Alastair Clarkson calls on AFL to give Tasmania a licence by 2026
Tasmania has done enough to deserve its own stand-alone AFL side and not a relocated Melbourne team, departing Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says. LATEST >>
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- Colin Carter visit has Tasmanian AFL Taskforce’s confidence on the rise
- The man who led AFL’s initial expansion and a strong believer in equality to review Tasmania’s business case
HAWTHORN’S coaching genius Alastair Clarkson signed off on his time coaching the Hawks in Tasmania by declaring the AFL should give the state its own stand-alone team by 2025 or 2026.
After masterminding the downfall of premiership contender Western Bulldogs with an injury-riddled line-up – the 11th-hour loss of Jaeger O’Meara and James Worpel – and a super-young side at UTAS Stadium on Saturday, Clarkson’s thoughts were for the people of Tasmania and the “dream of the team”.
“Clarko” walked off to a standing ovation and fans holding signs thanking him for all he has done since taking on the job in 2005.
“Until Tasmania gets its own side, we hope to keep playing games in Tasmania,” Clarkson said.
“I’m a bit like the Premier [Peter Gutwein], if you’re going to have a Tassie side, let’s get it cracking from scratch.
“Don’t have a relocated team, and don’t have a quasi-team. That’s been in place for a long time and while that has been good for the game down here, Tassie has done enough for the game to deserve its own side and I hope they get it.
“If I was the AFL, I’d say let’s have Tassie in by 2025 or 2026 and let’s get them started now. Put infrastructure around it, get an AFLW team, a team in the under-19s, and a team in the VFL and build from the ground over four or five years.
“By 2025 or 2026, Tassie could be a really viable option in terms of being the 19th team in our competition.”
The four-time premiership coach could not be more proud of the way his players responded to the news he would stand down at season’s end, winning every game since.
O’Meara (knee) and James Worpel (toe) should be available for Clarkson’s swan song against Richmond.
“Who knows if they even get into the side after the effort of the boys today – we are just so proud of the group,” Clarkson said.
“We had a really nice balance of older players and young players, and hopefully we showed our supporters there’s a really exciting future for this footy club.”
Hawthorn’s late-season rally brings back memories of 2006.
“We had four wins in the last part of the season and it really launched us into 2007 and a finals campaign,” Clarkson said.
“I’m not suggesting that will necessarily happen but I’d like to think our footy club is well-positioned to bounce back next year. We’ve got some really important players out of our side – eight or nine of our starting 22 – and it has given our young guys an opportunity to emerge and get exposure at the level.
“And we’ve been able to knock off a side that may very well hold the silverware at the end of the year.”
Richmond boss, Hawthorn coach back Tassie team
TASMANIA has won the backing of AFL powerhouse Richmond in its fight for a team while the mastermind of Hawthorn’s last four premierships agrees but until then the Hawks want to extend their 21-year association with the state.
Tigers president Peggy O’Neal, who on Thursday read the AFL-commissioned report by Colin Carter into Tasmania’s bid for an AFL license, said presidents would discuss it when they meet in September.
“It’s not that we have to vote in favour [of a Tasmanian AFL license] but you would have to vote ‘I don’t want it’ if you didn’t,” O’Neal said.
“It is good that it is being looked at seriously by a credible person, who has had a long involvement in football and understands the all the perspectives that have to be taken into account.
“My view would be yes, but I haven’t read everything or received all the information yet.
“Overall, I’m a big fan of Tasmania and what it has brought to football over all these years, so from that perspective they should [grant a license].
“But will they? That’s another question.”
Premier Peter Gutwein dropped a bombshell on Friday, threatening to scrap deals with Hawthorn and North Melbourne to continue playing a combined eight games per season in Tasmania as a result of the AFL’s “unacceptable” response to the Carter report.
Clarkson will coach Hawthorn for the final time in Launceston on Saturday before he stands down at the end of the season. The four-time premiership coach says the Hawks want to keep playing in Tasmania.
“Tasmania is one of the heartlands of footy in this country and it has produced some magnificent players over a long period of time,” Clarkson said.
“In a fully-national competition, if it’s going to be national, that needs to reflect every geographical region in the country, which includes North Territory too.
“Somewhere down the track I’d like to see all geographical regions of the country are represented in the AFL competition.
“How soon that happens is not for me or anyone at our club to control. That’s for the AFL Commission.”
Hawthorn played its first game in Launceston in 2001, and since “Clarko” took the reins in 2005 has brought four premiership cups to the state for fans to savour.
“Any football of the AFL brand in Tasmania is a really good thing, but it’s just what that looks like,” Clarkson said.
“That’s what the AFL is working out not _ is it stand-alone team in its own right? A team that locates down there? Or a team that plays a lot of footy down there?
“They are the challenges the AFL needs to address.
“What we do know is we’ve been part of taking footy to Tasmania for 21 years now and we want that to continue.
“In the meantime, whist they make their decision, we want to give exposure of the AFL brand to Tasmanians.”
Tasmanian AFL team hopes revealed
THE Colin Carter review has recommended Tasmania should have representation in both the AFL and the AFLW.
The review of Tasmania’s business case for a 19th team will be released publicly on Friday.
But it is understood Mr Carter – a former Geelong president and league commissioner — has provided three options to the AFL for Tasmania’s entry:
A 19th licence;
A relocated team from Melbourne; or
A joint venture with a Melbourne-based club playing most or all of its home games in Tasmania.
The Tasmanian Government received the report late on Thursday but refused to comment on its contents.
Mr Carter states Tasmania deserves a team and praises its long historical involvement to the game and its impact on the code.
It is also believed the report recommends the impact of the worldwide Covid pandemic should not impact a decision on a Tasmanian team, but it may delay the timeline for the introduction of the club or relocated side.
While it doesn’t provide the definitive answer and timeline Tasmanians were hoping for, the feeling is the review is mostly positive for Tasmania and its long term goal of becoming the last state (despite being an Australian rules heartland state) joining the big league.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan and Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein will separately address Mr Carter’s findings on Friday morning.
Mr McLachlan touched on the Carter review on Thursday as he announced the expansion of the AFLW from 14 to 18 clubs.
He said Friday’s address would not provide a definite answer to the decades long debate.
“That won’t be any decisions, it will be a commitment that we will put out the Carter report tomorrow with some covering information for us,” Mr McLachlan said.
“But please don’t expect a decision. It will be giving you the information.”
While the Carter review was tabled at the AFL commission earlier this month, a decision on the entry of a Tasmanian team will not be made until after the end of this season (late September), and even then any expansion plans need to get the support of 14 of the club’s 18 presidents to proceed.
The review’s release though will allow Mr Gutwein to restart negotiations with Hawthorn and North Melbourne over their current contracts to play four games a season each in Launceston and Hobart respectively that is due to expire at the end of this year.
Decision on Hawks vs Bulldogs Launceston match looms
HAWTHORN’S clash with mega club Collingwood was given the boot by Premier Peter Gutwein this weekend but his phone has run hot with the Hawks trying to confirm their AFL clash with the Western Bulldogs will go ahead in Launceston next weekend.
And Mr Gutwein will finally get his hands on the much-anticipated Carter Report into Tasmania’s quest to have an AFL license, expecting to see a copy by Wednesday.
That is when he will decide whether to strike news deals with Hawthorn and North Melbourne to play a combined eight AFL games in Tasmania each season, or divert the money into the state’s own AFL team.
The AFL Commission saw the report and discussed its recommendation on Thursday.
“I expect to see a copy of the Carter Report before the middle of next week and I expect the AFL presidents will also see it by then,” Mr Gutwein said.
“I can only speculate on what’s in it. I haven’t been provided with a briefing.
“I made it clear to Gill McLachlan, and [Hawthorn president] Jeff Kennett, until I see that report and understand the direction it lays out, we are not in a position to roll over those contracts with Hawthorn and North Melbourne.”
Kennett is keen to verify Hawthorn’s round 22 match against the top-of-the-table Doggies will proceed, despite Victorian being in its sixth Covid-19 lockdown and Tasmania’s borders closed to Victorians.
No AFL game will be allowed without a green light from Public Health, but regular community sport can proceed as scheduled and face masks are likely to become compulsory for people attending any large event.
“We are working through that and we will take Public Health advice,” Mr Gutwein said.
“Victoria has put in place a seven-day lockdown and one would hope their numbers in the coming days would improve.
“Whether that occurs or not, and whether we have got the confidence to reopen our border to Victoria before next weekend, is another matter.”
North Melbourne set the precedent for an AFL game to be played in Tasmania while Victoria is locked down, flying in and out of Hobart for its clash with Gold Coast Suns in round 15 on June 26.
“We have had a team come into the state previously, North Melbourne for the Gold Coast game, and they came out of Victoria when it was in a lockdown situation but the players were in a sterile bubble,” Mr Gutwein said.
“We will need to look at what is happening with Hawthorn and the Bulldogs teams before we make a final decision on next weekend’s game.”
‘Show us the report before we renew Hawks, Roos contracts’
PREMIER Peter Gutwein will not “speculate or hypothesise” what Colin Carter’s report into a Tasmanian AFL team contains but is unwavering in his belief the state will be handed a licence.
Mr Carter’s review into the viability of a Tasmanian team has been tabled to the AFL Commission, but no decision will be made until the end of the 2021 season.
The league’s 18 clubs will also not be briefed until the completion of this year.
Mr Gutwein, who has already called for the report to be made public as soon as possible, will not buy into speculation the report is set to provide positive news about the state joining the competition in the next four to five years.
However he has reiterated his stance the business case stacks up.
“My view through this has been consistent, I believe we should have a team and I believe that we will get a team,” Mr Gutwein said.
“There’s obviously a lot of speculation about the Carter report at the moment, until I have got a copy in my hand and I understand what Mr. Carter has to say, I’m not going to speculate or hypothesise in terms of what might be in it.
“But I would hope, based on the very strong position that we outlined in our business case, I think the very positive feedback that Mr. Carter received when he was here in the state earlier this year, that report would be positive in terms of Tasmania’s progression to a license.
“The point I have made is we currently have contracts in place with Hawthorn and North Melbourne and I’d like to see that report so that we’ve got clarity in terms of what direction it proposes, before we finalise those contracts for next year.”
As mentioned in Wednesday’s Mercury, Mr Carter is expected to detail the significant upside for participation rates if Tasmania had its own team, as well as the traditional football state’s right to have its own club.
He will also chart the challenges of generating enough income for the team to be sustainable, which would need a minimum of $45m in revenue and $11m of annual government investment.
Mr Gutwein said Government financial support was locked in.
“The taskforce report actually proposed somewhere between eight and 12 million dollars in terms of ongoing support, obviously we provide about $8 million at the moment each and every year [to the Hawks and Roos],” he said.
“That support for AFL, moving forward, is locked in. It is a commitment by the Government that we want to see AFL played in the state and importantly, we would use that money to support our own AFL team when we get one.”
Premier urges AFL to go public with Team Tasmania review
TASMANIA has urged the AFL to make the Colin Carter review of the state’s business case public soon after it has been lodged with the league’s commission.
The commission will receive the report during its two-day meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, but will not make a decision on it or take it to the league’s 18 club presidents until after this season.
However, Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein said that was no reason not to make the results available straight away.
There is speculation Mr Carter’s review of the business case will be good news for Tasmania and its long held ambition to join the league in the next four to five years.
“My expectation is that report will be provided to the state and also made available publicly shortly,” Mr Gutwein said.
“My view is sitting on that report will only lead to further speculation.
“As I very clearly indicated to (AFL chief executive) Mr (Gillon) McLachlan earlier this year I want to see that report and understand what’s in it before we finalise contracts to roll over the current contracts with Hawthorn and North Melbourne.
“My view would be is I would like to see it as quickly as possible after the commission have looked at it and obviously the presidents and the commission will made a decision later this year, but I think the Carter report will give a clear direction, at least that is what I am hoping in terms of a direction forward.”
Mr Gutwein also confirmed University of Tasmania Stadium’s maximum limit of 10,000 will not be increased for Sunday’s Hawthorn-Collingwood game – the Magpies first game for premiership points in the state.
“I would think if we were to have no restrictions at that game we would see a stadium that was swinging from the rafters,” he said.
“(But) we are not in that position.
“What we are doing is ensuring we are keeping people safe and public health has made the rules perfectly clear.”
Originally published as Alastair Clarkson calls on AFL to give Tasmania a licence by 2026
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