been given the green light too.

However - I've said it before and I'll say it again - AFL games in Tasmania must involve the teams that have traditional support there. By this I mean Carlton, St Kilda and Richmond.

Ok Ok I know it is Hawthorn that currently has the most Tas members but even still I am always surprised at the huge numbers of Tasmanians that barrack for Carlton.

Hawthorn v Carlton at a floodlit Bellerieve Oval in front of 25,000 screaming Tasmanians ? - I'd like to see that !

PS - Bicheno is the best little seaside holiday you could have anywhere, and I mean ANYWHERE

cheers

[This message has been edited by Bloodstained Angel (edited 19 October 2000).]
 
If both areas get in the 'Local' leagues and do well there they may be able to build and mount a case for an AFL team. Let NSW and QLD do the same rather than a TV inspored mongrel outfit
 
goatmaster the WA Footy Commission was murmuring about having a Northern Territory side in the Westar Competition a few years back, but unfortunately nothing ever eventuated.

As for Tassie putting a side in the VFL - I think it's great for them, and footy in the state. As long as the 'Tassie Devils' doesn't have the same bad luck as the Hobart Tassie Devils in the NBL.
 
Goeagles,

They wouldn't be the Tassie "devils" if the move did go ahead, they would be the Tassie saints or a similar name incorporating the St Kilda football club. They would be first and foremost the St Kilda reserves team and would include a handful of local Tasmanian talent. No comparisons to the former NBL Tassie devils are needed. If St Kilda make a trading loss this year, it will be the first for 4 years.
 
It would be good for a Tasmanian team to join the ranks. It would be interesting to see the talent come out from there.

Matty Richardson hails from Tasmania so I'm sure there is more young talent.
 
I agree with you Pessimistic, that if there are to be more teams from NSW and Queensland that they should come from a second-tier competition (preferably the VFL) and if they prove to be successful and gather enough support, sponsorship, etc. to be able to field an AFL team then they come enter the AFL but only after they have proved themselves in the second-tier competition.
 
Here is a report from the official AFL site:
Saints Tassie bid meets opposition


By Chris Lines
Thursday, October 19, 2000


St Kilda has made a surprise bid to base its VFL side in Tasmania from next season, but it is certain to meet with opposition on both sides of Bass Strait.

Football Tasmania - the Apple Isle's administrative body - approached St Kilda with the plan and preliminary discussions were due to continue over the next two days.

There had been no submission for a Tasmanian team to enter the VFL and the league was less than enthusiastic about the Saints' plan.

'Ultimately Victorian clubs should play in Victorian football,' VFL general manager Ken Gannon told Channel Ten.

'St Kilda have a Victorian football base and they should be playing with us and if they need a partner club then we would say they we've got adequate clubs such as Springvale to work with.'

The possibility of losing spectators to the new team was certain to be coolly received by the six Tasmanian state league clubs, many of which were struggling financially.

Some Victorian AFL clubs had stand-alone teams in the VFL following the winding up of the AFL reserves competition at the end of 1999, while others sent surplus players back to former VFA clubs with which they were aligned.

St Kilda had a stand-alone team, but with a new broom being swept through Moorabbin, that could well change before 2001.

'Long term it may be best if we align ourselves with another club or organisation,' St Kilda football manager Brian Waldron told AAP.

'There is a huge market down in Tasmania that is untapped in a lot of ways.'

St Kilda was also trying to cash in on a supporter base which was attracted to the club when Tasmanian's Darren Baldock and Ian Stewart were the club's stars in its 1960s golden era.

The potential move would also require AFL approval.
 
I think a Hawks - Tigers Practice game got 15,000 a couple of years ago - more than recent ansett games

And didn't the hawks get a huge crowd when they 'killed' Fitzroys push to tassie stone dead by thrashing them ?

I reckon there's huge support down there for the hawks.
 

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If these clubs are 'emerging', then they MUST get the FULL draft concession for their state / territory - not some km radius thing. That's a really dumb move e.g. this guy from the Gold Coast isn't a Lions concession in the draft - really pedantic.

Tassie guys should play with a Tassie team - those guys eat footies down there.
 

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