Tasmania AFL team: Collingwood will now back Tasmania’s right to have a 19th AFL licence
Collingwood had vocally voiced objections to a 19th AFL club in Tasmania, now Jeff Browne and the Pies will back the new club. But, they have some demands.
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Collingwood will now back Tasmania’s right to have a 19th AFL licence, as the league prepares to sign papers that will officially secure a new team for the state by Wednesday.
The AFL’s 18 presidents will be asked for their club’s position at midday on Tuesday, with Collingwood and Sydney seen as the final holdouts amid overwhelming club support for the 19th side.
Collingwood president Jeff Browne is set to make clear his club’s support for the licence, which will be approved by the AFL Commission on Tuesday afternoon.
After the official papers are signed to bring the Tasmanian side into place, Gillon McLachlan will travel to Hobart for an official presentation on Wednesday.
AFL clubs were told on Friday night that the league might introduce a new team for 2028, rather than 2027, but the league is yet to clarify an exact start date for the team.
Browne is understood to believe the Pies and other clubs which have vocally voiced objections to a new licence have had most of their queries met by the league in recent months.
The centrepiece of Collingwood’s support for the 19th licence is the guarantee that the AFL will not be liable for any cost overrun on the $715 million Macquarie Point stadium.
Collingwood also wants guarantees that the Tasmanian side will receive no more than $2.5 million extra per season in variable funding from the league.
Clubs receive a base allocation of around $10.5-$11 million, but Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney are expected to receive up to $25 million from the league this year.
The Tasmanian team will have the state government as its major sponsor injecting $12 million a season over the next 12 years as well as committing $60 million towards a high-performance and administration complex.
Sydney’s official position under president Andrew Pridham is that the Swans are supportive of a team in Tasmania but unsure of how the AFL competition would be set up with 19 sides.
Clubs are privately worried about the financial investment into a small market team and the potential financial drain, but are not prepared to make a “no vote” their club’s official position.
McLachlan said there would always be issues to deal with, but maintained that the overwhelming sense surrounding the team was positive.
“I think that it has close to unanimous support,” he said at the David Parkin Oration by Deakin University on Monday night.
“There’s just quibbles in that. We’ll work to how we get there. It has the broad-based support of the clubs.
“It will, in my view, have commission support. And we’ll have incredible momentum going into this.”
He said there had to be a distinction between “support for Tasmanian football, and then people with different views around the mechanics of the deal of a 19th licence”. “I think we need to separate those,” McLachlan said.
“Actually there is unambiguous support for a team in Tasmania and Tasmanian football. The mechanics of it are wide and varied, but we’re going to have resounding support, in my view.
“The getting there is all part of the politics and the bump and grind of our game which is the job I’ve lived for a decade.”
Dillon said on Monday he was thrilled by the $240 million funding commitment handed to the Tasmanian government on Saturday.
“I can’t think that anyone wouldn’t have just been absolutely buoyed by that,” Dillon said.
“And we thank the Prime Minister and also the premier of Tasmania for the great work they’ve done. And also the Tasmanian task force going back many years for the work they’ve done. It’s a really exciting time. And there’s some key decisions to be made in the next coming days and weeks about Tasmania but the building blocks are in place and it’s exciting. It’s a decision for the commission and we will get the right outcome at the right time. We will run the right process.”
THE MAN RICHO SAYS SHOULD RUN NEW TASSIE TEAM
The AFL has been urged to consider Brendon Gale as Tasmania’s new chief executive as the league’s presidents and commission prepare to endorse a 19th AFL licence on Tuesday.
Tasmania’s acceptance of $240 million in federal government funding on Saturday will allow the league to officially hand the state an AFL licence on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the AFL’s 18 presidents will be asked by the league to officially endorse the 19th licence although the league would not say on Sunday whether an actual vote would take place.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has repeatedly said he wants broad consensus from the AFL’s presidents instead of a vote, with strong approval from those figures on Friday at a phone hook-up.
After the league secures that endorsement the AFL Commission will then approve the new licence on Tuesday afternoon.
Both of those formalities will then allow AFL chief executive McLachlan to arrive in Tasmania to officially approve the 19th licence for Tasmania.
The league would quickly move into decision mode on the implementation of many of the 12 work streams that include a list build, high-performance centre and talent academy.
McLachlan is believed to have decided he will not stay on as AFL chief executive, which will allow legal and football boss Andrew Dillon to officially become the league’s new boss.
Dillon could then ask Richmond chief executive Gale if he is interested in a widespread AFL role that could include delivering on the league’s commitment to a Tasmanian team.
But Richmond champion Matthew Richardson on Sunday urged the league to consider his fellow Tasmanian – currently the Tigers chief executive – as the 19th club’s boss.
“There is a perfect candidate. Brendon Gale would have to be the perfect candidate
We don’t want him to leave Richmond, but you never know, he has been there for a long time and he might get to that point,” Richardson said.
The AFL team will have a VFL side come into the competition for 2026 and an AFLW side to accompany it.
Former Tasmanian test captain Tim Paine told SEN Radio on Sunday that James Sicily’s comments on player retention were correct but could be solved by an elite program that had a strong culture and early success.
“In terms of James’ comments, he wasn’t too far off the mark. All the teams have (had issues). Gold Coast have, the Giants have. Guys want to go back from Perth back to Melbourne when they are drafted. North Melbourne just lost the No.1 draft pick (in Jason Horne-Francis). It is going to be part and parcel of it.
“There will be a focus on who you recruit and how you go about finding the right people to come here. If you get the right people in the right places and find the right people to come here and build a club and program that makes people better and they have a chance to compete, then you will hold onto them. If you don’t, you won’t.”
Paine said the league would need to set up a Tasmanian talent academy immediately to fast-track home-grown talent.
“Absolutely and it’s got to be done sooner than the next two or three years. If a team is announced Wednesday then stuff has to be put in place straight away.”
Draft tricks clubs are using to prepare for Tassie
– Sam Landsberger
The competitive nature of AFL clubs has seen some already start exploring ways to minimise the potential damage to their playing lists that the creation of a 19th team in Tasmania would likely create.
Recruiting sources have suggested that clubs will consider drafting Tasmanians over the next couple of years so they can give those players back to the new franchise – and receive a compensation selection for their trouble.
That might also help safeguard against losing an established player they would prefer to retain should the new franchise be granted similar list concessions to Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, who were allowed to pick off out-of-contract players including No. 1 draft pick Tom Scully, Callan Ward and Gary Ablett.
Clubs also believe the AFL must get on the front foot and station a veteran recruiting expert, such as Scott Clayton or Kinnear Beatson, in Tasmania immediately to help scour the state for talent.
They know the talent pool and where to go to look for talent and similar appointments at the Giants helped unearth the likes of Jeremy Cameron, who was signed as a 17-year-old before North Ballarat Rebels knew much about him.
There remain significant concerns over the quality of players being produced in Tasmania due to problems in the talent pathway system.
It’s understood AFL powerbrokers including the league’s likely next chief executive Andrew Dillon and head of talent pathways Grant Williams were shocked to learn that Tasmania pulled out of last year’s under-15s national schoolboys carnival.
Tasmania said it would instead run its own carnival, which frustrated recruiters watching the futures markets because they wanted to see the kids tested against the best rivals throughout Australia.
Tasmania has committed to playing in this year’s carnival, although there are only a small number of prospects deemed draftable in 2023.
They are led by Jack Callinan, Colby McKercher and Arie Shoemaker. Callinan is the son of 2005 J.J Liston Trophy winner Ian Callinan, who played 34 games for Adelaide in 2011-13, and the grandson of Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame member Des James.
Callinan is also a gun cricketer and he trained with Collingwood in January.
McKercher is a cheeky and confident small forward while Shoemaker has come on in the past six months and is a good size who can run.
Their draft stocks could be boosted should clubs follow through on early talk they will consider taking Tasmanians in lineball recruiting choices with the knowledge they may choose to go home to play for an AFL club based in Hobart.
When the Giants were created they were quietly encouraged by the AFL to find draft prospects from New South Wales to help create interest in the state.
Clubs are also wary that they do not want to be entrenched in rebuild mode when the 19th team comes to fruition, given the draft concessions that would likely be granted.
Nine of the first 11 picks in the 2011 draft went to the Giants while seven of the first 11 picks in the 2010 draft went to the Suns.
The Giants also used the first three selections in the 2012 draft. In 2010 Melbourne finished 12th – yet only entered the draft at pick No. 12, taking Lucas Cook.
Similarly, Brisbane Lions finished third-last in 2011 but had their first pick at No. 8, taking Billy Longer.
First Tassie team could play in two years
Tasmania is expected to field a football team within two or three years, with the 19th AFL club set to compete in the VFL before its historic entry into the big time.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made history on Saturday by committing $240 million in federal funding that will pave the way for the AFL Commission to approve a 19th licence this week.
With the worst-kept secret in Australia confirmed, the Sunday Herald Sun understands the Tasmanian team will follow in the footsteps of Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney by playing state-league football the year before entering the AFL.
The Suns won five and a half VFL games in 2010 while the Giants won 12 games in the NEAFL in 2011.
The relatively short timeline will place a priority on starting to identify the best key pillars to establish a football club – a chief executive, football manager, senior coach, list manager and captain.
Some of the most-respected figures in the game that could help the start-up club include Lions coach Chris Fagan, chief executive Greg Swann, Port Adelaide football boss Chris Davies and Sydney list boss Kinnear Beatson.
Tasmania’s entry into the AFL will not be tied to the completion of the new waterfront stadium at Macquarie Point, which some clubs still doubt can be constructed for the budgeted $715 million.
Outgoing AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan is expected to fly to Tasmania as early as Tuesday to confirm the licence in what will be a legacy piece for his time in charge.
It’s also believed McLachlan is certain to depart league headquarters despite consideration as late as last week that he could stay on and renege on his resignation announced last year.
AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder had supported that idea, but in the past 48 hours it has become clearer that McLachlan will leave.
The Tasmanian team will play AFL games in both Hobart and Launceston and there is an acceptance that it will play at the existing venues – Blundstone Arena and UTAS Stadium respectively – before Macquarie Point is ready.
The soft entrance will ensure the new club continues to build momentum that will not be interrupted by possible construction delays.
Albanese hinted on Saturday that the new stadium would not be built with a roof. In multiple radio interviews the Labor Party leader pointed out that Hobart was the second-driest capital city in Australia.
Cricket Australia also welcomed Albanese’s funding announcement – and it also appeared to push for a roofless stadium.
“Importantly, we want to ensure the development of the best possible facility to host all forms of cricket,” the CA statement said.
Only a roofless stadium could host all forms of cricket because under ICC rules Test matches cannot be played at venues with a roof.
While those rules could change in the future, building a stadium without a roof would also help reduce costs.
Albanese said the stadium would expand the footprint of the city in Hobart and include affordable housing as part of the precinct.
He said it was the most significant urban redevelopment project in Australia and the stadium would host concerts and other content in addition to AFL games.
Power coach Ken Hinkley threw his support behind a Tasmanian team on Saturday and the AFL is expected to have no problem convincing enough clubs to vote in favour of a 19th licence despite the private concerns of some power clubs.
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Originally published as Tasmania AFL team: Collingwood will now back Tasmania’s right to have a 19th AFL licence
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