TAS Ireland to Island

[Bunk Moreland]

With all the talk of how Tassie will struggle to produce or retain enough players, why not give them access to a huge "zone" that exists that won't actually hurt other clubs?

Could one way to help Tassie be to give them exclusive access to Irish players who want to come to Australia as an international rookie?

You could work it out, set up a small academy over there with a coach or two and recruiting manager, and scope out any GAA (or younger) talents.

Make Tassie the exclusive Irish AFL home in Australia... they'd probably appreciate all being together. They can work out the best way to recruit and retain the players. Other clubs will come for Tassie's players, but if they have a bigger Irish contingent, it may help to keep them together.

At any given time there's usually up to 4 or 5 Irishmen playing senior footy in the AFL, that's a fair leg-up for Tassie putting together a team that doesn't involve them raiding other clubs' squads or zones.

They even get to wear green... and they sure as hell won't care about the weather.

Give it to Tassie for 10 years then review it if it's too big an advantage.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

The issue with that is, project players require special coaching attention and take up list spots for years without being likely to play in the senior side. How many project players can one club reasonably take on? They'd have to be allowed a few coaches outside the soft cap and an expanded rookie list for Irish players.

 

[Danw0w]

Interesting idea. I think the AFL may need to get creative to expand the talent pool if they are adding new teams and this may be a solution.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

The issue with that is, project players require special coaching attention and take up list spots for years without being likely to play in the senior side. How many project players can one club reasonably take on? They'd have to be allowed a few coaches outside the soft cap and an expanded rookie list for Irish players.

Yeah, I think that’s a reasonable idea. I think other clubs would cop it if it meant less draft concessions and player raids.

 

[00Stinger]

I don't hate the idea at all

 

[Bianconeri]

If we want to see less Irish players sure

 

[Sentinel]

Decent idea, although how many extra resources are generally needed to have Cat B project type players actually succeed?

I imagine the investment is manageable for clubs carrying 1-2 of these sorts of players but to have a list stacked with them would be a huge challenge. The success rate is not high so they'd need a significantly larger overall list to carry so many who are more likely to fail than play (and to an acceptable standard which would allow the club to compete).

 

[Teen Wolf]

The 18 clubs would definitely prefer this to having their squads 'raided', which is how you know the idea sucks.

A strong team on the field from day one is what will make Tasmania a desirable place to play football. This can only be achieved by bringing in a long list of established stars and already good players from other clubs, not through cute little experiments.

 

[PhatBoy]

By my count 26 Irishmen have played AFL/VFL in a starting 22. Roughly 50 more have been on a list or a version of a list and didn’t make it.

Now there is a difference between being a 5-10 gamer and being Jim Stynes BUT considering they are usually only on a list for a year or two at the most before that point I think that is a reasonable success rate.

With a proper academy of sorts and a permanent link to one club I don’t see why that rate of conversion wouldn’t improve.

I think it’s an excellent idea

 

[Toump Ass]

Nah, Tasmania wanted to play in big boys league and AFL very humbly obliged, now already their fans are trying to encroach on established trademarks (devils? * off) and trying to get whole countries as their academy? They already got their own island that should be enough. Good luck Tasmania!

 

[My Tilly]

With all the talk of how Tassie will struggle to produce or retain enough players, why not give them access to a huge "zone" that exists that won't actually hurt other clubs?

Could one way to help Tassie be to give them exclusive access to Irish players who want to come to Australia as an international rookie?

You could work it out, set up a small academy over there with a coach or two and recruiting manager, and scope out any GAA (or younger) talents.

Make Tassie the exclusive Irish AFL home in Australia... they'd probably appreciate all being together. They can work out the best way to recruit and retain the players. Other clubs will come for Tassie's players, but if they have a bigger Irish contingent, it may help to keep them together.

At any given time there's usually up to 4 or 5 Irishmen playing senior footy in the AFL, that's a fair leg-up for Tassie putting together a team that doesn't involve them raiding other clubs' squads or zones.

They even get to wear green... and they sure as hell won't care about the weather.

Give it to Tassie for 10 years then review it if it's too big an advantage.

Some journo (Browne or Barrett) will read this and use it on one of their podcasts and it will gain traction from there.

 

[James Colorado]

Some journo (Browne or Barrett) will read this and use it on one of their podcasts and it will gain traction from there.

And claim it as their own idea, no doubt.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Some journo (Browne or Barrett) will read this and use it on one of their podcasts and it will gain traction from there.

Been happening on Big Footy forever.

That’s ok, the Bunk is all about the greater good.

And you all are my witnesses anyway.

 

[Osho]

A distant Irish ancestor lived in Tassie once, according to family lore. A failed escape brought him back on one occassion to his cold stone abode. Finally released, he made his way to the mainland.

I hope the future Irish Taswegians have a happier time of it, and accommodations are roomier.

 

[Consolaçao]

A distant Irish ancestor lived in Tassie once, according to family lore. A failed escape brought him back on one occassion to his cold stone abode. Finally released, he made his way to the mainland.

I hope the future Irish Taswegians have a happier time of it, and accommodations are roomier.

Alexander Pearce was another Irishman that never really enjoyed Tassie.

 

[PhatBoy]

Alexander Pearce was another Irishman that never really enjoyed Tassie.

Not sure about that. He was well fed if nothing else

 

[M Malice]

The Thylacines guernsey will be green so that's a good start.

Do Potatoes grow in Tasmania?

What about the quality of the Guinness?

 

[Osho]

Alexander Pearce was another Irishman that never really enjoyed Tassie.

The cannibal?

 

[flyinghi64]

Good initial idea. A few tweaks and a few years to work it out. If they can get 3-5 good players from it then why not.

 

[Call Me Cake]

It'll get to the point where Irish arrivals will outnumber Tasmanians on their own island. The team would go from being the Devils/Wolves to being the Tassie Celtics.

On a serious note, if you're stretching to this length then you have to start questioning the motives of having a Tasmanian team in the competition to begin with. If you put a Tassie team in the side and do things like this then by doing so you're inadvertently admitting that the side isn't able to sustain itself adequately. If you have to make competition-bending changes to give the team a lifeline then what's the point?

Can you imagine people in an Australian football dominated area wanting their own team in order to be able to grow up and play for it and the point being to give people in TAS a way to play professionally without the need to relocate and then arrivals from the other side of the world come along take up spots. What a farce.

"Hurt" was majorly mitigated by the fact that no other team had to relocate as a result. Anything else is tiny in comparison to that and the rest of the competition should that and run.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It'll get to the point where Irish arrivals will outnumber Tasmanians on their own island. The team would go from being the Devils/Wolves to being the Tassie Celtics.

On a serious note, if you're stretching to this length then you have to start questioning the motives of having a Tasmanian team in the competition to begin with. If you put a Tassie team in the side and do things like this then by doing so you're inadvertently admitting that the side isn't able to sustain itself adequately. If you have to make competition-bending changes to give the team a lifeline then what's the point?

Can you imagine people in an Australian football dominated area wanting their own team in order to be able to grow up and play for it and the point being to give people in TAS a way to play professionally without the need to relocate and then arrivals from the other side of the world come along take up spots. What a farce.

"Hurt" was majorly mitigated by the fact that no other team had to relocate as a result. Anything else is tiny in comparison to that and the rest of the competition should that and run.

There's currently around a dozen Irish players on lists and about 4-5 who are playing fairly regular senior footy across the league, so you're really stretching the credible with most of what you're saying. They're hardly going to take up spots or block development. They need the assistance - at least they do for the time being. Change it in ten years if that changes.

The club needs to be competitive to succeed. This is a leg-up for them. Every other expansion club has zones, this is no different. The GWS academy zone stretches to Victoria ffs, they're not Western Sydney kids.

 

[Osho]

This may be of interest, from afl footy in tassie, wikipedia. Some interesting now versus 20 years ago questions arise, I hope it's not too late...

A 2018 study of Internet traffic showed that 79% of Tasmanians are interested in Australian rules football, the highest rate in the country.[2]

While it is the only state without an Australian Football League (AFL) club, on 2 May 2023, the league's 18 clubs unanimously approved a 19th license after 30 years of campaigning by the state. The AFL Commission approved this vote, with the license announcement being made the following day.[3]

While the audience for the sport remains significant and population growth has exceeded the national average, participation has been in freefall since 2006. The number of participants halved during the 2000s and has not recovered. Once having the strongest participation per capita,[4] it has dropped below the national average and is now similar to the sport in the Australian Capital Territory and only marginally higher than that in New South Wales and in Queensland.[5] In the 21st Century it dropped off the top 10 team sports and the most popular team sports are now basketball and soccer.[6] While the code remains popular in the state's north and Launceston, its popularity has fared much worse in the south and in the state's capital Hobart. With the collapse of numerous clubs and competitions, the sport has undergone numerous restructures over the years. Tasmania has traditionally supplied the AFL with a disproportionately high number of players. Despite efforts to maintain a pathway, in the 2010s and 2020s Tasmania began to produce poorly in the AFL Draft and for the first time in history (including 2020 and 2022) Tasmanians missed selection altogether. The general consensus is that the state suffered from being ignored by national governing bodies for decades.[7][8] This prompted the Government of Australia to launch a Senate inquiry in 2008.[9]

Currently there are 23 Tassie male players on AFL club lists.

 

[LordLucifer]

With all the talk of how Tassie will struggle to produce or retain enough players, why not give them access to a huge "zone" that exists that won't actually hurt other clubs?

Could one way to help Tassie be to give them exclusive access to Irish players who want to come to Australia as an international rookie?

You could work it out, set up a small academy over there with a coach or two and recruiting manager, and scope out any GAA (or younger) talents.

Make Tassie the exclusive Irish AFL home in Australia... they'd probably appreciate all being together. They can work out the best way to recruit and retain the players. Other clubs will come for Tassie's players, but if they have a bigger Irish contingent, it may help to keep them together.

At any given time there's usually up to 4 or 5 Irishmen playing senior footy in the AFL, that's a fair leg-up for Tassie putting together a team that doesn't involve them raiding other clubs' squads or zones.

They even get to wear green... and they sure as hell won't care about the weather.

Give it to Tassie for 10 years then review it if it's too big an advantage.

One of the most leftfield ideas I've read thus far but that doesn't mean it isn't worth considering.

An old quote from Einstein that I subscribe to is "if at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it".

You've also supplied some good reasons as to why it may work well too, especially the wearing of the green, that was the first thing I thought of when I read your first two sentences.

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

I can see it now. Lost irishmen wandering around Hobart after Dark Mofo saying "Jaysus, where am I? Can I have a look at someone's map of Tasmania for a second?'

Would pubic nudity ensue?

 

[WillHayward]

So we have 23 Tassie players and 11 Irish players on 2023 AFL lists.

That's 34 players already.
Not too bad at all.

The other thing to remember is that despite huge investments there are still hardly any NSW or Qld players on AFL lists.

So a Tassie/Irish combo is likely to be quite fruitful in comparison in terms of talent.