GREAT DIVIDE

Clarence chief blasts TSL’s unfair north-south split

SOUTHERN TSL teams will be unable to compete with their northern counterparts this season or next without the urgent introduction of another team north of Oatlands.

Clarence chief executive Richard Mulligan said the fivesouth, two-north TSL split was unsustainable and needed to be urgently addressed.

North Launceston has played in the past four grand finals winning three (when there were at least four northern TSL teams), while Laun- ceston finished third last year. Now following the withdrawal of Burnie and Devonport, the Dockers zone has been given to the Blues, while Devonport now belongs to the Northern Bombers.

“As long as there are only two teams out of Launceston you are going to continue to have one of them being the strongest side in the state,” Mulligan said.

“Hats off to North Launceston, they have done a fantastic job, but they do have a lot more access to talent than the five sides in the south.

“You can draw your own conclusions from that.

“One would be surprised if the two Launceston teams don’t feature very strongly at the end of the year whereas some of the southern teams will make up the five.

“But I’m not sure we will have the talent to compete with the northern sides.

“I might be seeing something that isn’t there but logic and common sense would tell you that there has to be a better balance.”

Mulligan said southern clubs pushed strongly for the imbalance to be addressed at last month’s meeting in Campbell Town and AFL Tasmania has made the reintroduction of a North-West Coast side a priority. While Mulligan said his club agrees with the need for Coast representation, he said it should go further.

“The likelihood of forming a [North-West] club if one of the existing clubs doesn’t come in has all sorts of problems and difficulties, it is a longer-term aspiration but one we have to have, whereas for practicality it may be easier to get an eighth team in by getting a third team out of Launceston,” he said.

“That’s our club view and quite strong view.

“Effectively we have a southern competition with two northern teams playing in it.”

He said a four-four split was a much better proposition but was unsure of what the makeup of clubs would be.

“Our club is not advocating anyone in the south go out but we are all chasing the same talent, all chasing the same sponsors and it is just getting harder and harder and harder,” Mulligan said. “With the withdrawal of the two teams from the Coast I wouldn’t suggest in any sponsor’s mind the TSL is high priority. We have got a lot of fences to mend and bridges to build to get that respect back for our competition.”

TSL general manager Carl Saunder said he understood Clarence’s concerns.

“Through our process of exploring possibilities on the North-West we are looking at the make-up of the competition, which includes the composition of clubs,” Saunder said.

He said Clarence was fully committed to the TSL and had no intention or desire to return to the SFL.