AFL: Tasmania Devils boss Brendon Gale on possible first coach
Tasmania Devils boss Brendon Gale says discussions regarding the club’s first senior coach can now move forward as the “real works” starts for the AFL’s 19th team.
Tasmania Football Club boss Brendon Gale says while discussions for the club’s first senior coach can now ramp up although it’s not the highest position on the priority list.
The Devils took a big step towards becoming the AFL’s 19th club late on Thursday night when Tasmanian parliament’s upper house voted in favour of the Macquarie Point Stadium development, prompting AFL boss Andrew Dillon to welcome the “certainty” over the introduction of the new team.
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley is the red hot favourite to become the Devils’ inaugural AFL coach when they enter the competition in 2028.
Those links have reached boiling point since Buckley joined Geelong as an assistant coach for 2026.
Speaking for the first time since the vote was completed on Friday, Gale said discussions surrounding “key personnel” for the club could now move forward.
“Those considerations will become more important now,” he said.
“A senior coach probably isn’t as urgent given the timeline but key football department leadership is. Those discussions will continue.
“What I will say is that I’ve been amazed at the excitement, that key football people involved in this entire AFL community, who see the excitement, who see the opportunity to work with a blank canvas, albeit in a state that has a 160 years of history and passion in football.
“Now we can get on the front foot and progress with our discussions.”
With just over two years until the men’s side run out for their first game, Gale declared the “real work starts now”.
“The stadium will be built, we will be playing 2028, we look forward to getting on the business of building our football club, building our organisation and most importantly building our football teams,” Gale said.
“There is a hell of a lot of work to get done. The overwhelming emotion is one of incredible responsibility and probably the weight of that.
“We’ve got to deliver a football club and one that is a very good football club that makes this state very proud and competes at the highest level.”
AFL boss Andrew Dillon said the competition now had “certainty” over the introduction of the Devils after construction of the stadium was authorised.
The order for the $1.13bn stadium build passed through after the government secured the support of independent Bec Thomas.
Thomas’ support came on the condition the Tasmanian government capped its spending on the stadium at $875m, but Dillon on Friday would not be drawn on whether the AFL would commit more funds to address any gap.
He said he was confident construction would begin on track for the stadium to be ready for Tasmania’s entry into the AFL in 2028.
“The AFL’s made a commitment to invest over $360m in Tasmania for community footy and the Devils over the next 10 years, and we’ll be sticking with that,” he said.
“At the moment, $15m is the biggest contribution we’ve made to any stadium in the country, and that’s our commitment at the moment.”
The AFL chief executive said the Devils were now “set up independently” and club staffers would now have responsibility for the club’s successful introduction.
“They’ll be coming into a competition, the No. 1 sporting competition in the country, super competitive, it won’t be easy, but I think if they make the right calls and get the right people making those calls, they’ll be able to be competitive,” he said.
“In relation to the stadium, we’ll be involved with some of the design and working groups as the stadium gets built … working really closely with the Macquarie Point Development corporation and the government.”
Originally published as AFL: Tasmania Devils boss Brendon Gale on possible first coach
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