North Melbourne CEO chats Roos next move after Tassie, Tarryn Thomas
North Melbourne CEO Jen Watt has opened up about the club’s move away from Hobart as a second home when Tasmania joins the competition. Plus her hope for Tarryn Thomas.
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North Melbourne says it is open to offers from non-Victorian venues to continue selling games in a bid to replace its Hobart cash cow.
And chief executive Jen Watt is hopeful sacked star Tarryn Thomas will still find a way to rehabilitate himself despite his latest accusations of poor behaviour towards women.
Watt said despite securing 12 consecutive profits the Roos would need to find a new revenue stream when Tasmania took over in 2028.
Hawthorn is already exploring Cairns as a potential second home while the Demons sell a game to Alice Springs and Gold Coast play two games in Darwin.
The Roos current arrangement with the state has a Spirit of Tasmania sponsorship believed to be worth more than $2 million a season.
North Melbourne would need to find a neutral venue prepared to stump up cash so they do not have to sell home games to away venues like Optus Stadium.
“The AFL will be really determined to keep content in Tassie until the Devils start playing which is suggested to be 2028,” Watt told ABC Radio.
“We have a wonderful relationship with the Spirit of Tasmania and Events Tasmania so will continue to put content in there but we have a bit of time to work out what the exit strategy is and it is a big financial return for the club so we will need to find something and it probably doesn’t look like just bringing four games back to Marvel and we are exploring those options right now.
“We are open minded. We have all seen clubs travel and we have got a good record travelling and our coach has won four premierships with a secondary market in play. We are not afraid of that and we embrace it but it will be what is best for the club and we are exploring all options now.”
Watt’s email to clubs warning about the difficulty of finding programs for players like Thomas was leaked earlier this year.
She said her point was to make clear it was challenging to find adequate support after four programs including “education, therapy and participation-style programs” which “were not able to meaningfully change his behaviour”.
“It was such a challenging time and people ask how do we feel now? I feel sad. I feel sad we couldn’t help him change his behaviour,” Watt said.
“He ultimately gave us no choice but to make that decision. I hope Tarryn can change his behaviour and earn another opportunity. That would be the best result here.
“The point I was trying to make in that email is these are really complex challenging situations not just in footy clubs but society. There is a lot of help at the crisis point but not a lot of help in the rehab stage.”
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