Football inquiry a lockout on locals

THE addition of Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan to the AFL’s Tasmanian steering committee doesn’t mean genuine local representation, State Opposition sports spokesman David O’Byrne says.

Passionate Tasmanian Mr Fagan was last week added to the committee tasked with outlining solutions to the state’s football crisis by June 30.

The committee also includes AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, AFL Tasmania chief executive Trisha Squires, former St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt, Carlton coach Brendon Bolton, AFL head of game development Rob Auld and the AFL state league manager Simon Laughton.

Mr O’Byrne said Mr Fagan deserved to be called a great Tasmanian, but the AFL’s solution was too far removed from the game’s grassroots.

“You cannot doubt his capability, his credibility and his passion for Tasmanian football,” Mr O’Byrne said.

“But he’s in Brisbane, he’s a full-time coach in a team that has to perform and you would argue it’s tokenistic.

“He’s got a full-time job in Brisbane, he couldn’t be further away from local football in Tasmania.”

The committee has been given just three weeks to come up with the first stage of a solution, a fix for the state’s talent pathway.

Mr McLachlan will still travel to Tasmania in coming weeks.

But any solutions to the pathway and the struggling Tasmanian State League will have to wait.

“No Tasmanian who cares about Tasmanian football will be happy with that,” Mr O’Byrne said.

“The response from the AFL is again to create a committee with no genuine Tasmanians from the local football infrastructure on it, with a delayed reporting time.”

Mr O’Byrne has put pressure on the Hodgman Government to use its sponsorships of Hawthorn and North Melbourne, and funding for AFL Tasmania, to get a better deal for the state.