Bill backs Tassie team

Labor leader jumps on bandwagon for AFL team in Tassie

BILL Shorten has joined Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in publicly calling on the AFL to deliver a Tasmanian team.

The Opposition Leader said an AFL team based in Tassie was “important to ensure the sport continues to flourish”.

“This has been talked about for decades and I don’t blame Tasmanians for being sceptical about when it will actually happen,” he said. “But I’ll work with any serious proposal about how to make this a reality.”

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten has joined the Prime Minister in publicly calling for an AFL team for Tasmania.

Mr Shorten said he would work with “any serious proposal” for the state to get a side.

“I’m a big supporter of Tassie getting its own team,’’ he said in Tasmania yesterday.

“I would like to see the AFL develop a pathway to seeing this happen in the state.

“Footy is incredibly important to Tasmanians – I know they’re very proud of the champions they’ve produced . . . but they want to have their own team, and that’s fair enough.”

Mr Shorten’s comments came after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull lobbied AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan about a Tasmanian team on Saturday at the MCG.

Mr Shorten said governments should be part of the solution.

“This has been talked about for decades and I don’t blame Tasmanians for being sceptical about when it will actually happen,’’ he said.

“We need to build strong foundations if Tasmanians are to realise the dream of its own team. A key part of this will be supporting grassroots footy across Tassie and ensuring the state competition is as strong as possible – that’s something I’ll be discussing in Burnie.”

Mr Turnbull has said AFL was part of Tasmania’s way of life. “You couldn’t imagine the AFL without the contribution of Tasmania or Tasmanians,” he said.

“So I hope there is a Tasmanian AFL team. It’s going to be a matter for the AFL, but you know what? If enthusiasm and passion count for anything you will get your own team.”

The State Opposition yesterday wrote to Premier Will Hodgman offering a bipartisan approach to lobby for a Tasmanian AFL side.

Opposition spokesman for sport David O’Byrne said Labor would seek the establishment of a taskforce to build a contemporary business case for an AFL team in Tasmania in preparation for the AFL Commission’s consideration of granting Tasmania a licence.

“Labor stands ready to work with the Premier on this so that Tasmania can unite around a team of our own,” Mr O’Byrne said.

“The community does not want to see politics – it wants to see leadership from its elected representatives.”

But Mr Hodgman rejected the approach from Labor.

“Tasmania should have a team in the AFL. We don’t need another taskforce to tell us what we already know,” he said.

“We have been crystal clear on our position and welcome the support of those who share in this goal as we continue to build the case for it.

“We still have four seasons remaining on our existing deals, which deliver strong social and economic benefits to the state.”

SO, AFL Chief Gillon McLachlan says his June 30 blueprint for football in the state will not include good news for those hoping for a Tasmanian AFL team.

He says his priority is “sustainable community football, talent pathways for youth, or talent pathways for seniors.” It’s interesting these didn’t seem to be prerequisites for teams in Greater Western Sydney and the Gold Coast.

While I would love to see a Tasmanian team in the AFL, making it a true national football competition with at least one team in every state, I fear this is just a dream that will never be realised, certainly not while Mr McLachlan and his colleagues hold power in Melbourne.

The reality is that the AFL already gets what it wants from Tasmania — dedicated television viewers whose numbers contribute to its massive media rights earnings, and access to a pool of young, aspiring footballers who can be churned through the doors of mainland clubs.

Might I humbly suggest that football look to cricket as an example of a truly national competition where our young men and women can play in elite competitions, even aspire to represent (and captain) their country, without having to leave Tasmania.

In cricket, Tasmania plays in the national Sheffield Shield and one-day men’s competitions, the women’s National Cricket League, and the Hobart Hurricanes play in both the men’s and women’s Big Bash Leagues. Our underage teams also compete as equal partners in national carnivals and each summer, Blundstone Arena sees the Australian team host international teams in a Test, One Day or Twenty20 match. Tasmania also hosted matches in the 2015 one-day World Cup and will do so again when the 2020 T20 is played here in two years’ time.

While I and many others involved in or supporters of Tasmanian cricket would like to see more international cricket played at Blundstone Arena, at least we are on the map and our voice is heard at Cricket Australia’s headquarters in Melbourne, directly with a Tasmanian-based director on the CA board and at the regular forums involving state and territory chairs, chief executives and senior managers.

Cricket Tasmania also has its own independent board of directors and a strong management team. It is not subservient to cricket headquarters in Melbourne but works effectively with Cricket Australia for the betterment of Tasmanian and Australian cricket.

Importantly, like all states and territories, Tasmanian cricket receives significant funding from Cricket Australia as the national body recognises that it is the state cricket bodies that are at the coalface supporting grassroots cricket, managing the pathways and developing the first-class and international cricketers of today and tomorrow.

On his most recent and fleeting visit, Mr McLachlan proudly announced Tasmania was a contender to host this year’s AFL Draft. Fantastic news. We are in line to host an event that is purely designed to force our young people to leave Tasmania to realise their sporting dreams.

Now, I have no problem with young people leaving home to further their employment prospects, as both my children made similar career choices. However, they should have a choice and not be forced to go.

Perhaps the greatest satisfaction from my years of involvement in Tasmanian cricket was seeing so many of our young players succeed playing for Tasmania and go on to represent Australia, while still living and contributing to our sport in our state. This would not have been possible but for the strong financial support of Cricket Australia and the fact Tasmania has been playing in the Sheffield Shield since 1977 and the Women’s National Cricket League since 2009. And Tasmania has been very successful in the time, winning Sheffield Shields, national one-day cups and even making the semifinals of the Champions’ League T20 competition in India.

Consider David Boon, Ricky Ponting, Ben Hilfenhaus, George Bailey, James Faulkner and Tim Paine, now Australia’s newest Test captain, and many others who all achieved national honours while playing and living in Tasmania.

Tasmanian football could achieve similar outcomes, if only Gillon McLachlan and his interstate colleagues accepted that Tasmania is part of Australia, that our young footballers deserve the same opportunities as their counterparts elsewhere in Australia, and as well as supporting community football and talent pathways, the AFL hierarchy also supported and funded a Tasmanian team in the AFL.

Then perhaps, they could truly call it the Australian Football League. Tony Harrison is a director of Cricket Australia and was chairman of Cricket Tasmania from 2008 to 2015. He was a member of the steering committee responsible for securing North Melbourne home matches at Blundstone Arena.