Comment: Hawks have earned right to be Tassie ‘roomies’ with Devils
Hawthorn has spent 25 years building a relationship with Tasmania. So why should they be expected to throw that away and roll the moving vans up to UTAS Stadium, simply because the AFL has dragged its feet giving Tassie its own team? HAVE YOUR SAY IN OUR POLL.
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Hawthorn will wrap up a quarter of a century of playing games at Launceston on Saturday against Port Adelaide.
But while the Devils would prefer they roll up the moving vans to UTAS Stadium, the Hawks have made it clear they don’t plan on getting evicted any time soon.
Everything out of Hawthorn suggests they have every intention of being flatmates with AFL’s new kids on the block, not poring over the room for rent classifieds.
And that stance is well justified.
When the AFL spent decades thumbing their nose at a football heartland, Hawthorn followed in St Kilda and North Melbourne’s footsteps and seized a chance to plant their flag in Tassie.
It seems counter-productive to unravel that after so much effort to make themselves part of the fabric of Tasmanian football.
The Roos have since jumped ship by opting to sell games to WA instead this season, but Hawthorn has committed itself to Tasmania time and again since 2001.
On more than one occasion after games in Launceston, Hawks coach has, half jokingly, branded the Devils the “enemy” and they’re confident they can coexist in the Apple Isle.
“I’m a little bit torn with this because now they’ve been given a license, I sort of think of them as the enemy, to be honest,” Mitchell said after a win over West Coast at Launceston in 2023.
“We’re going to be playing against them and it’ll be a great rivalry. I think we have 8000 members in Tassie and I’ll be doing everything in my power to keep those 8000 members as Hawks fans.
“As much as we’re excited by a new Tassie team, of course we are, I’ll be more excited to keep our 8000 fans and be able to fill whatever stadium it is.
“I’m far from an expert but I think there is a role to play (for the Hawks in Tasmania). I’ve been coming here for 20 years or so and the role of Hawthorn in Tasmania is too good to throw away.”
The Hawks then walked the walk in February, when they extended their agreement to play four games per season at Launceston until the end of 2027.
After last month’s win over Adelaide, Mitchell doubled down on Hawthorn’s full intent to stay in Tasmania.
They’ve won their past nine games in Launceston, so why would you want to leave?
“I’m always a little bit torn. Coming to Tassie for so long it’s a state that loves footy,” he said.
“There’s a part of me that’s like ‘I wish they’d just embrace us’ but I understand a lot of people want the team and the AFL want to push the team, and to be a truly national competition that’s the way we’re heading.
“But having said that, they’re not my friends, the Tassie Devils, they’re the enemy, and I just want everyone from here, on the record, to continue to go for Hawthorn please.”
Before last month’s clash with North Melbourne at UTAS Stadium, the Liberal government announced plans, if re-elected on Saturday, to bring at least six AFL games to Launceston in 2028 and 2029, the planned first two seasons for the Devils.
The games are expected to be a mix of Hawthorn and Devils games.
It shouldn’t be forgotten the Hawks have been a staunch advocate for Tasmania getting its own AFL club.
When extending the Launceston partnership until the end of 2025 in early 2023, the Hawks said the deal was contingent on Tasmania successfully securing AFL and AFLW licences.
“I would expect so, absolutely (we would continue to play games in Tasmania after 2025),” Gowers said at the time.
“We support Tasmania’s push for its own team, and what that means for Hawthorn will play itself out.
“We very much welcome Tassie having its own side and Hawthorn continuing to have a presence in Tasmania, particularly northern Tasmania.
“I think it (extending partnership) actually strengthens Tasmania’s argument for a team in the future,” he said. “We would like to play a role in whatever that looks like, to support Tasmania in pursuit of their own team.
“We think its’ an incredibly exciting thing to look forward to for all of Tasmania. If we can play a role between now and then, that’s what we’ll focus on and also serve our supporters down here. “We think there is lifelong Hawthorn members and supporters here we need to play a role for, but in the best interests of Tasmania moving forward.”
There are some fears the Hawks’ continued presence would cannibalise the Devil’s initial attempts to build their footprint.
I’d argue most Tasmanian fans, myself included as a Collingwood fan, would support both the Magpies and Devils and buy memberships and merchandise accordingly. Tasmanian-based Hawthorn fans would likely have a similar mindset.
At the very least, a Devils-Hawks game in Tasmania should be annual staple of the fixture. Perhaps the Hawks could also sell their ‘home’ game against the Devils to Launceston also.
There’s only one thing better than football, and that’s more football. To steal a quote from Milhouse on The Simpsons, “there’s plenty of Tassie to go around.”
Yes, there’s a significant financial benefit, of course. But the Hawks filled the Tassie void when the AFL didn’t want to, and shouldn’t be kicked out now they’ve finally seen sense.
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