Devils and JackJumpers in ‘lockstep’ over bringing community benefit

The JackJumpers and Devils might not have moved in together yet, but already Tasmania’s newest sporting neighbours are getting on like a house on fire.

Chair of the Tasmania Football Club, Grant O’Brien, with Kingborough Mayor Paula Wriedt at the Twin Ovals in Kingston. Picture: Linda Higginson

The JackJumpers and Devils might not have moved in together yet, but already Tasmania’s newest sporting neighbours are getting on like a house on fire.

After the AFL’s 19th team announced it would build its $70 million training and administration headquarters in the same Kingston sports precinct chosen by Tasmania’s NBL champions, both clubs declared they were in lockstep on delivering maximum community benefit from their state-of-the-art facilities.

JackJumpers chief executive, Christine Finnegan, and Devils chair, Grant O’Brien, told the Mercury their organisations were determined to be forces for positive change in Tasmania, and to collaborate with one another on maximising their unique, co-located existence.

Chair if the Tasmania Football Club, Grant O’Brien at the Twin Ovals in Kingston announcing that the Devils AFL high performance centre will be built in Kingston. Picture: Linda Higginson

“The Devils headquarters won’t have a big fence around it - quite the opposite,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Like most high-performance centres built by AFL clubs around the country, community involvement and inclusion will be a vital part of our facility.

“We have already been working with the Kingborough Tigers and Knights football and cricket teams, and will be sharing one of the grounds with them.

“And we imagine that our grounds will be available to the public when not in use by the club, while community groups will be able to use our meeting rooms and administration facilities.”

Mr O’Brien said he had already had preliminary discussions with Ms Finnegan about how Tasmania’s two national sporting outfits could share physical and intellectual resources to generate efficiencies for both organisations.

The JackJumpers boss said the limited overlap between AFL and NBL seasons also offered opportunities for the clubs to tap into each other’s training facilities, and described the Tasmania Football Club as a fellow traveller on the mission for a better Tasmania.

“Our mantra has always been to do the right thing for Tasmania and Tasmanians, and the Devils have come into their market with a very similar mindset to be a really community based-club,” Ms Finnegan said.

Tasmania JackJumpers announce their High Performance Centre at Kingston Sports Complex. Chairman Steve Old, CEO Christine Finnegan and Head Coach, Scott Roth. Picture: Linda Higginson

“When you’ve got two centres of professional sporting bodies in very close proximity to each other, it creates some great excitement in the community.

“And when you think about putting the two clubs together, the sky’s the limit in terms of what’s possible.

“I was actually very heavily involved with the St Kilda move from Seaford to Moorabbin, and the difference that made to that community cannot be measured, because it created a sense of belonging.”

Mr O’Brien said that although Kingborough would be the physical home of both national sides, any future facilities would belong to all Tasmanians.

“This is not just for Kingston or for southern Tasmania, it’s for the whole of the state,” he said.

“And we’ll be working particularly hard, as the JackJumpers already are, to ensure that our reach goes way beyond the south.”