Tasmania Devils

[Jim05]

Why can't they start by using the existing grounds, then if they out grow them, build a bigger one.

That’s what will happen but the AFL just pushing their luck. Don’t blame them

And in 10 years time Tassie still don’t have a decent ground, do you boot them out?
Much easier to make it a condition of entry.
I still think this has disaster written all over it especially when you hear comments that suggest the team may need to be based in Melbourne for training and FIFO for games.

[Jim05]

[quote="MW"]Why can't they start by using the existing grounds, then if they out grow them, build a bigger one.

Because their grounds are shit and the AFL needs them to be profitable from the get go. The AFL will be propping them up for years so obviously want to ensure that the amount is as little as possible

How is it any different to GWS or Gold Coast when they started?
Those grounds were worse.

It reminds me of the young generation today wanting great jobs, new cars, new houses in good areas, etc etc

Just get in and get started with what you have or can afford currently

Different people in charge now and perhaps they have learnt from their mistakes.
The league simply can’t afford to have a new team coming in and averaging 15k at games.

Stadium is only 26,000 and that won’t be full each week.[/quote]Aiming for around 22k season ticket holders was the number I saw

[daysofourlives]

Why can't they start by using the existing grounds, then if they out grow them, build a bigger one.

Because the AFL dont want them, never have, thats why they set conditions they knew couldnt be met but it keeps all the Tasmanians on side

[dedja]

From The Advertiser …

The AFL’s ‘dodgy’ Tassie’s venture might be playing out precisely as it was designed – to fail


Sitting across from Andrew Dillon at AFL House in late January, Jacqui Lambie smelt a rat. Now, after a week of political turmoil, she’s not the only one questioning the league’s motive.

It was late January this year and the outspoken Tasmanian Senator had requested a meeting with the game’s top brass to better understand their thinking behind demands for a roofed stadium at Hobart’s Macquarie Point.

“I went to see Andrew Dillon after the publication of Dr Nicholas Gruen’s review on the business case for the AFL stadium,” Lambie said.

“Gruen’s report clearly shows that the stadium will be at least a billion dollars, and that there are significant issues with the business case.

“Dillon told me ‘that report is wrong’, (but) I had it with me, so I put it on the table and asked him to point out where the report was wrong – and he couldn’t.”

There’s a growing sense on the Apple Isle that the AFL’s bold Tasmanian venture is playing out precisely as it was designed. To fail.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie, the man who blew the whistle on rampant illicit drug use in the game last year, believes the AFL may have deliberately pushed a deal that made it impossible for the state to get a team.

“Surely a modest additional investment in one or both of the two existing stadiums is all that’s needed – unless, of course, the AFL’s plan all along was actually to stop Tasmania getting a footy team by making the absurd demand of a white elephant stadium,” Wilkie said.

“The AFL is a bully.

“It would know that Tasmania doesn’t need, can’t afford and mostly doesn’t want a third AFL-standard ground.

“But the AFL doesn’t seem to care about that, preferring instead to put its self-interest ahead of the public interest, and in doing so calling into question its continuing tax-free status.

“It needs to read the room and offer to negotiate a new deal with the Tasmanian Government that wouldn’t require a new stadium.”

In a year of unrest at AFL House, the Tasmanian Devils dilemma inherited from his predecessor Gillon McLachlan shapes as Dillon’s biggest test.

“The AFL is pulling this state apart and they need to stop bullying Tasmania and renegotiate the deal for the AFL stadium,” Lambie said.

“No other state has had these conditions put on them. I warned him (Dillon at the January meeting) that the AFL’s behaviour over the stadium was hurting the AFL brand in Tasmania.

“Eddie McGuire told the ABC (on Wednesday) that the clubs would be relieved if the Tasmanian deal went down.

“I wonder if the AFL clubs ever wanted Tassie to have a team. If the AFL was actually a national sporting organisation we would have had a team years ago.

“Tasmania already has one of the best grounds in the country at York Park in Launceston and $130 million is being spent on an upgrade.

“All of the pressure at the moment is on the state government – but the pressure should be on the AFL to renegotiate what was a dodgy deal in the first place.”

A builder for the proposed $1 billion Macquarie Point stadium is yet to be appointed, putting the project at risk of breaching a condition for at least half to be built by October 2027.

The ultimate say on whether the Devils get off the ground will sit with the 18 rival clubs, who have the power of veto over the AFL’s 19th licence if the stadium cannot meet the deadline.

Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham, who questioned the true cost of a roofed-stadium during the bid process revealed on Friday that he would be open to some flexibility on the deal.

“The initial cost analysis always seemed light to me,” Pridham said.

“That was my complaint at the time. It was done with a bit too much emotion. A Tasmanian team would be fantastic but emotion should not override objective financial modelling.

“Clearly the stadium will cost more than initially forecast, but I think it will be worth the investment.

“I am only one voice, but I would be prepared to compromise, but it wouldn’t be on the stadium, it would be on timing. Timing to respect the impact of the political process on the club’s formation.

“But what I wouldn’t compromise on is saying, ‘OK, bring the team in and we will talk about the stadium later’.”

Legendary Launceston-born sports broadcaster Tim Lane, a long-time champion of a Tasmanian team, said it was “ironic and perhaps perverse” that the clubs would have the final say given the AFL Commission had been formed in the early 1980s with the intention of taking away their “reflexive default to self-interest”.

“Although the clubs ultimately have a power of veto, I don’t know that the AFL has ever failed to persuade them on an issue it considers of fundamental importance to the national development of the game. Gold Coast and GWS come to mind,” Lane said.

“Now what that tells us in relation to Tasmania, I’m not sure - but I don’t like it.”

Lane said the critical question that had not been answered was why there needed to be a roof on the stadium at all.

“I reckon that question can’t be asked often enough - because as people of fair mind are pointing out, Hobart has a lower annual rainfall than Melbourne, much lower than Sydney where games are played out in the elements.

“And yet Tasmania is being forced to pay for a roof on a stadium.

“I have said for years that this had to be managed in a way that actually brought Tasmanians together and didn’t divide them. Look where we are now.”

Lane also questioned the logic of building a non-retractable roof, preventing the playing of Test Match cricket at the ground.

Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett said the only solution was to scrap the Macquarie Point stadium and establish the team in Launceston.

“It would be an absolute tragedy and terribly demoralising to the whole community of Tasmania if in fact a team did not take to the field,” Kennett said.

“Launceston is already one of the best grounds that the AFL play on around the country, the government is already spending money there and if they can lock in the federal government’s money, which is $240 million, they can increase the seating capacity to the 23,000 that they want.

“They would be able to have a highly-competitive ground at half the cost of what is now being proposed.

“I would ask the AFL to be flexible - they’ve lifted everyone’s hopes and aspirations, but the cost of the proposed stadium is now well beyond that which Tasmania can afford, and so it’s up to the AFL to show leadership and flexibility and to think of an alternative.

“After all, they’ve only put in $15 million themselves to a stadium that is now going to cost over $1 billion.

“Hobart has Mona, it has the docks, Salamanca Place and the Sydney-to-Hobart - and what we have shown with Hawthorn at Launceston is that supporters go there for a match and then travel south, either via the east or west coast.

“It would be great for the whole state. And you don’t need a roof in Launceston. There’s only one other stadium in the AFL that has a roof (Marvel Stadium) - and it is easily the worst ground in the country, so why insist on that?”

[mots02]

Jeff Kennetts last sentence is the best I’ve ever heard from him.

Marvel is the worst stadium in the league…. So let’s make tassie build one just like it

[Brodlach]

We don’t need 19 teams

[wenchbarwer]

Jeff Kennetts last sentence is the best I’ve ever heard from him.

Marvel is the worst stadium in the league…. So let’s make tassie build one just like it

I've heard some utter tripe from Kennett in the past, but this may take the cake...

Marvel is brilliant from a spectator's point of view

[mots02]

Jeff Kennetts last sentence is the best I’ve ever heard from him.

Marvel is the worst stadium in the league…. So let’s make tassie build one just like it

It’s the complete lack of logic in the ‘pro roof’ argument that leads me to believe it’s set up to fail.

[wenchbarwer]

Jeff Kennetts last sentence is the best I’ve ever heard from him.

Marvel is the worst stadium in the league…. So let’s make tassie build one just like it

It’s the complete lack of logic in the ‘pro roof’ argument that leads me to believe it’s set up to fail.

100%

The fact it's the second driest captial city, behind us, doesn't help the argument.

The fact that Canberra is much colder doesn't help the argument.

There's no defining reason why the stadium needs a lid, other than the AFL said so.

[dedja]

Pretty decent hand grenade Gill left for his mate Dill

[cracka]

We don’t need 19 teams

Correct. 18 is too many but that gave the AFL an extra game every weekend for the TV $

[wenchbarwer]

Pretty decent hand grenade Gill left for his mate Dill

[dedja]

Sorry, FB link only …

https://fb.watch/Ay_DuGILq1/?

Do you think they’ll build it?

Nope, me neither.

[mighty_tiger_79]

Nope.

[amber_fluid]

Sorry, FB link only …

https://fb.watch/Ay_DuGILq1/?

Do you think they’ll build it?

Nope, me neither.

How good does it look though
Build it!

I’d head down there once a year for a game

[marbles]

Sorry, FB link only …

https://fb.watch/Ay_DuGILq1/?

Do you think they’ll build it?

Nope, me neither.

How good does it look though
Build it!

I’d head down there once a year for a game

i heard the glass roof frames will put a shadow on the oval, so the grass will sort of look like a chess board

[dedja]

Not sure if you’ve heard, but the Earth spins.

[Jim05]

Tasmania Football Club to Enter VFL and VFLW in 2026

05 September 2025

Tasmania Football Club has taken another significant step forward in building our future, confirming that from 2026 we will field teams in both the Smithy’s Victorian Football League (VFL) and the rebel Victorian Football League Women’s (VFLW).

This milestone will see Tasmania return to the VFL for the first time since 2008 and, for the first time in history, compete in the VFLW. Both teams will take part in the competitions on a full-time basis from 2026, with fixtures to be staged across Tasmania’s three regions, giving members and supporters the chance to see the Devils in action on home soil.

Tasmania Football Club CEO, Brendon Gale, said the announcement marks a pivotal moment in the Club’s journey.

“Our entry into the VFL and VFLW is an exciting and strategic step in the development of Tasmania Football Club. It marks the start of our on-field journey and plays a crucial role in laying the foundations for our AFL and AFLW teams in 2028.”
Brendon Gale

Tasmania Football Club CEO

Gale continued, “It also addresses a long-standing gap in the Tasmanian football pathway. For too long, players have had to leave the state to pursue elite opportunities. This program allows Tasmanian talent to develop, perform and be rewarded – right here at home.”

To further strengthen this pathway, the Club will introduce a ‘golden ticket’ for aspiring AFL and AFLW players. At least two rookie list positions will be guaranteed for players who participate in the VFL and VFLW programs across 2026 and 2027, with scope for up to four in total. “That opportunity doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country, and it sends a strong message: if you’re good enough and dedicated enough, Tasmania is the place to be,” said Gale.

Recruitment of coaches, high-performance staff and players is already underway. Pre-season for both squads will commence in November 2025, with the program operating across multiple locations including a combined greater northern hub. This approach ensures players can remain connected to their communities while competing at VFL and VFLW level. Every listed player will also be linked to a Premier League club in either the NWFL, NTFA or SFL.

To lead this initiative, the Club has appointed Aaron Pidgeon as our inaugural Head of VFL and VFLW. Aaron brings significant experience from roles including CEO of Netball Tasmania and Head of Tasmania for North Melbourne Football Club. He will work closely with Head of List Management and Strategy, Todd Patterson, and Head of Recruiting, Derek Hine.

“The Tasmania Football Club is about more than just fielding teams. It’s about building something enduring - an elite program Tasmanians can be proud of. A unifying force that develops talent and contributes meaningfully to the growth of football in our state.”
Brendon Gale

Tasmania Football Club CEO