Hawthorn aiming to set up camp in Launceston for rest of 2020
The Hawks are committed to three weeks in Perth after this weekend, but once that’s done they are warming to ‘their second home’ with an extended stopover in Tasmania on the cards if they get the green light.
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Melbourne and Brisbane will be North Melbourne’s first two Hobart opponents 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.
Should the Tasmanian health authorities give the green light to reopen borders on Friday, the Roos will host the Demons in a Sunday night clash starting at 6.10pm on August 9, and then a clash with Chris Fagan’s Lions the following Saturday (August 15) from 2.35pm.
Just on Tuesday, the 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 of keeping the season alive.
“We have been consistent in our desire to get matches in Tasmania,” AFL fixture boss Travis Auld said.
“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.
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“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 past 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.
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.”
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.
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“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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Friday’s border announcement is the only impediment to Hobart hosting up to four AFL games in the next two months.
The Mercury understands the AFL, the Tasmanian Government and Cricket Tasmania have reached an agreement that will see North Melbourne play possibly its full allotment of four games at Blundstone Arena — should state health authorities give the OK to reopen the borders.
Premier Peter Gutwein said this afternoon no deal had been signed yet, but hosting games would be beneficial to Tasmania even without the tourism flow-ons and limited crowd sizes
“The economic benefit will largely be felt at a local level in terms of modest crowd sizes but importantly part of the arrangements would be the teams would be based here,” Mr Gutwein said.
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“They would be paying for their hotels and their food and other services they would require. “There would be an economic impact that would be valuable for the state.
“But again, until we make a decision on our borders, until we are sure it is safe to allow people from other jurisdictions into the state without having to go through quarantine, we won’t be playing AFL here.”
He said if the borders were not opened, players would not receive an exemption to enter the state to play AFL games.
Cricket Tasmania has allocated early August to mid-September to host the AFL games that will possibly see the Roos play four matches across a three-week block before the venue is returned to cricket operations.
North Melbourne will most likely hub in Hobart, with its opponents to fly in, fly out.
Tasmania’s borders will remain closed to at least July 31, but an announcement would be made by the Government on Friday.
Tasmania pays a combined $8 million to Hawthorn and North Melbourne for four Hawks home games in Launceston and four Roos home games in Hobart.
Mr Gutwein indicated both clubs would receive their full payment should they fulfil their end of the deal, even if interstate tourists are unable to attend matches in Tasmania.
“Certainly part of the discussions I’ve had if North Melbourne were able to be based here we get the benefits of three or four weeks of having a significant cohort staying in the state spending (money) and there would be an economic benefit as a result of that,” he said.
“In terms of the contract I’m not a lawyer.
“What we would do is ensure that we met our contractual obligations under the contract with those clubs as I’m certain those clubs would do likewise with ourselves.”
Currently, Blundstone Arena can host up to 25 per cent crowd capacity (about 3000-4000 fans), but it is understood the Government is exploring possibilities of lifting this to 50 per cent should health authorities give the all clear.
North Melbourne is scheduled to play Carlton at the Gabba this Saturday, the last round that has been announced, and are yet to play Adelaide, Port Adelaide, West Coast, Fremantle. Brisbane, Gold Coast, Collingwood, Geelong and Melbourne.
If the Magpies are scheduled to head to Hobart, it would be the first time Collingwood has played for premiership points in Tasmania.
Hawthorn, which has a contract to play four homes in Launceston a season, is also keen to host its matches in Tasmania.
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