Hawthorn aiming to set up nest in Launceston for the rest of 2020 season

The AFL has released the next batch of fixtures, including who it hopes will play North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena.

• Roos hopping south as AFL locks in deal to bring footy back to Hobart

UPDATED: NORTH Melbourne’s first two Hobart opponents have been revealed as Hawthorn looks to get a piece of the Tasmanian action.

The AFL has released the fixture for rounds 9 to 12 and – as revealed by the Mercury – it includes matches at Blundstone Arena, subject to Government approval.

North Melbourne is set to face Melbourne and Brisbane in its two matches in Hobart.

Should Tasmanian health authorities give the green light to reopen borders on Friday, the Roos will host the Demons in a Sunday night clash from 6.10pm on August 9, and then a clash with Chris Fagan’s Lions on Saturday August 15 from 2.35pm.

On Tuesday, Premier Peter Gutwein denied the Mercury’s story that an agreement had been reached, but now Hobart, and most likely Launceston as a Hawthorn hub, will play a key part in keeping the AFL season alive.

AFL fixture boss Travis Auld said the AFL had been “consistent in our desire” to have games played in Tasmania this year.

“Both the AFL and North Melbourne are heavily invested into footy in Hobart and we are very happy for the state and the city to host two matches at Blundstone Arena,” he said.

“I would like to thank Premier Gutwein and his team for making this happen.”

Should the borders be reopened, North Melbourne is likely to host more games in Hobart on top of those two already announced, while Hawthorn is open to playing more than its four contracted home games in Launceston and would ideally like to set up camp in Tasmania for the rest of the season.

EARLIER: HAWTHORN is open to playing more than its four contracted home games in Launceston and would ideally like to set up camp in Tasmania for the rest of the season.

The Hawks play Sydney at the SCG on Saturday before heading straight to Perth with Carlton for three weeks but are planning on then flying directly to Launceston to fulfil its four-game a season contract with the Tasmanian Government, Hawks chief executive Justin Reeves said.

“We haven’t got anything confirmed yet but we are planning on going to Tassie hopefully straight from Perth,” Reeves said.

“Again we haven’t had that confirmed but everyone is working towards three or four home games in Launceston.

“We are pretty keen to stay, we are keen to stay in Launceston as long as we can.

“We are certainly open to that (more than four games). We would be happy to stay there for the rest of the season in all honesty.”

Hawthorn CEO Justin Reeves. Picture: TIM CARRAFA

North Melbourne is also keen to fulfil its contract for four home games in Hobart, but while it is understood the AFL, the Tasmanian Government and Cricket Tasmania has reached an agreement for a Roos Hobart hub, nothing can be signed or confirmed until a decision is made by health authorities on reopening Tasmanian borders on Friday.

And it is the same for Hawthorn.

The Hawks and the Roos receive a combined $8 million from Tasmania for the eight games as part of the Government’s winter tourism strategy.

However with the interstate tourism all but blocked, many Tasmanians are asking what is the economic benefits of hosting AFL games in the state?

Reeves said while payment for this season had not been discussed he said there was a big upside for Tasmania in hosting the Hawks.

“It would be very shortsighted if we just focused on this year,” he said.

“We have been there for 20 years, we are very proud of our contribution down there.

“We want to go and play games there because we think it would be really good for the Tasmanian people.

“It is our home away from home, we love going down there and we’d love to have a Tasmanian crowd down there.

“The tourism side, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for Tassie when we are all through this and we’d love to play a role in that.

“We need to continue that momentum because Tassie is so reliant on tourism in some ways and we need to be able to drive that and put it on the national stage by playing home games out of there wearing our Tasmanian branded gear, we are pretty keen to get that going.

“Certainly the reason we are going down there is not to get the money, that is for sure.”

The Hawks hope to play in front of crowds of close to 10,000 should 50 per cent capacity be allowed at University of Tasmania Stadium.

He said if the Hawks were domiciled in Launceston for a block, they would be open to starting negotiations with the Tasmanian Government for another deal beyond the current 2021 contract.

“We’ve always had five year deals and that would suit us but negotiations are negotiations,” he said.

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