Tasmania’s AFL and AFLW team home base: Former golf course the site for new High Performance Centre

Tasmania’s AFL team has hit a hole-in-one with its $70m High Performance Centre to be constructed on a former golf course. See the details.

Rosny Parklands site as Tasmanian AFL teams' home. Indicative renders of the site. Picture: Tasmanian Government

Tasmania’s AFL team will kick a huge goal in its evolution on Friday when dual sites at Rosny are announced as the location for the club’s $70m High Performance Centre.

The competition to win the state-of-the-art facility came down to Clarence City Council and Kingborough Council, which each submitted outstanding proposals to host the home of the AFL’s expansion team.

Clarence was chosen for its proximity to the airport, city and Macquarie Point where Tasmania’s roofed stadium is slated to be built.

The HPC’s administration and training facility, complete with indoor field, will be built on Rosny Parklands, formerly Rosny Golf Course, with an MCG-sized oval right alongside.

A second oval will be built across the road at Charles Hand Park, on the city side of Rosny College.

The High Performance Centre at the Rosny Parklands promised top-class training facilities. Picture: Tasmanian Government

The facility, being built with $60m from the state government and $10m from the AFL, will cater for Tasmania’s AFL and AFLW teams, as well as its VFL and VFLW team, which join that competition in 2025, as well as the Devils Boys and Girls under-18 teams and academy programs.

The development of a High Performance Centre was identified as a key requirement to support the Tasmanian AFL licence to underpin player retention and is part of the government’s agreement with the AFL.

Minister for Stadia and Events, Nic Street, said the facility was “vital in setting the club up for success from the outset”.

“The High Performance Centre would be more than just a place for players to prepare,” he said.

“It will represent a symbol of the club’s ambitions and values.

“We are confident players and staff will embrace this location. It is close to the city and the airport, has great amenities nearby and will make the team highly visible.”

Clarence Council consulted widely on its plan for the HPC to be at Rosny Parklands and the site had strong support from the community.

Mr Street said it was the unanimous choice of the steering committee charged with evaluating proposals, which comprised representatives of the government, the AFL and the Tasmania AFL football club.

The former Rosny Golf Course site will include two ovals. Picture: Tasmanian Government

“We will now immediately move to the next phase of this process which is to commence discussions on a Heads of Agreement with the Clarence City Council,” he said.

The facility is planned to be ready in 2026 to enable the Tasmanian team to prepare for its AFL debut in 2028.

Tasmanian AFL Football Club board director Roger Curtis said that, coupled with good planning and management, building the main training ground at the southern end of Rosny Parklands with a secondary oval at Charles Hand Park would deliver the most benefit for the community and Tasmania’s new AFL teams.

“This club is for all Tasmanians and this site offers a great location, allowing for players and staff to be connected to the community,” Mr Curtis said.

Minister Street thanked the other councils involved in the four-month process to select a site.

“With projects such as this, it’s always unfortunate that there cannot be multiple winners, as we saw a strong bid by Kingborough Council for the Twin Ovals site that demonstrated passion for their community and for AFL,” Mr Street said.

“Kingborough’s submission highlighted the importance of ongoing development of sporting precincts in growing municipalities and as Minister for Sport and Recreation, I look forward to continuing these discussions with Kingborough Council in relation to future opportunities at the Kingborough Sports Precinct.”

An indoor field is part of the High Performance Centre plan. Indicative renders of the site. Picture: Tasmanian Government

Clarence Mayor, Brendan Blomeley, said it was the council equivalent of winning the premiership.

“The opportunity this provides us is enormous and game changing for our city,” Mr Blomeley said.

“An AFL High Performance Centre in Clarence will deliver social and economic benefits to the city like we have never seen before.

“There were strong and well-presented options put forward by both Clarence City and Kingborough councils. The AFL and Tasmanian Government have really been spoiled for choice.

“Both council’s options were the result of a significant amount of work by council staff

across the two councils, hours of stakeholder discussions and extensive community consultation.

“We thought we put forward a great proposal, encompassing two mirrored options, and are

delighted to be chosen as the preferred location.

“The building of the High Performance Centre in Rosny opens a wide range of possibilities for the surrounding businesses in Rosny and Bellerive, Rosny College, and future development.

“It also provides Clarence City Council the opportunity to design the parkland space around the centre and through our City Heart plan, build something truly wonderful for our

community, that will be a source of pride for generations.

“For every young child in Tasmania dreaming of making their AFL or AFLW debut, this state-of-the-art facility will be a beacon of inspiration and drive to achieve that goal, and we are very excited for it to be in Clarence.”

Originally published as Tasmania’s AFL and AFLW team home base: Former golf course the site for new High Performance Centre