Devils make ‘no apologies’ for taking time on HPC call

Tasmania Devils executive director Kath McCann has declared they “won’t apologise” for taking the necessary time to make the right call on the location of their High Performance Centre. Plus find out her connection to Brisbane coach Chris Fagan and why she’ll be barracking for the Lions on Saturday.

Tasmania Devils executive director Kath McCann. Picture: Chris Kidd

Tasmania Devils executive director Kath McCann has declared the AFL club is “not going to apologise” for taking time to ensure they make the right decision on the location of their High Performance Centre.

Speaking at South Launceston Football Club’s annual AFL grand final luncheon on Friday, McCann addressed claims from Kingborough mayor Paula Wriedt the delivery of the $70m facility had been comprised by the state government’s failure to declare whether it will be built at Rosny or Kingston.

“The high performance centre is a critical piece of infrastructure for our club. Like every decision the club has made so far, we’re making sure we make prudent decisions,” she said. “Part of that is making sure we’ve got the best possible information, to make the best decisions. We’ve been working with the state government, and have requested information to make sure we’re looking at those sites with the fullness and completeness they deserve, because this is a decision that will be so important for our club into the future.

“Absolutely there’s time frames that need to be met, but we need to make sure that decision’s correct.

“We’re not going to apologise for making sure we make a good decision, and we’re really excited to see that project progress forward in the coming months.”

On a lighter note, McCann will be backing Brisbane in Saturday’s grand final after revealing Lions coach Chris Fagan was her former teacher at Hobart’s Dominic College.

“I’m on the Brisbane Lions tomorrow, Chris Fagan was my grade six school teacher,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him hopefully take home what I think would be a well deserved premiership.

“He was the most incredible teacher. In fact I wouldn’t call him a teacher, I’d call him a coach. From that time in my life he had a massive influence on me, and my love of sport wasn’t diminished with him as my teacher.

“He’s one of our most renowned expats, certainly his encouragement of our club is something we’ve been really grateful for.

“When Chris was my teacher many years ago now, he was coaching at Sandy Bay at that point and from my perspective he’s a high quality human.

“It’s come as no surprise he’s made his way to the pinnacle of the sport.”