How the Devils plan to deliver VFL games statewide
The Tasmania Devils are just months away from their debut VFL game and there is now a clearer picture on a possible venue and date for first home game.
The Tasmania Devils have until Wednesday night to submit their 2026 VFL rostering requests as the club targets a debut home game at North Hobart Oval on March 21 and “home” games in all three regions of the state.
Last week’s launch of the 2026 AFL fixture paved the way for the VFL to open discussions on its scheduling for next year.
Devils VFL manager Aaron Pidgeon confirmed the club was working through the details to have their requests in on time and to get the best result they can for fans.
“They opened them [fixture requests) on Friday and they close tomorrow, so it’s a short time-frame and we are working through that at the moment,” Pidgeon said.(
There are two stages to fixture requests.
“One is working through the operational requirements around venues and so forth, because some of the venues we want to use are not available at certain times of the year,” Pidgeon said.
“We are looking at being able to play games statewide, and that’s a different model to your normal VFL team that’s got home venue, whereas we’re looking at multiple home venues.
“Then we will look at other types of request that we might make, for example we’d like to play round one in Tasmania.
“But we get a limited number of requests so we just have to see what we’ve got left after all of our operational requirements.”
UTas Stadium will be off limits on at least four weekends because of Hawthorn AFL games.
“You can’t get on Ninja Stadium until April because the cricket wicket is in, so when you start overlay all of those things it becomes quite intricate,” Pidgeon said.
“We are looking to schedule games across Hobart, Launceston and the North-West Coast.”
Ideally, round one will be played at North Hobart.
“If it’s in Hobart, Ninja Stadium won’t be available for a home game in round one, which makes it more likely to be North Hobart,” Pidgeon said.
The Devils women kick off their preseason in December ahead of the VFLW season starting in April.
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