We can plough a new path to footy glory

Find a way by focusing on solutions, not finger pointing, writes Marti Zucco

IT’S easy to put the blame on AFL chief executive Gill McLachlan for Tasmania football issues, but to direct all the blame in one direction is not warranted.

As the person who instigated the group to push for North Melbourne to play AFL in Hobart after a 30-year drought we focused on solutions to the problems and overcoming obstacles placed before us. The biggest obstacle was convincing our state politicians (on both sides of the political fence) and the dreaded North/South political divide. It was not an easy task. Being focused and persistent pays.

In my discussions with many in the know there are solutions to the Tasmanian football conundrum. It requires some rational decisions by the State Government, the Opposition and the AFL. We all need to be on the one page so “politics” is not the obstacle.

If we as Tasmanians are not happy with the “working party” set up by the AFL it doesn’t mean Tasmania cannot work as a collective and put a Tasmanian working party together and put forward recommendations to the AFL as per what “Tasmania” needs to go forward.

So let’s stop the blame game and take action in a similar manner as the working group did with the North Melbourne deal.

I was also shocked to learn that out of the 15 football competitions in Tasmania only three are formally affiliated with the AFL. How a sporting body with so many involved can operate without them all being under the one AFL Tasmania umbrella is ridiculous. This is where we need to start getting things changed now.

The football community needs to understand that having the two AFL clubs playing in Tasmania which are financially propped up directly or indirectly by state government has caused a funding drain on Tasmanian local football.

I have it on good authority that Tasmanian football is choking from lack of sponsorship and funding which may be related to the two AFL clubs draining the limited resources and options.

In my discussions with those on the ground this is the case. So we need to consider this as another issue.

Maybe the Tasmanian Government should attach conditions on the subsidies provided to the AFL clubs that assist Tasmanian football or change the funding model altogether.

I suggest increased funding to AFL Tasmania for overseeing all football in Tasmania, either by AFL directly or from the two Tasmanian-funded AFL clubs.

The State Government may consider changing the funding model for the two AFL clubs in a way that directs financial assistance to Tasmanian clubs via AFL Tasmania.

The Tasmanian Government could work cohesively with the AFL/AFL Tasmania on a plan to resolve the future direction of football.

It could reconsider the future of the two AFL teams currently playing in Tasmania and/or a transition to a one AFL-team model in the medium term, playing games in the North and South of the state.

There could be a plan towards a Tasmanian team in the AFL competition in the long term. This would require a report that covers all the issues from where the team is based, where it plays games, funding etc.

There are solutions. If we are to be taken seriously by the AFL we need to stop pointing the finger and sit down and work on a plan that focuses on the objective that delivers the best outcome.

I call on the Premier to set up a local football reference group to feed its ideas into the AFL committee so Tasmania and its passionate supporters can at least feel they are being heard and taken seriously.

Marti Zucco is an alderman with Hobart City Council.