Tasmania set to apply for a provisional AFL licence (aiming to enter competition by 2025)

[sherb]

If the Tasmanian Government doesn't sign a new contract for Hawthorn and North Melbourne, how is that not on the premier? It's his choice.

Look, I genuinely want a Tasmanian side, preferably within five years - and a new team, not a merger or relocated side. And I want North Melbourne to play all its home games in Melbourne, forever. I've argued a lot on this site that playing home games elsewhere hurts the fabric of the club. We didn't get the traditional boost in memberships after our late 90s success in part because he were constantly being talked about as moving or merging. And we feel more than most the pain of a potential relocation of a club.

8his "give us a timeline by the end of the week" schtick would piss me off if I were the AFL. Sure it plays well to the locals, but you don't need to impress them, you need the AFL.

There is a sense of entitlement among supporters of a Tasmanian side that you need to get out of your system. Whether you like it or not, Tasmania gets a side when it is proven that it benefits the AFL. Gold Coast and GWS can point to higher TV revenue, plus significant increases in participation in those markets. The numbers in the taskforce documents (which I have read part of - not the full 200+ pages, admittedly) don't blow me away. And particularly post-COVID, and with the change in the way that people consume media in the last five years, some of the numbers are positively heroic.

I won't shed a tear if we finish up in Hobart at the end of this year, but if you think footy is struggling in Tassie now, take AFL footy off the table for five years and see how it goes then.

Someone has to call the AFL's bluff eventually, else the current second rate arrangement (ie the state being milked by clubs such as yours) will continue ad infinitum.

As for the bolded, if you want to accuse me of having a sense of entitlement all good - in return, all you are one of many who has been brainwashed into thinking that all that matters is money, ratings, "expansion", etc.

You are ignorant of the fact that the AFL's responsibility isn't just to grow the game - it's also to ensure the health of the game in existing areas. It's the custodian of the game, that's the mantle it took on (but has pretty much abandoned, clearly).

Tasmania is an existing heartland area - it doesn't have to generate increased TV ratings, make more money, etc to justify an AFL side. That's just bullshit criteria from an organization that has clearly forgotten why it is there.

The fact that a Tasmanian side would service an existing AFL area and consolidate (and help re-establish) the game there is just as important as putting a club into a brand new market. That's justification enough (provided of course it presents a viable business plan, which I am sure it can).

Someone made the point on the main board which sums up the AFL - Tassie would have more chance of getting its own side if it were a Rugby League state than an AFL one. And I agree. Let that sink in.

As for your final comment, all the AFL needs to do is commit to a Tassie side in 2025 and I am sure a way will be found to keep AFL footy played there in the interim.

 

[big_e]

Someone has to call the AFL's bluff eventually, else the current second rate arrangement (ie the state being milked by clubs such as yours) will continue ad infinitum.

As for the bolded, if you want to accuse me of having a sense of entitlement all good - in return, all you are one of many who has been brainwashed into thinking that all that matters is money, ratings, "expansion", etc.

You are ignorant of the fact that the AFL's responsibility isn't just to grow the game - it's also to ensure the health of the game in existing areas. It's the custodian of the game, that's the mantle it took on (but has pretty much abandoned, clearly).

Tasmania is an existing heartland area - it doesn't have to generate increased TV ratings, make more money, etc to justify an AFL side. That's just bullshit criteria from an organization that has clearly forgotten why it is there.

The fact that a Tasmanian side would service an existing AFL area and consolidate (and help re-establish) the game there is just as important as putting a club into a brand new market. That's justification enough (provided of course it presents a viable business plan, which I am sure it can).

Someone made the point on the main board which sums up the AFL - Tassie would have more chance of getting its own side if it were a Rugby League state than an AFL one. And I agree. Let that sink in.

As for your final comment, all the AFL needs to do is commit to a Tassie side in 2025 and I am sure a way will be found to keep AFL footy played there in the interim.

It's the AFL itself that has been brainwashed into thinking about financial metrics above anything else. And unfortunately, it's their league and they get to set whatever metrics they want.

 

[sherb]

It's the AFL itself that has been brainwashed into thinking about financial metrics above anything else. And unfortunately, it's their league and they get to set whatever metrics they want.

That doesn't mean people like you have to parrot, rather than challenge, their thinking though.

If you are so accepting of their vision for the competition and how they view things, I assume you didn't have a problem with them trying to up and shift your club to the GC? Because most North supporters did.

This is why I find your "sense of entitlement" comment to be a bit poor, because using your line of thinking you could easily say that about all the North supporters who didn't want their club relocated. Who were they to decide what is best for the competition - that's up to the AFL isn't it?

Do you see how this works? Fighting for what you believe in isn't actually a sense of entitlement, because (as a broad principle) Tasmanians fighting for their own team isn't really that different to North Melbourne supporters fighting for their team to stay in Melbourne.

 

[Verdun]

If the Tasmanian Government doesn't sign a new contract for Hawthorn and North Melbourne, how is that not on the premier? It's his choice.

Look, I genuinely want a Tasmanian side, preferably within five years - and a new team, not a merger or relocated side. And I want North Melbourne to play all its home games in Melbourne, forever. I've argued a lot on this site that playing home games elsewhere hurts the fabric of the club. We didn't get the traditional boost in memberships after our late 90s success in part because he were constantly being talked about as moving or merging. And we feel more than most the pain of a potential relocation of a club.

But the premier having a hissy fit doesn't help your case - his "give us a timeline by the end of the week" schtick would piss me off if I were the AFL. Sure it plays well to the locals, but you don't need to impress them, you need the AFL.

There is a sense of entitlement among supporters of a Tasmanian side that you need to get out of your system. Whether you like it or not, Tasmania gets a side when it is proven that it benefits the AFL. Gold Coast and GWS can point to higher TV revenue, plus significant increases in participation in those markets. The numbers in the taskforce documents (which I have read part of - not the full 200+ pages, admittedly) don't blow me away. And particularly post-COVID, and with the change in the way that people consume media in the last five years, some of the numbers are positively heroic.

I won't shed a tear if we finish up in Hobart at the end of this year, but if you think footy is struggling in Tassie now, take AFL footy off the table for five years and see how it goes then.

It is not a hissy fit to stop paying North Melbourne to play here.

It is not a sense of entitlement to have to pay for your team to pay here.

Respect to the Premier of the State I live here for finally making a good call.

 

[sherb]

It is not a hissy fit to stop paying North Melbourne to play here.

It is not a sense of entitlement to have to pay for your team to pay here.

Respect to the Premier of the State I live here for finally making a good call.

As I pointed out, a stand has to be taken at some stage else nothing will change.

 

[sherb]

Here are the attendances of the games in 2019. Capacity of both grounds around 20k.

Hobart (North) - Blundstone
vs Sydney - 12,799
vs GWS - 7,832
vs St Kilda - 10,696
vs Melbourne - 8,202

Launny (Hawthorn) - UTas
vs Carlton - 15,888
vs Port - 11,637
vs Freo - 13,006
vs Brisbane - 15,157

Tas team opponents would argue those figures show Tasmanians wouldn't support a local side - I'd argue that they show that locals are getting tired of the current arrangement.

North reached 50% capacity twice. Hawks did better, but they have been in the state a lot longer. Even then the best they could do was around 75% capacity. And their best attended match was against a club (Carlton) which has strong support in Tassie.

 

[CrowdedHouse]

One thing that slipped under the radar, but should ring alarm bells, is that the Tasmania State League Women's comp has folded!

As much as women's footy is growing in the regional comps (which is good news), to have only three clubs put their hand up to want and play in the TSLW this year has got to be of major concern. TWL/TSLW: Created 2007, Folded 2021.

 

[sherb]

One thing that slipped under the radar, but should ring alarm bells, is that the Tasmania State League Women's comp has folded!

As much as women's footy is growing in the regional comps (which is good news), to have only three clubs put their hand up to want and play in the TSLW this year has got to be of major concern. TWL/TSLW: Created 2007, Folded 2021.

Why has it folded may I ask?

 

[HPKS]

One thing that slipped under the radar, but should ring alarm bells, is that the Tasmania State League Women's comp has folded!

As much as women's footy is growing in the regional comps (which is good news), to have only three clubs put their hand up to want and play in the TSLW this year has got to be of major concern. TWL/TSLW: Created 2007, Folded 2021.

It didn’t slip under the radar. Madmug, Kingpin and a few others have spoken about it on the Tasmanian board. It’s more that the AFL appears to have silenced the “media” talking about it. Just like the fanfare of Auld In regards to his promotion to being in charge of fixtures. When if anyone in the “media” had dug a little bit would have found he was not very well thought of by most local tassie football people. And most people down in tassie shook there head in disgust at his promotion. But hey that’s the “media” we have these days. Reporting the party line as usual.

 

[The_Wookie]

One thing that slipped under the radar, but should ring alarm bells, is that the Tasmania State League Women's comp has folded!

As much as women's footy is growing in the regional comps (which is good news), to have only three clubs put their hand up to want and play in the TSLW this year has got to be of major concern. TWL/TSLW: Created 2007, Folded 2021.

Reported in the papers down here

AFL Tas reveals new plans for women's footy

The TSLW appears all but gone as new plans take shape for 2021.

www.theadvocate.com.au

No Cookies | The Mercury

No Cookies

www.themercury.com.au

but just yesterday this was announced

Women’s football to kick goals in 2021

www.premier.tas.gov.au

 

[Walshawk]

Once Tas get an AFL team I assume that will be the end of the Statewide league. Any serious players will be playing in the Devils VFL team (around 5 - 10 each week), and local footy can revert to NTFL and SFL.

 

[Ned_Flanders]

the sooner Tassie stop subsidizing Victorian clubs the better. Its been a one sided deal in recent years, and Tassie taxpayers are better focusing their money elsewhere

 

[Seedsfan]

No way we can put a side in Tassie before 2030. The game took a massive hit expanding to 18 sides we need to grow the talent pool before stretching it thinner

 

[Professor Knowall]

... we need to grow the talent pool before stretching it thinner

When Tassie is admitted, just reduce the on-field playing number to 16 - problem solved.

 

[Seedsfan]

When Tassie is admitted, just reduce the on-field playing number to 16 - problem solved.

That is a terrible idea

 

[Professor Knowall]

That is a terrible idea

Why? It's been done before - successfully.

 

[Seedsfan]

Why? It's been done before - successfully.

Lol not the VFA on small sh*t suburban grounds. We don’t need to keep ******* with the game

 

[Tasmanian saint]

Once Tas get an AFL team I assume that will be the end of the Statewide league. Any serious players will be playing in the Devils VFL team (around 5 - 10 each week), and local footy can revert to NTFL and SFL.

Na I would have thought it wouldn’t really be cost effective to have a team in the vfl and afl it would be more a wa- sa model have players spread through the various state league teams

 

[HPKS]

Na I would have thought it wouldn’t really be cost effective to have a team in the vfl and afl it would be more a wa- sa model have players spread through the various state league teams

The WA/SA clubs have reserves sides in their respective state leagues. They’re not spread out around any more

 

[Kwality]

The WA/SA clubs have reserves sides in their respective state leagues. They’re not spread out around any more

Leave it to the Taswegians not the AFL.

 

[Professor Knowall]

Lol not the VFA on small sh*t suburban grounds. We don’t need to keep ******* with the game

indeed not the VFA. If you knew your football history, you would know that the VFL originally had 20 a side on-field until they followed the VFA and reduced it to 18 a side on-field due to too much on-field congestion and defensive contacts. I guess they were ******* with the game back then by reducing it down to 18 according to your standard.

 

[tandino]

With the projected reduction of list sizes, talent pool is less of a concern then it was in the past, if it ever was a concern.

On a similar point, I think the winding back of some of the excesses as a result of Covid and the implementation of the soft cap makes a Tasmania team more feasible, not less.

We have to ask ourselves if all the expenditure on the professional side of football is working for the game and for us. The growth of spending in football operations in clubland (separate to the money spent on GC and GWS specifically) in the last 10 years is considerable, and I don't think its lead to a considerable improvement in the game. A winding back may make Tasmania more viable.

Genuinely have no idea if they can get a team up, but I really hope they can.

 

[tandino]

And I suppose is there a difference between the state governments spending money on football clubs as opposed to the Grand Prix or the Tennis?

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Sure it plays well to the locals, but you don't need to impress them, you need the AFL.

Actually, the locals are exactly who Gutwein needs to impress, because they're the ones who will vote on his re-election, not the AFL. I'm sure re-election is a lot more important to him than whether tasmania gets a team or not.

 

[Tasmanian saint]

Actually, the locals are exactly who Gutwein needs to impress, because they're the ones who will vote on his re-election, not the AFL. I'm sure re-election is a lot more important to him than whether tasmania gets a team or not.

Gutwein will win in a landslide it won’t even be close the Labour Party in Tasmania are an absolute mess has been for years