Adelaide chairman John Olsen urges AFL not to abandon Tasmania Devils after Jeremy Rockliff ousted in no confidence vote

Adelaide chairman John Olsen says clubs who want Tasmania’s AFL team to fail are “hypocrites” as the state prepares for an election which could decide the Devils’ fate.

Adelaide chairman John Olsen has urged the AFL to “stay the course” backing Tasmania’s AFL licence even if the Devils’ Macquarie Point stadium is delayed by a state election.

Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff lost a vote of no confidence 18-17 on Thursday afternoon and will now call a snap election.

The timing of that election is not known but he will head to the Lieutenant-Governor to work on those protocols as he steps down as premier.

“This is a very sad day for Tasmania,” Rockliff said.

“This will be an election that Tasmanians don’t want, and Tasmania cannot afford.”

The AFL again on Thursday reiterated that it was intent on putting a team into Tasmania as it monitors the latest developments.

Former South Australian premier Olsen says rival club presidents who want the 19th team to fail are “hypocritical” given they have received so much financial support from the league.

The former chair of the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority is uniquely placed given his role in the move to that venue when he was the SA Football Commission chairman.

He urged Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff to use the Macquarie Point stadium as his No. 1 election priority so the Liberal government could finally have a true mandate to build a billion dollar stadium.

“We have been on the journey for a considerable time,” Olsen told this masthead.

“We should stay the course. There is a lot of support in Tasmania for this team.

“I think from the AFL’s view they have got to stay the course and back it in.”

A rival president said on Thursday the AFL had to have a Plan B which involved the league putting more than $15 million into the Macquarie Point build.

The president said the deal was too good to be true for the AFL, which must consider alternate plans if the Tasmanian government could not fund the majority of the stadium.

As part of the detailed plans for the Devils, the league needs parliamentary approval for the stadium and then a stadium build contract needs to be signed before the league will give the 19th team a full licence.

New renders of the proposed Macquarie Point stadium from May, 2025.

Macquarie Point Stadium at night.

But as AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said late last month, if it had passed through both houses of parliament in early July that would actually be ahead of schedule.

So a delay of some weeks for a Tasmanian election is unfortunate but it is not a deal-breaker, especially if it produces a mandate for the stadium.

Olsen said the AFL could not give the Devils a licence without a stadium deal given it would consign them to mediocrity as a small-market team if they permanently played at Ninja Stadium and in Launceston.

“The club point is if you are going to establish a new team you don’t want it to struggle or fail. You want it to succeed. The recipe for success is the infrastructure to underpin it. That means a new stadium.”

A no-confidence vote in Jeremy Rockliff passed. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Asked if there were rival presidents who wished the bid to fail, Olsen was diplomatic but made clear:

“Yes, there are a couple of presidents opposed to it. One, because as mendicant clubs they foresee the squeeze on them. And then two, it gets to list allowances that would flow from having a new team.

“But it’s rather hypocritical if your club has been financially supported by the AFL and then you are totally opposed to someone else coming in.

“At the Adelaide Football Club we took an early view and publicly supported it. As a traditional footy state they are entitled to have a team in the national competition.

“The Eastern seaboard has had a pretty good go. So the commitment to a Tasmanian team is simply playing catch-up.”

Olsen said a new election would give Rockliff a chance to build a powerful mandate for the stadium.

“A vote of no confidence would give Rockliff his chance to go to an election where he should put this front and centre of his campaign. It is what Labor did in South Australia when the Liberals opposed to (Adelaide Oval) Stadium and gave them a black eye.

“He should go hard on this as a test of the stadium and the footy club. Every project will have some delays but the point is to lay the foundation for this team to be successful. IF there happens to be a few months delay at the other end, so be it.”

Crows chairman John Olsen. Picture: Tom Huntley

Dillon said in recent weeks that the Tasmanian bid was ahead of schedule as part of a process that requires the stadium to be half-built by 2027 or risk AFL fines.

“We’re really confident and looking forward to going through this planning process, having a permit, and then doing everything that needs to happen from there.”

“There are still further milestones as part of the agreement in terms of a building contract and getting the stadium built, but the planning permit is absolutely crucial for us. Until that happens, you can’t move forward.

“If the planning permit happens in early July it almost puts it ahead of where the original plans were.”

Originally published as Adelaide chairman John Olsen urges AFL not to abandon Tasmania Devils after Jeremy Rockliff ousted in no confidence vote