Taskforce to hit the mark on stand-alone Tasmanian AFL team

UPDATED 2.30PM: The Federal Opposition leader says it’s time for the AFL to get “serious” about giving Tassie its own team after the State Government announced a taskforce of high-powered corporate and sporting heavyweights to make our case.

UPDATED 2.30PM: The Federal Opposition leader says it’s time for the AFL to get “serious” about giving Tassie its own team.

Speaking in Devonport today, Labor leader Bill Shorten repeated his pledge to help fund football in Tasmania.

His party has promised $25 million towards local football — aimed at progressing the state’s case for its own team in the national league — on the condition it is matched by AFL.

“I will work with Tasmanian footy and our Tasmanian MPs — we’ll say to the AFL it’s time to get serious,” Mr Shorten said.

“It is the great white whale, the Moby Dick issue of AFL is why can’t Tasmania have a team.”

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The State Opposition has cautiously welcomed the Treasurer Peter Gutwein’s efforts to secure a long-awaited football team for Tasmania.

Franklin Labor MHA David O’Byrne said movement towards developing Tasmania’s own team was welcome.

“But the major concern is that while this government is practised in coming up with media lines to give the appearance of hard work being done, very little is actually being done,” Mr O’Byrne said.

“The most telling factor is that it’s taken the Treasurer to intervene in AFL in Tasmania while Premier [Will] Hodgman just throws his arms in the air and says it’s all too hard and Sports Minister Jacquie Petrusma is nowhere to be seen.”

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Tasmanian Greens senator Nick McKim labelled the taskforce a “good step in the right direction”.

“Tasmania is football heartland and deserves its place in national competitions,” Senator McKim said.

“The Greens support this taskforce to unite behind Tasmanian men’s and women’s teams.

“This bid must be truly representative of all of Tasmania, which is why it is vital to include plans for a stand-alone AFLW team under the same banner.”

EARLIER: The State Government is recruiting a high-powered project group of corporate and sporting heavyweights to build a fresh case for a stand-alone Tasmanian AFL team.

Premier Will Hodgman confirmed on Friday night the government was pulling together the “dedicated taskforce”, which would include a mix of people with local football knowledge and national corporate clout.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan this week told Fox Footy a Tasmanian AFL team bid needed backing “from the top down”.

“I’ve said they deserve their own team before, it’s just challenging to get there,” Mr McLachlan said.

“I think the building blocks are in place. If a unified Tasmanian board can develop this under the talent model, the under-18s into the VFL, that’s the runway where Tasmania just can’t be ignored.”

Late on Friday night, an AFL spokesman confirmed Mr McLachlan had long been a “massive advocate” for a Tasmanian team.

And while Mr McLachlan has played no official role as the state readies itself for a prospective licence, Mr Hodgman told the Mercury he’d been in close contact with the boss about what would be required for a place in the national competition.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan. Picture: TOBY ZERNA

Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman confirmed on Friday night the government was pulling together the “dedicated taskforce”, which would include a mix of people with local football knowledge and national corporate clout. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

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The “key criteria” the state would need to satisfy to enter the league include having a membership base of at least 50,000, an initial capital commitment of $40 million and AFL-standard venues.

“There’s a lot of interest nationally in corporate and football circles for Tasmania to have a team, so we want to leverage that to make a case,” Mr Hodgman said.

“That could include what we hope will be a successful return to the TAC Cup, possibly a VFL team — but ultimately will involve getting the concept ready for introduction into the AFL sooner rather than later.

“That would mean literally designing what the team would look like, establishing a membership base and securing corporate support.”

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It is understood a Tassie team bid has not yet been discussed at an AFL Commission level and it has not yet been determined if the club would call Hobart or Launceston home.

A Tasmanian AFL team isn’t the only one on the horizon, with Mr Hodgman having similar conversations with both the national soccer and basketball leagues about coming up with a “mock up” club concept.

The news comes after Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon earlier this week called for the AFL to consider expanding to 19 or 20 clubs, saying the nation was “crying out” for a Tasmanian team.

“I don’t mean to cut across any of the good work that Hawthorn or North Melbourne are doing in that space,” Mr Gordon said.

“But when you see the continued cries for help of local footy clubs in Tasmania, when you look at the history of what Tasmania has contributed to football in the past 100 years and you think about the best ways to reinvigorate and assist that state and junior footy in that state, it’s certainly something that the AFL Commission should consider.”

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