Tasmania Devils Football Club to join champion JackJumpers at home in Kingston
‘We have to have this facility up and running for the players when they arrive’. Tasmanian Devils Football Club breaks the silence over the location of its new High Performance Centre.
Tasmania
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UPDATE 10.45AM: The time spent on deciding where to build Tasmania’s Football Club’s new High Performance Centre was “really important”, the club’s boss says.
Devils chairman Grant O’Brien expressed his excitement at Twins Ovals being named the site of the club’s new training and administration facility.
“The training and administration facility is such an important building block for our club and it will provide us with the ability to attract, retain and develop players but also be a strong connection point to the community. Not just here, but other communities around the state,” Mr O’Brien said.
“It has taken us a while to get to this stage to announce the location here today but that has been a really important time spent with an objective due diligence process. Taking that time now to make sure this is the right location is just the right thing to do, as opposed to down the track and getting surprises.
“The upside of taking the time that we have to get to this point is that we are going to be able to move very quickly through the design process and therefore create momentum for the delivery of the facility.
“The facility is obviously critical and will contain a 9000sqm facility that will have equal areas for men and women, that’s really important for our club.
“It will contain a state of the art aquatic center, a substantial indoor area, recovery area as well as gym and administration space. I think it is a really important and exciting opportunity for our club.”
“I’d like to thank both the Clarence and Kingborough councils and their staff for the support they have shown for this process as we’ve moved forward. I’d also like to thank the government and the team that have shouldered the work on the due diligence that’s occurred up until now.”
“We have to have this facility up and running for the players when they arrive.”
Sports Minister Nick Duigan said the venue was selected after due diligence process of work had been undertaken.
“This is the best place for our high performance centre,” Mr Duigan said.
He said further investigation into the Rosny site had uncovered “some risks”, including financial and timely.
“One of the cost risks at Rosny is certainly the geotechnical aspect of that site and the amount of civil works that would need to be completed to allow construction of the facility there. That was a massive cost risk for that project. It also presented some approvals risks with potentially being controlled action under the EPBC act and falling into a federal approval project which gave us time risks with the project,” he said.
“I understand the disappointment (from Clarence mayor Brendan Blomely).”
INITIAL: All sporting roads will soon lead to Hobart’s rapidly growing Kingston region, after confirmation the Tasmania Devils will base their $70m high-performance centre in the same precinct as reigning NBL champions, the JackJumpers.
Announcing Kingston Twin Ovals as the chosen home for the Australian Football League’s 19th team following a rival bid from Rosny, Tasmanian Minister for Sports and Events Nick Duigan said the spacious southern site represented the best option in terms of delivery, cost, and community outcome.
“This is a foundational step toward establishing Tasmania’s first dedicated AFL and AFLW teams,” Minister Duigan said.
“This facility will support elite player development, enabling Tasmanian athletes to compete at the highest levels while inspiring future generations.
“It will help create a legacy for local football and elevate Tasmania on the national sports stage.”
Late on Monday, Clarence mayor Brendan Blomeley said the selection process for the high performance centre had been an “awful experience” for his now rejected municipality and council.
“In my view, this has been an unnecessarily torturous experience for our community – with both the negotiation and consultation practices undertaken by the Government bordering on unconscionable,” he said.
“At no time was Kingborough mentioned as the preferred site, and there was no communication from the Department of State Growth that there were concerns with Rosny.
“It seems that the Government and Club has sacrificed the better location because they failed to accurately estimate the cost.”
Minister Duigan said the Kingston site would deliver practical completion on or before 31 October 2027, which is the date stipulated by the AFL.
“Our Government is delivering transformational projects right across Tasmania,” Minister Duigan said.
“The High Performance Centre is one part making Tasmania’s very own AFL team a reality, something that Tasmanians have wanted for decades.”
The Tasmanian government has committed $60 million towards the centre, with an additional $10 million to come from the AFL.
In August, Kingston was announced as the home of the Tasmania JackJumpers’ $15m high performance centre, with a development application lodged with Kingborough Council to build a new facility on a 5500 sqm site next to the Kingborough Sports Centre.
The announcement came after the council voted unanimously to sign over the land to the state government.
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