North Melbourne will involve Tasmania in AFLW licence bid and plan to expand Arden St facilities

NORTH Melbourne is planning to expand its Arden St facilities to accommodate an AFLW team, with its strong Tasmania links to form a key part of its bid to earn a licence in the 2019 expansion.

Brent Harvey hopes to one day see his daughter, Lacie, play for a North Melbourne AFLW team. Picture: Mark Stewart

NORTH Melbourne plans to use Tasmania as a key plank behind its bid for a 2019 AFLW licence, with chief executive Carl Dilena saying the club’s already considerable investment in women’s football at grassroots level should also be taken into consideration.

A number of clubs are jostling one for what is expected to be four new licences for 2019 with their submissions to the AFL due next Friday.

Dilena said the Kangaroos were well advanced in their plans, including discussions with the local council about a further upgrade of the Arden St facilities to accommodate a possible AFLW side.

“We have certainly been in discussions with AFL Tasmania and the Tasmanian state government around ideas and concepts for an approach to a women’s team,” Dilena said.

“We are still working through those ideas. There would be a real sense of Tasmania being involved and being a genuine part of the AFLW landscape if we were to be successful. We have plans to build specific women’s training areas and change rooms and to expand our Arden Street facilities overall.”

Brent Harvey hopes to one day see his daughter, Lacie, play for a North Melbourne AFLW team. Picture: Mark Stewart

“We have been involved in women’s football for some time now, through the Melbourne Uni team and the Huddle Programs. We have also made a really genuine commitment to the next generation academies — in fact 39 per cent of all participants AFL-wide come from North’s academies with 29 per cent in Tassie due to our ongoing work.”

Dilena said the growth of women’s football was exceptional in Tasmania, partly because of the Kangaroos’ academies.

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He said the number of girls and women’s teams had grown from seven to 62 within the past two years, while there are now 43 youth or girls teams in the state.

“You have to grow the interest from grassroots level and that’s what we’ve done,” Dilena said.

“There is massive interest in women’s footy in Tassie at the moment, and it will only get bigger with our AFLW team that potentially includes a genuine Tassie connection.”

It comes as AFL games record holder Brent Harvey has thrown his support behind the Kangaroos’ bid, saying he would one day love to see his daughter, Lacie, who plays with Yarrambat girls under 12s team, run out in the club’s colours.

Originally published as North Melbourne will involve Tasmania in AFLW licence bid and plan to expand Arden St facilities