Gill plan leads us back up VFL path
HANDPASS ON AFL TEAM
THE “building blocks” for a future Tasmanian AFL team were laid in Hobart by AFL boss Gillon McLachlan yesterday — now the rest is up to us.
There will be no Tasmanian team in the AFL anytime soon but, now the AFL has set a strong pathway and committed an extra $1.4 million in funding, Mr McLachlan says the foundation will exist for the state to claim a licence when the time comes.
After a three-and-a-half month investigation into the state of the game in Tasmania by a specially formed steering committee, which included Tasmanians Chris Fagan, Nick Riewoldt and Brendon Bolton, the AFL’s chief executive flew to Hobart to announce sweeping changes at Blundstone Arena.
An extra $1.4 million will be tipped into Tasmanian football from next year to fund an extended development pathway, starting from state under-12s to the under-18 Tassie Mariners entering the TAC Cup fulltime next year, a Tasmanian girls’ team in the TAC Cup from 2020 and then a VFL men’s team from 2021. The major announcements include: ADDITIONAL $1.4 million investment in Tasmanian football next year, with incremental funding to be committed in 2020 and beyond. THREE new football administration hubs in the South, North and North-West, including regional advisory committees that will work with local community stakeholders dealing with local issues. APPOINTMENT of a regional talent manager based and focused on the NorthWest Coast, which would mean all three regions would have such a role. INTRODUCTION of a Tasmanian boys under-18 team in the TAC cup next year, with a full-time coach and regional coaching groups. PROVISIONAL licence for a Tasmanian VFL team for 2021. EXTENSION of talent pathway programs to include under-12 to under-18. INCREASED investment in female talent, including a new full-time resource dedicated to the female talent pathways and establishment of a TAC Cup Girls program in 2020. RE-BRANDING of all Tasmanian representative teams to sit under one team name. A name to be decided by the Tasmanian public.
Mr McLachlan said a 10year-old from Glenorchy could aspire to one day play for a Tasmanian team in the AFL.
“I think they can. They can dream to do that,” he said.
“And what we are trying to do is put the building blocks in place today to deliver on a unified, sustainable Tasmanian future that every boy and girl knows they’ve got a good pathway to the AFL or AFLW.
“Whether that is playing for a Tasmanian team or one of the current 18 teams, that’s a decision for eight or nine years’ time, for that 10-year-old.”
When asked when Tasmania would enter the AFL, he said: “That depends on the success of the next three, four, five years. Right now, Tasmanian football is fractured, our talent pathways are fragmented, the community football interrelationships aren’t working, and we’ve dropped the ball on game development.
“This plan deals with all of those issues. But we need to deal with them and build the base and get a united Tasmanian football before Tasmania is really in a position to bid for a licence.
“The challenge is there. We have called them out. And addressing them is a challenge for Tasmania.”
Mr McLachlan said Tasmania’s case for a team was different to the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney.
“They were built for very different strategic reasons, around growth and huge growing markets,” he said. Gillon McLachlan writes in Talking Point: Pages 22-23