Should Tasmania have an AFL team?

[azabob]

Jesse Wells?

Patrick Wiggins

[Hotdog60]

Ryan Gardner

[comrade]

Ryan Gardner

Bevo likes this.

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Alan Rait was a fairly good player for us from Tasmania.

He kicked 10 v Carlton. 59 in 15 games in his first season with bags of 8 and 7 as well as the 10 but only played 4 more games. Gotta be a story behind that.

https://afltables.com/afl/stats/play...Alan_Rait.html

Alan Rait sadly was injured in his second year of League football with the Dogs which put an end to his League career He was a brilliant player with North Hobart, heading up the League’s goal kicking in Tassie for 8 years.
Others to play with us from Tasmania included the McPherson’s Steve and Rodney.
Ron McGowan was another coming across from Deloraine. Darren Davies was another from North Hobart.

[GVGjr]

Alan Rait sadly was injured in his second year of League football with the Dogs which put an end to his League career He was a brilliant player with North Hobart, heading up the League’s goal kicking in Tassie for 8 years.
Others to play with us from Tasmania included the McPherson’s Steve and Rodney.
Ron McGowan was another coming across from Deloraine. Darren Davies was another from North Hobart.

Matthew Mansfield was around the same era as Davies, Robert Groenewagon, Peter Street, Brodie Moles (I think) Justin Wood and Wayne Fox

If we were looking to assemble our best Footscray/Western Bulldogs players from Tasmania into a side then Eade would have to be the coach

[jeemak]

James Cook. Averaged almost two goals a game as a Bulldogs.

The dude was a bit nuts, unfortunately.

[GVGjr]

James Cook. Averaged almost two goals a game as a Bulldogs.

The dude was a bit nuts, unfortunately.

Cook was good value and who could forget Trent Bartlett

Simon Minton-Connell and Paul Hudson as well

Michael Martin and Justin Sherman

[Nuggety Back Pocket]

Matthew Mansfield was around the same era as Davies, Robert Groenewagon, Peter Street, Brodie Moles (I think) Justin Wood and Wayne Fox

If we were looking to assemble our best Footscray/Western Bulldogs players from Tasmania into a side then Eade would have to be the coach

Robert Groenewegen was originally recruited from Braybrook in a similar era to DougHawkins Ivan Marsh and Brian Wilson. Robert Groenewgen went on to carve out a successful playing career in Tasmania before becoming General Manager of the Stadium in Launceston where Hawthorn now plays. He was honoured in 2014 for services to Tasmanian Football by being admitted to its Hall Of Fame.

[comrade]

Justin Sherman

I don't remember anyone by this name playing for the Bulldogs.

[boydogs]

I think they are gonna have to go for a soccer type "Tasmania United" name, although without understanding the Tasmanian mindset would that just feel like it was a team that was hedging it's bets and wasn't really committing to either?

Lived in Hobart for 2 years, I think the North/South rivalry is overblown but it is an issue from an attendance/engagement standpoint

[bornadog]

Tasmania’s AFL case is ‘strong’, but pathway into league clouded

Colin Carter’s report on Tasmania’s bid for an AFL team has found a strong case for inclusion in the AFL.

But the report suggested that a relocated team would be stronger - “formidable” - compared to a standalone team

“The review found that the case for Tasmania is strong. There should be a team representing Tasmania in the AFL and AFLW competitions. However, the best form of that team is less clear cut,” AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said on Friday.

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein will address the report at a press conference at 11am.

Seven had reported on Thursday night that the Carter report did not recommend a start-up 19th team, saying there was no business case for expansion because it wouldn’t add television dollars, and that it would require relocation or a club deal to play home games in Tasmania.

North Melbourne have strongly resisted any push to be the relocated Tasmanian team.

Mr Gutwein has previously been aggressive in pushing the AFL for entry into the competition, having indicated that his government will not continue to fund Hawthorn and North Melbourne - which receive about $8 million from the Tasmanian government for their home games in Launceston and Hobart respectively - unless there is a commitment to a team fully based in the state.

Carter was asked to review a Tasmanian government-commissioned task force report - in effect, assess the merits of the task force’s case - by the AFL.

To be granted a license for a team, Tasmania would need the backing of at least three-quarters of the 18 existing clubs in a formal vote.

The task force, led by ex-Virgin Australia boss Brett Godfrey, found that the introduction of a Tasmanian team would arrest the decline of the code in the state and “must be strongly considered to revive and sustain the sport in Tasmania”. It said that a Tassie team would create 360 jobs and add $110m to the Tasmanian economy annually, while warning that support for Hawthorn and North Melbourne had fallen over the past decade in the state.

The Godfrey report said the lack of a team in the state had contributed to the decline of football in the state, warning that current trends would see Australian football no longer the favourite sport by 2030.

The NBL has already put an expansion franchise in Tasmania with the Tasmania Jack Jumpers coming into the league this coming season. The Jack Jumpers, named after a local ant with a painful bite, have signed up their inaugural roster with former NBA player Scott Roth named head coach.

[Axe Man]

Move the Suns or the Great Waste of Space there, problem solved.

[bornadog]

Gillon has thrown the challenge down to North, Hawthorn and Saints.

I vote Hawks.

Move the Suns or the Great Waste of Space there, problem solved.

Gill confirms won't be suns

[Axe Man]

Gillon has thrown the challenge down to North, Hawthorn and Saints.

I vote Hawks.

Gill confirms won't be suns

As much as we don't like our rivals it absolutely should not be a Melbourne club. They all have history and die hard supporters. Short memories as Bulldogs supporters if we are advocating for a team to lose it's identity like we almost did.

I know it won't be the Suns or the plastics, but it should be.

[Grantysghost]

As much as we don't like our rivals it absolutely should not be a Melbourne club. They all have history and die hard supporters. Short memories as Bulldogs supporters if we are advocating for a team to lose it's identity like we almost did.

I know it won't be the Suns or the plastics, but it should be.

I agree, but that recommendation has me wondering more than ever if North are in the gun.