Wrest Point Casino to sponsor Devils

[Sinn]

The Wrest Point Casino has pledged over 1 million dollars in sponsorship for the Tasmanian Devils. For the next 3 years Wrest Point will be the naming right sponsor of the Tasmanian Devils.

 

[Rob]

$1m over 3 years? That must be just about the best sponsorship deal outside the AFL.

 

[Sinn]

Sorry, that should read 5 years, for some reason the person that reported it on the Local news said 3 years. I apologize for the mix up, I am glad the radio reported it this morning.

 

[onslaught]

Anyone seen an official media release on the sponsorship?

 

[Sinn]

I have checked both papers websites, and both have no reported it, though it was probably be in Today's Mercury. It has been reported by both Win Local News, Southern Cross News, and 101.7 HO FM (Hobart Radio)

 

[Kingpin]

The Mercury - Wednesday December 15 2004

Devils, Patrick split less than amicable
By Brett Stubbs

The Tasmanian Devils and naming rights sponsor Patrick have parted company, with the shipping giant taking a parting swipe at AFL Tasmania.
Patrick has been onboard with the state's VFL side since its inception in 2001, but the two have parted company on less than amicable terms.

Patrick Logistics national business manager Wayne Stafford issued a press release yesterday saying he was "disappointed by the nature of the negotiations with AFL Tasmania, especially considering the short term notice and given historical arrangements".
"We have had a four year partnership with AFL Tasmania through our continued support for the Tasmanian Devils, but have not been able to negotiate a further term", Stafford said.

He said he did not wish to elaborate further yesterday on his disappointment, only saying the company had been keen to continue the partnership.
AFL Tasmania general manager Scott Wade confirmed the two had split.

"Yes, it's true that Patrick could not reach an agreement with AFL Tasmania because Patrick would not extend its commitment beyond one year", Wade said.
"I expect to make an announcement very soon about a new naming rights sponsor and I will make no further comment"
AFL Tasmania will be making a major announcement at Wrest Point Casino in Hobart today.
Patrick, then Holyman, was the Devils original naming rights partner sponsoring the club to the tune of $65,000 over the first three years.

........................................................................................................
If only AFL Tasmania would get off thier arses and get rid of this rediculous SFL (AFLST) and put the old TANFL back in, and start finding some decent sponsorship for that league, football here would be actually going places.
AFL Tasmania are only interested in the Devils so they can suck up to the likes of Ken Gannon and look good in AFL circles - meanwhile local football continues to drop off the twig.

 

[Sinn]

AFL Tasmania has shown many times they couldn't give a stuff about local football, some days it appears they couldn't careless about Tasmanian football at all, they are more interested in the AFL, well that is how it would appear, AFL this, AFL that, I would rather see them fixing things in the local leagues, were it really needs a lot of work.

I guess we will never see that happen though.

 

[bakerman]

Here I go again.

When the local TV stations and local papers ( Win local news, Southern Cross, and The Mercury) get off their ass along with AFLST and start sgowing highlights and have a half hour Sunday wrap for local footy footy will never be what it was like in the TANFL days. All the TV stations need to do is LOCAL footy so the Southern state will have a wrap on AFLST and the northern on the NTFL. It is bloody easy. Local buisness will get behind the clubs because they will get publicity and the clubs will benifet from this through the gate and Sponsorship. EASY.
When will AFLST relise this??

 

[WCL]

We need someone from this Forum to run for Cheif executive of Football Tasmania and then we might see some things happen.

 

[Sinn]

What would be involved in running for that position? I am sure some over at the AFLST forum could start something.

 

[Kingpin]

Here I go again.

When the local TV stations and local papers ( Win local news, Southern Cross, and The Mercury) get off their ass along with AFLST and start sgowing highlights and have a half hour Sunday wrap for local footy footy will never be what it was like in the TANFL days. All the TV stations need to do is LOCAL footy so the Southern state will have a wrap on AFLST and the northern on the NTFL. It is bloody easy. Local buisness will get behind the clubs because they will get publicity and the clubs will benifet from this through the gate and Sponsorship. EASY.
When will AFLST relise this??

True, but the whole package is intertwined as to why football has gone so alarmingly wrong in recent years.

The standard of the SFL is so poor, that a vast percentage of football followers in the Southern areas won't have anything to do with it.
In reality, they need to open up the salary cap to allow the clubs to bring in some "big names" from the mainland to try and induce some of the followers back, to give them someone to watch and to have the standard of play increased. This is why the Devils are attracting decent crowds and getting better publicity. AFL Tasmania could help in this regard, but instead they choose to fritter all the money they get from the AFL each year on Devils players from the mainland, and local football hardly gets a crumb from the pie.
Perhaps the reasoning behind that is the catch-22 situation regarding the local clubs' ability (or there lack-of) when it comes to frugal financial management, just like the way they massively over-spent in the late 80's and most just about went out of business as a consequence, and how most clubs are still struggling for funds each year as a result despite managing to get free of the overbearing financial burden that was the Statewide League.

The way the SFL have handled these problems in regard to conflicting logos is another reason why fans have become disenfranchised, and have stayed away much like the sponsors, and why the media look on it with disinterest.
Tradition is a fair chunk of any sporting organisation, and seeing Hobart and North Hobart running around in something other than what they've always been known as doesn't help the league's cause in any way.
With low-profiled and mostly lower skilled players running around the grounds which are bare & empty each week, the general public, the sponsors and the media just aren't interested in SFL football.

Another factor is the fact that the media here are no longer "Tasmanian owned and operated". When you turn on the TV each night you are basically watching what you'd be watching in Melbourne or Sydney.
The TV stations here don't produce many (apart from the news) local shows anymore. Regardless of how good the football standard is here, you will not see it on TV here anymore because the stations don't have the facilities to broadcast them anymore.
Even the ABC is showing "mainland sport" on Saturday afternoons, the local radio stations (Sea-FM, HO-FM, Magic 107, 7ZR) are all getting rehashes of "mainland" products now - the local stuff never gets a look in.

There's a few things I'd like to see happen.

1) Hobart, Nth Hobart, Glenorchy, New Norfolk, Clarence, & either Kingborough or Lauderdale playing in a 6-team reformed TANFL.
2) Make sure all teams traditions are restored fully.
3) The other clubs that make up the SFL remain playing in the SFL.
4) In accordance with the fact that getting air-time on FTA is virtually impossible now, much the same as it is getting harder on mainstream radio stations, have the local TANFL matches broadcast on minor stations that would be crying out for listeners. Sure, it might not be as good as having the footy back on 7ZR but, why not see if a deal can be struck with 7RPH or similar?

Whatever happens, I think the whole sport is in serious trouble.

 

[WCL]

I agree with everything tiger said. We need to brake into the media somehow and a low budget radio station may be the first step, the conditions involved should be:

1. Prem League match of the day
2. 1:00 Sat untill game time preveiw.
3. Score updates and reveiws of other games during the match of the day.
4. Sunday wrap up with all injuries and reports.
5. Wednesday update of all things happening.

this would be perfect.

The league should bump the salary cap up by another 20-30,000 so it can entice high profile mainland players and keep local stars in the state.

all clubs should be able to do this now except maybe kingborough, Lauderdale and Brighton.

The comp should be a six team TANFL style comp and should either brake away from the SFL, if not they should get different administrators for Prem League and Reg League.

 

[Kingpin]

I agree with everything tiger said. We need to brake into the media somehow and a low budget radio station may be the first step, the conditions involved should be:

1. Prem League match of the day
2. 1:00 Sat untill game time preveiw.
3. Score updates and reveiws of other games during the match of the day.
4. Sunday wrap up with all injuries and reports.
5. Wednesday update of all things happening.

this would be perfect.

The league should bump the salary cap up by another 20-30,000 so it can entice high profile mainland players and keep local stars in the state.

all clubs should be able to do this now except maybe kingborough, Lauderdale and Brighton.

The comp should be a six team TANFL style comp and should either brake away from the SFL, if not they should get different administrators for Prem League and Reg League.

I believe there should be a breakaway from the SFL, and in a way from AFL Tasmania as well (but that could very well pose more problems).
I have heard strong whispers that the NTFL could breakaway from AFL Tasmania over it being told by AFL Tasmania to restructure the NTFL into a geographically based competition (much like the farcical SWL ended up becoming). In a year or two you may very well see the NWFU and the NTFA being reformed.

Also too, another fairly decent factor in the general disinterest of local football is the situation regarding good young talented players.
These talented kids come up through the juniors, up into the underage and if they show a great deal of promise they may get a senior guernsey.
If AFL Tasmania sees them performing well, they are instantly whisked off to the Mariners or Devils and they are virtually never seen at your club again.
So the "excitement factor" of seeing a good, young potential star in the making is lost at club level, and that is rather sad.

I've seen many a talented young player up at Hobart over the years who have been at the Mariners or gone to train with the Devils, and if they don't make it, they get disinterested in the sport and either quit football, or they are never the same footballer if they do happen to return.

One such young player that I recall from recent times would be Daniel Kirk who was a talented soccer player and one day lobbed up at Hobart wanting a game in the Colts.
It was a pre-season practice match against Sorell at the TCA Ground in 2000, and this kid played like an AFL player. I think he booted about 6 goals and had about 35 touches - totally dominated and Hobart won a very entertaining game.
He went back to soccer for awhile and then later on in the season came back and played for Hobart and helped get them into the finals. His performance in the 2000 Colts Grand Final was outstanding, taking many strong marks and his great performances around the ground was an integral part of Hobart winning that Colts premiership.
He left football after that and went back to soccer as a player and referee, but eventually was enticed back to the TCA and played in the Reserves for Hobart for a few matches before making his senior debut for Hobart at the TCA Ground against New Norfolk in 2002.
Steve Gilbee left him on the bench until three quarter time in a match that New Norfolk were winning quite comfortably, in the last quarter Kirk absolutely dominated the game, probably had close to 15 posessions in the last quarter and kicked three goals.
Astonishingly, Hobart had crept to within six points of New Norfolk as Kirk marked on the siren 50m out at the Smith Stand end, the roar was amazing when he pulled in that grab.
As history has it - he kicked it out on the full (with about 16 New Norfolk players, a bunch of trainers, waterboys and a few supporters on the mark) and we lost.

But Kirk went on to play very well for Hobart, and got drafted to the Devils after starring in a big win over North Hobart in early 2003.
Kirk was never the same player again after that and did not perform well at the Devils, and really struggled upon his return to Hobart.
He left Hobart at the end of 2003 after a disagreement with Jock McGregor and headed off to Lauderdale, where he really struggled for form for the better part.
I hear he's now headed off to South Australia.
I always believe that had he been allowed to mature properly at senior level at a local proper standard club, he could've made AFL, but going to the Devils too early really messed him up big-time.
Who knows, he might have been a senior premiership player at Hobart some day, but we won't know that anymore.
I've seen the likes of Alistair Lynch, Paul Hudson, Jamie Shanahan, Matthew Armstrong, Andrew Lamprill, Michael Martin etc all play thier first senior games at Hobart and watched them grow at local level before they headed off to the big time of VFL/AFL.

We won't see that at local level in our clubs anymore - and we're much the poorer for that, I believe.

Lastly, we have to look at the way the system of football has been tinkered with and systematically dismantled over the last 20 years.
Tasmanian Australian National Football League
TFL Statewide/TSFL/SWL.
The Huon Football Association
Peninsula Football Association
The Southern Amateurs Competition
Tasman Football Association
Western Tasmanian Football Association
North West Football Union
Northern Tasmanian Football League
Fingal Football Association
Upper Derwent Football Association
These are leagues that spring to mind over that time period, that have disappeared - if I had the time to reserch it further, I could find many more.

What they've done, is stick all the remaining teams in a handful of leagues which are totally inappropriate (standard, geographical & travel wise) for many of the competing clubs.
And as a result of that, many of those proud clubs have disappeared from the footballing landscape in this state through a variety of reasons.
Clubs that readily spring to mind would be: Sandy Bay (TFL), Southern Districts Cats (SWL), Franklin (HFA), Eagle Hawk Neck (PFA), Port Arthur (PFA), Nubeena (PFA), Koonya (PFA), Cambridge (TFA), Risdon Vale (TFA), Lachlan (SFL), Bridgewater (SAFA), Tunbridge (ODFA), Parattah (ODFA), Woodsdale (ODFA), Kempton (ODFA), Strahan (WTFA), Lyell-Gormanston (WTFA), Toorak (WTFA), *Cooee (NWFU), *Burnie Tigers (NWFU), *East Launceston (NTFA), *City-South (NTFA), Maydena (UDFA), Railway (TFA), North Derwent (UDFA) and the list goes on and on and on.
Whilst another proud former Southern Amateur club Claremont (at one time, the finest amatuer club in Tasmania) battles for its very survival in the SFL, and may not make it to 2005.

(Note)
* City-South merged with East Launceston in June 1986 to become South Launceston playing in the TFL Statewide League.
* Cooee changed its name to the Burnie Hawks upon entering the TFL Statewide League in 1987, later merging with the Burnie Tigers in 1995 to become the Burnie Dockers.

It makes quite intriguing reading when you think about it.

 

[Sinn]

Well the other night my family helped the Devils out by a few dollars at the Casino, does this mean my fmaily gets a honourable mention?