Western Bulldogs boss Peter Gordon supports Tasmania AFL team
The AFL’s most recent expansion clubs might still be battling to establish themselves but Western Bulldogs boss Peter Gordon isn’t concerned. In fact he believes the AFL should consider further expanding to 19 or 20 teams.
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Western Bulldogs boss Peter Gordon believes the AFL should consider expanding to 19 or 20 teams.
The Dogs president has backed the formation of a stand-alone Tasmanian club and is adamant the $200 million Gold Coast Suns “will come good” eventually.
A 20th AFL team could be established in Adelaide or Perth, he said.
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“I’d like to see the competition expand again,” Gordon told the Herald Sun.
“In the NFL there are 32 teams and in the NBA and Major League Baseball there are 30. Australian football and the AFL and Tasmania are crying out for a Tasmanian team.”
A move to 20 clubs could open the door to a more pure fixture in which teams play each other once in the home and away season.
But Gordon said a rolling bye in a 19-team competition would also have benefits.
“The best model for growing the game is to support all of these clubs, including the Gold Coast Suns, and the people who volunteer like (president) Tony Cochrane and his board do,” Gordon said.
Asked whether he supported making a Tasmanian team the 19th in the competition, Gordon said: “Yeah, I do. And I think it’s a matter that ought to be legitimately canvassed by a future AFL commission.
“I don’t mean to cut across any of the good work that Hawthorn or North Melbourne are doing in that space.
“But when you see the continued cries for help of local footy clubs in Tasmania, when you look at the history of what Tasmania has contributed to football in the past 100 years and you think about the best ways to reinvigorate and assist that state and junior footy in that state, it’s certainly something that the AFL commission should consider.”
Regarding the location of a 20th team, Gordon said: “I think Adelaide and Perth will both have sufficient scale, population and passion to come under consideration for a third club in the future.
“But the one stand out at the moment is Tasmania. I believe they are entitled to their own team.”
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