VFL plans looks to be postponed as uncertainty hits Tasmania’s football future
It was one of the key recommendations of the Gillon McLachlan-led AFL steering committee but the coronavirus looks to have put an end to Tasmania’s VFL return.
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CORONAVIRUS appears set to claim another victim in Tasmania’s VFL team.
AFL Tasmania says a return to the VFL is still on the table, despite the health and future of all state leagues to be unknown until after the passing of its own deadline.
Earlier this month, AFL Tasmania chief executive Trisha Squires said a decision on the state’s VFL re-entry must be made by May following the Tasmanian AFL Taskforce’s recommendation the Devils should not join the Victorian state league without a provisional AFL licence.
However, since then the coronavirus crisis has seen all state leagues, including the VFL and TSL, postponed until at least May 31, and even this date appears optimistic.
The state’s return to the Victorian state league was one of the major recommendations from the 2018 AFL steering committee, chaired by AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan.
Squires said no decision had been made on the Tasmanian Devils VFL program yet.
“The AFL, along with the entire community, is facing an unprecedented challenge,” Squires said.
“The immediate priority for all, including AFL Tasmania, is the health and wellbeing of the Tasmanian community.
“The VFL provisional licence continues to be an agenda item and will be worked through with AFL House at the appropriate time.”
The proposed VFL re-entry without an AFL licence was seen as a negative by the state’s AFL Taskforce as outlined in its business case released prior to the coronavirus crisis.
“Should no commitment be forthcoming for a Tasmanian AFL club, our recommendation is that the state declines to fund the VFL program,” the report says.
The future of state leagues around Australia remains a worry.
TSL clubs rely to a certain extent on an annual payment from the AFL while Carlton recently announced it was pulling out of its alignment with the Northern Bullants, previously Preston, and will field its own VFL team in the future to save money.
The split in March has basically finished Northern/Preston as a club.
There are fears the 15-team VFL could be reduced to either clubs aligned with AFL clubs, or AFL reserves teams, meaning a 10-team competition and seeing traditional stand-alone teams Port Melbourne, Frankston, Coburg, Williamstown and Werribee join Preston on the scrap heap.
In South Australia, SANFL clubs are also fearful of what the future holds with all state leagues suspended to May 31.
Why change was made for Tasmania Devils training base
While they’ve shifted from what was both the AFL and the Tasmania Devils ‘preferred site’, club chairman Grant O’Brien is confident the new training and administration location will set the club up for long-term success.
UTAS Stadium primed to host more elite content after upgrades
Upgrades to UTAS Stadium have begun, which will shore up its future as a top quality AFL and AFLW venue when Tasmania has its own team. But it will also enable officials to chase “more, and more diverse” elite content.