Ben beams with pride over naming our side

AS a product of the state under-18 pathway and a former VFL captain, Ben Beams admits there is a tug at the heartstrings when it comes to naming Tasmania’s football sides.

The former Melbourne forward is one of seven panellists entrusted with narrowing down the selections put forward from the public in what the state’s name and brand to be represented at all levels of representative football will be from next year. The panel met yesterday to whittle down the nominations to a shortlist of five, which will be released in the coming days.

Beams, who came through the Mariners program to be drafted to Melbourne before returning home to captain the Devils in the VFL, said while he will remain as impartial as possible, it was difficult to not rekindle ties with the past.

“Obviously I have been involved with both the Mariners and the Devils, so there is a bit of a tug at the heartstrings,” Beams said.

“It’s going to be an interesting conversation and we’ll see what we come up with. The public think it [the Devils] can work, but if there is a name that is better that can market just as well, so be it.

“If I voted for anything else though I would probably be lynched by a few old Devils mates and supporters.

“I have had plenty of phone calls from them and caught up with a couple of players that said that it can’t be anything else.

“We will see what happens.” The shortlist of team names will be revealed in Friday’s Mercury.