Hobart in line for last roster game, but could Tassie host AFL finals?
The interstate lockdowns will likely see Hobart host another AFL clash – and the league boss hasn’t ruled out the state being home to a first AFL final. LATEST >>
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THE relationship between Tasmania and the AFL might be incredibly frosty, but that hasn’t stopped the two almost certainly locking in one last AFL game this season – with a possibility of a historic Tassie final as well.
The AFL and the state government are just waiting on a tick off from the state’ public health for Hobart to host the St. Kilda-Fremantle match on Sunday.
The temperature between the two plummeted on Friday following the release of the Colin Carter’s review into a Tasmanian AFL team’s business case was met with no timeline on a decision from league boss Gillon McLachlan.
This brought the ire of Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein who blasted the league for “kicking the can down the road” on the state’s push.
However, clearly dialogue is still happening, with the two parties also set to discuss the Carter report further this week.
After discussing the Carter review, McLachlan also did not rule out Tasmania hosting an AFL final for the very first time, especially as more mainland state’s go into lockdown.
The chance of Melbourne hosting finals with crowds appears almost impossible after it was announced on Monday the city would be locked down for another two weeks.
“I certainly think it is possible, yep,” McLachlan said.
“I think it is fair to say we clearly don’t know what is going to happen in Victoria and we are looking at other options in case things are difficult here.
“It applies to all of the finals and I’ve asked the team to have a look at what is possible in Tasmania.”
While both St Kilda and Fremantle can theoretically make the finals with victory, either side would need a mountain of results to fall their way to see post-season action.
It will be the 12th Tasmanian AFL game this season – four more than any previous year — but the first one not to contain either of the state’s co-hosts, Hawthorn and North Melbourne.
The match will be the early game on Sunday starting at 12.15pm.
Hawks put Bulldogs to the sword in Clarkson’s Tassie farewell
THE Western Bulldogs’ premiership credentials took a body blow in Launceston on Saturday with a damaging 27-point loss to the “unsociable” Hawks in Alastair Clarkson’s final game in charge in Tasmania.
Clarkson invented unsociable football and used it masterfully against his former Hawks colleague Luke Beveridge and his Bulldogs as Hawthorn fans farewelled “Clarko” with their third win in a row – their first since 2019.
It was the first time this season the Bulldogs have lost back-to-back games, after Essendon took them by surprise at Marvel Stadium last weekend.
The loss of key forward Josh Bruce for the season and key defender Ryan Gardner’s ban from entering Tasmania because he had visited a Tier 2 Covid exposure site hurt the Dogs at both ends.
Watched by 7822 mask-wearing fans, Hawthorn’s return to bone-jarring intensity around the contest and pressure on the ball-carrier was reflective of their premiership threepeat in 2013-15.
Wet and windy weather made it hard to hit the scoreboard early until Cody Weightman finally opened the Bulldogs’ account entering time-on in the first.
Hawthorn’s first two minutes into the second was skipper Ben McEvoy’s 100th career major.
Hawthorn led by nine points at the long break but the Bulldogs eliminated that with three goals in three minutes early in the third and looked like they had found the accelerator.
Goals to Tom Mitchell, Mitch Lewis and Chad Wingard put the brakes on the Doggies and from there they scored no more majors.
Led by Daniel Howe (34 possessions, three clearances), Hawthorn’s onball crew – including Chad Wingard (26 touches, 4 clearances) and Tom Mitchell (27 disposals, 6 clearances) – muzzled the Bulldogs, consistently outnumbering their opponents at the drop of the ball and dominating clearances.
In attack, Jacob Koschitzke kicked two goals but importantly gave the Hawks crash and bash, while Lachlan Bramble and Oliver Hanrahan kicked singles and signalled their potential for new coach Sam Mitchell next season.
An outgoing coach and impending retirement of Hawk hero Shaun Burgoyne is driving the Hawks.
“Clarko and Shauny are giving us added motivation to attack the back half of the year. They are two greats of our club so we’re going it our all and not have a wasted last few rounds,” Koschitzke said.
“Hopefully we can get the job done next week and send them out on a high.”
FIFO footy mission stuck on the ground
THE usual hour-long flight from Melbourne took Hawthorn and Western Bulldogs two and a half times as long as it should have for their clash at UTAS Stadium.
The fly-in fly-out mission was delayed by an hour and a half sitting in the terminal and on the tarmac, but Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said his boys were not fazed by the delay to the shared flight.
Neither club was told why.
“Both clubs got a look at business class with four seats each, so the big fellas were happy,” Beveridge said.
“We got held up at the airport, but that’s a story for another day, but both clubs experienced the same thing and our boys were ok.”
Clarkson’s mysterious hint on his future
ALASTAIR Clarkson may have shown his hand in regard to plans for next year, dropping a thought bubble on his former protege now Bulldogs coach.
In “Clarko’s” final time coaching the Hawks in Tasmania before he moves on, and the expectation he could coach Collingwood, Carlton or the team of another unsuspecting coach, the four-time premiership mastermind told “Bevo” during the week he might “disappear overseas next year and hide” from media speculation about his future.
Dogs’ attack woes mounting
THE Western Bulldogs have abandoned their West Coast Eagles-style Three Peaks in attack now that Josh Bruce is out for season.
Tim English is required in the ruck with injured Stefan Martin still up to two weeks away.
After the Bulldogs were smashed at the stoppages in their surprise 13-point loss to Essendon, the “priority one” is at the stoppages with the ruck situation – everything else revolves around that.
“Priority two” is getting the “athletic mix” right in the Aaron Naughton-led attack. The Doggies are still searching for that configuration, having only five scoring shots in the first half, no goals after the 10-minute mark of the third term and Naughton managing only 1.1.
Long time coming for Ceglar’s milestone
IT was a long and winding road for Hawks bigman Jonathon Ceglar, but after nine seasons and numerous injuries, including two seasons on the sidelines, he has finally reached the 100-game milestone.
The 30-year-old missed Hawthorn’s 2014 premiership season, replaced by now skipper Ben McEvoy, and ironically injured his knee in his 50th game and a full knee reconstruction kept him out until 2018.
Ceglar is averaging 14.4 disposals a game in 2021 – above his career average 11.5 – and produced a season-best performance in Round 13 against Sydney finishing with 35 hitouts, 20 disposals and a goal.
BEST: – Hawthorn: Howe, Wingard, Koschitzke, Mitchell, Hardwick, Ceglar; Western Bulldogs: Macrae, Bontempelli, Daniel, Dale, Liberatore, Wood.
VOTES:
3 Howe (Hawthorn)
2 Wingard (Hawthorn)
1 Koschitzke (Hawthorn)
INJURIES – Bulldogs: Taylor Duryea (bruised back), Dunkley (shoulder).
Clarkson ready for his farewell game to Tassie
TASMANIA has been good to Alastair Clarkston and fortress Launceston delivered numerous magic moments to the man who will end his 17-year run with the Hawks in Tasmania when they play Western Bulldogs at UTas Stadium on Saturday.
There were big wins, close wins, a draw, player milestones, parading four premiership cups and growing Tassie Hawks memberships past 10,000, and the day Lance Franklin kicked a ‘baker’s dozen” against North Melbourne.
For “Clarko” one stands out above all others.
“There have been some magnificent moments in Tassie and the one I think of is Shane Crawford in 2008 playing his 300th game against Brisbane in Launceston,” Clarkson said.
“The five or six games actually getting him to the 300 were really tough because we didn’t think he was going to get there because his knees were really shot.
“Once he got there he got a new lease on life and he played another five games, which culminated in the 2008 flag.
“That was a pretty special moment for our footy club that he was able to finish his career with a premiership medal and carrying the cup around the MCG.”
Hawthorn has a 76 per cent winning record in Tasmania, its happiest of all hunting grounds, including its traditional home at Waverley Park.
“It has been a real fortress for us in Tassie and the proudest thing is the fact that we were so difficult to beat down there over such a long period of time,” Clarkson said.
“I hope that will be the case for the Dogs when they come down, they find it tough to come up against us but we know we’re going to have our work cut out.”
Clarkson said Tassie was Hawthorn’s “home away from home”.
“Four or five times a year for the 17 years I’ve been with the club have been travelling to Tassie, and that’s not including community camps and a heap of other things we’ve done there along the journey,” he said.
“Nothing lasts forever. My time at this footy club is coming to an end and there will be parts of me saddened by the closing of this chapter but excitement about what the next chapter might bring.
“There’s not a hell of a lot of sentiment portrayed by coaches. We’ve got to come down and get the job done and try to come back with a victory over the Dogs.
“They are in the top two or three for a reason. They’ve been a really powerful outfit and we’ve got a pretty young group in this particular game. We are going to try to take it up to the Bulldogs and see how we go.
“Fortunately, we get the chance to get down to Tassie to play our game this weekend and give them something to cheer about given hardly any footy, if at all, went to Tasmania last year and this year they’ve been able to get a little bit more footy.”
AFL Tasmania should head hunt former AFL coach for Devils job
AFL Tasmania needs to split the coaching of the Devils boys and girls teams _ and should throw the kitchen sink at former Carlton coach Brendon Bolton, according to North Hobart assistant Richard Robinson.
The hunt is on for a coach to oversee the Devils program, following Cameron Joyce’s defection to the Gold Coast to take their reins of the Suns’ AFLW outfit.
Clarence coach Jeromey Webberley, who recently announced he is standing down at the end of the TSL season, has already flagged his interest in applying for the role.
However Robinson, who coached North Hobart from 2018-20 before taking a back seat due to work and family commitments, believes Bolton should be at the top of AFL Tasmania’s hit list.
Bolton was a Hawthorn assistant under Alastair Clarkson before being appointed Carlton head coach in late 2015.
He led the Blues for 77 games before being sacked midway through 2019 and eventually returning to the Hawks.
Robinson, who is close friends with Bolton, said with growing optimism Tasmania could be granted an AFL licence in the near future, the 42-year-old would be the perfect fit for the Devils with a view of being the state’s first AFL senior coach.
“With all the funding and stuff in the AFL, yeah I know there’s been some cost cutting but I think it’s got to be a boys and a women’s coach,” Robinson said of the current Devils set-up.
“You’ll exhaust the person who’s in that position and I just think that that’s nearly impossible.
“Especially with the Carter review coming out, if they were saying we’re going to get an AFL side in four or five years time, I think Bolts would be a perfect person for AFL Tas to approach.
“Getting back here, he could be in charge of the young men for two or three years with a view of him coaching the AFL side.
“He’s contracted Hawthorn next year, but I mean if you make him an offer that makes him want to come back to Tassie … I know when he comes back to Tassie he is fully invested.
“He used to get back to the Devils program and helping them out there.
“His wife Louise is a schoolteacher, so if you want someone like him, I’d be throwing everything you can at him.”
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