Hobart Mercury Sports Editor Brett Stubbs says Tasmanians won’t be satisfied with the impending announcement of the state’s return to the VFL.
The Herald Sun reported on Friday that the AFL plans to combat the state’s troubled footballing program by reviving the Tassie Devils, which attracted competition-high crowds in its original VFL stint between 2001 and 2008.
But Stubbs says the announcement won’t appease the state’s passionate footy fans.
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“If it’s a foundational pathway to us one day having our own AFL team, that’s terrific, but if it’s the summit, if it’s a case of 'here you are, this is as far as you can go', well, that’s not what we want,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“We’ve been there and done that before - we want our own pathway to one day being part of the biggest league in Australia.”
Opinion is divided among footy circles on Tasmania winning an AFL call-up, with suggestions crowd numbers at recent Hawthorn and North Melbourne home games in Launceston and Hobart respectively aren’t enough to justify a permanent side.
Others argue the scheduling of those games, usually on Saturday afternoons, make it hard for locals to attend given the clash with grasroots footy.
Stubbs says crowd-related arguments are “infuriating”, citing the success of the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League as proof the state can handle a team of its own.
“Yes, the crowds have dropped off, and I think a lot of it is in some ways a protest vote,” he said.
“We feel like we haven’t been given the same opportunities as other areas, and for neutral supporters, the novelty has worn off to see clubs that you aren’t invested in - Gold Coast is not high on peoples’ wish list to go and see right now.
“You only have to look at the Big Bash crowds - Tasmanians have got right behind their own team, the Hobart Hurricanes. They have regular very strong crowds to sellouts both in Hobart and Launceston.
“Tasmanians have gotten right behind the Hobart Hurricanes and I have no doubt it would be the same for an AFL team; even more so.”
Stubbs said that the state would be happy to jump through any hoops the AFL gives them to earn their own team.
“We’re crying out for what boxes we need to tick, what’s the AFL’s long term plan,” he said.
“If it’s 5 or 10 years down the track, that’s fine, we can work towards that. But we just want to know if it’s reality. We just want to have a crack at it, and if we need X amount of members and X amount of sponsorship, let us work towards that.
“It’s something that would really unite Tasmanians and give everyone in the football community a focus, an aspiration and a goal.”
Tasmania will partially get its own team in the AFL Women's competition next year with North Melbourne set to split their time between the two states.
Listen to Brett Stubbs' chat with Garry Lyon, Sam Edmund and Daisy Pearce on SEN Breakfast in the player below