ROOS PUSH BID CLAIMS
Seven clubs jostle for role in AFLW expansion
A JOINT Tasmania-North Melbourne submission will go head to head against seven AFL clubs from today for the right to field an AFLW team in 2019.
Bids to join the competition in its third year must be lodged at AFL House by 4.30pm today.
Hawthorn, which has played men’s games in Launceston since 2001, has pledged to play some home matches in Tasmania if it gets a licence, while North Melbourne has done the same and is using the state as a key plank in its bid.
The league will consider the individual merits of the bids before the Commission decides how many teams will be granted entry.
A minimum of two clubs will get the green light, but there could be more.
Priority weighting will be afforded to provisional licence holders St Kilda, Geelong, North Melbourne, Richmond and West Coast, all of which were unsuccessful bidders in the last round.
Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman said the state was looking for its own team, not a hybrid model.
“We’ve spoken to the AFL and communicated our strong desire for our own AFLW team,” Hodgman said.
AFL Tasmania was yesterday remaining tight-lipped on what the state’s component would entail — be it jumper representation, number of home games, or number of local players — in its bid with the Kangaroos before the submission deadline.
North Melbourne senior men’s coach Brad Scott is a big supporter of the joint bid.
The Roos’ submission includes plans to play games and grow the game in Tasmania, with men’s games already fixtured in Hobart three times a season.
“A Tasmanian-affiliated women’s team with North Melbourne I think would be a fantastic result, great for Tassie, great for women’s footy and the AFL in general,” Scott said.
Hawthorn — which is affiliated with VFL Women’s outfit Box Hill — elected not to bid in the last round of submissions and thus will not receive the priority weighting.
Chief executive Tracey Gaudry said the Hawks “are aiming to win”.
“We’re investing from grassroots and we’ll be looking to play here in Victoria, in Tassie and to reach all the way out through Gippsland with our recruitment,” she said recently on SEN.