Pretty piss poor, the AFL should have no involvement when the secondary catchment areas are – so long as they're wanted. Why does it matter if it's North or the Bullies in Ballarat? Beyond me.
It's pretty bizarre when you think about it that the Hawks are such a well run club and great side, yet play more games at in a secondary state than anyone else. They have enough pull in Victoria to not oversaturate their supporters there. And the implied projection is the Kangas taking over the whole of Tassie, and there's no way the AFL will want to have some weird splicing of a club for too long... it'll be relocation – as someone else said – by stealth.
Stay strong North Melbourne and stay in Melbourne.
Off topic perhaps but this is our schedule of home / away games at the MCG before, during and after signing the 2007 agreement to play 4 games in Tasmania
2000 - 10 / 2 (12)
2001 - 9 / 3 (12) (1 game in Tasmania, exclusivity)
2002 - 8 / 5 (13) (2 games in Tasmania, exclusivity)
2003 - 8 / 4 (12) (2 games in Tasmania)
2004 - 8 / 3 (11) (2 games in Tasmania)
2005 - 8 / 2 (10) (2 games in Tasmania)
2006 - 5 / 1 (6) *Commonwealth Games reduced the number of home / away games at the ground
...and since
2007 - 7 / 1 (8) (4 games in Tasmania, exclusivity)
2008 - 7 / 3 (10) (4 games in Tasmania, exclusivity)
2009 - 7 / 3 (10) (4 games in Tasmania, exclusivity)
2010 - 7 / 5 (12) (4 games in Tasmania, exclusivity)
2011 - 7 / 4 (11) (4 games in Tasmania, exclusivity)
2012 - 7 / 6 (13) (4 games in Tasmania, North takes the South)
2013 -
6 / 3 (9) (4 games in Tasmania, North takes the South)
2014 - 7 / 4 (11) (4 games in Tasmania, North takes the South)
2015 -
6 / 3 (9) (4 games in Tasmania, North takes the South)
I believe that the AFL is feathering Hawthorn to sign a similar MCG / Ethiad home game deal to what was offered to Carlton in 2014 (6 MCG / 5 Ethiad) when our current contract expires in 2017.