I agree that already being at 16 clubs at that point was a complication, but when it's all said and done, it's pretty clear that Canberra was not on the AFL's wish-list.
Compare these sorts of half-baked ideas being thrown around with the hundreds of millions of dollars the AFL has thrown at the Suns and the Giants to get them off the ground.
The AFL was never, ever going to do that for a Canberra team, and will never do it.
I'll just say it again, sitting around the board table, at no point has the possibility of an AFL team being based permanently in Canberra ever been on the agenda.
Canberra hasn't been a priority. I'll admit that. Second teams in the all the major capitals have been, and should have been the priority.
But we've definitely been on the agenda.
Second teams in Sydney and SEQ have been part of an even larger priority. Crushing the rugbies. Canberra is an important battleground. We have an AFL-leaning population, but two professional rugby teams. Not something they can let stand. We might not be priority no. 1, but I would think we've been included in more than a couple of conversations regarding that battle.
Whether they actually want a team in Tasmania or not, they're also seriously discussing that. Discussions on who to move, or what to create in Tasmania, are seriously being talked about at the board table. Tasmania might be the next cab off the rank, but we know the AFL doesn't do expansion in singles. If a relocation can't happen, the AFL will want a 20th team for TV rights to pay for the expansion. You don't think Canberra would pop up somewhere in that discussion?
The AFL have so much foresight these days it'd be ridiculous to think Canberra isn't on their radar.
I believe it's likely Canberra will have a team before 2040. I would be genuinely surprised if we didn't have a team by 2050.
Then depending on advances to science, we'll take back Phil Davis and play you for the Phil Davis Cup.