Key interviews and inspections in push for AFL inclusion to be done this week

The man who holds the future of Tasmanian football in his hands will begin his tour of the state today, interviewing key figures as part of his review of the state’s push for entry into the big league.

• Expansion or relocation? Everything on the table in review of Tasmania’s case to join the AFL
• The man who led AFL’s initial expansion and a strong believer in equality to review Tasmania’s business case

THE man who holds the future of Tasmanian football in his hands will begin his tour of the state today.

Former AFL commissioner and Geelong President Colin Carter landed in Hobart Tuesday night and will start interviewing Tasmanian football stakeholders as part of his review of the state’s push for entry into the big league.

Mr Carter was tight-lipped on who he would be interviewing but top of his list will be Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein, AFL Taskforce chairman Brett Godfrey and Head of AFL Tasmania Damian Gill.

Former Geelong President Colin Carter. Picture: Peter Ristevski

He will also inspect Blundstone Arena and University of Tasmania Stadium and possible locations for the club’s training and high performance centre.

Many believe the code has never been at such a low ebb as currently and that an AFL club is the only lever to keep Australian rules as the state’s No.1 sport beyond this decade.

Mr Carter will deliver his review next month, which the AFL commission will discuss after this season.

To gain a 19th licence, the submission would have to have the support of the commission and 14 of the 18 AFL clubs.

“I’m coming down here simply to continue the work I’m doing, to find out as much as I can about the Tasmanian interest in the licence,” Mr Carter said.

“Beyond that it is a learning trip for me and I'll be talking to a whole bunch of stakeholders that have been suggested to me and visit a couple of places.

“I’m in the middle of the process basically and there is not just people in Tasmania, there are people up here for example at the end of the day the AFL clubs have to make the decision although I haven’t engaged with them yet.”

Mr Gutwein will meet with Mr Carter later in the week.

“Mr Carter will be visiting Tasmania later this week to meet with myself, the Football Tasmania Taskforce and other key stakeholders as part of his current consultancy work to assess the Tasmanian AFL Licence Taskforce report,” Mr Gutwein said.

“This will ensure he has a full understanding of the benefits Tasmania would bring by having our own AFL team as a part of a truly national competition.”

Follow @Stubboir