PUNT THE DEALS FOR OUR TEAM

Ex-footy boss says only way AFL will listen to Tassie is to ...

ENDING the Hawthorn and North Melbourne deals with Tasmania is the only way to get our own AFL team, says the code’s former top administrator Scott Wade. He warns: “From personal experience I can tell you [the AFL] do not care about Tasmania having its own team.”

ENDING the Hawthorn and North Melbourne deals is the only way to get a Tasmanian AFL team, says the code’s former top administrator.

Scott Wade, who was AFL Tasmania chief executive from 1999 to 2016, believes the AFL commission has no respect for the southern traditional football heartland and only deals in economic realities.

In a Talking Point for the Mercury today, Wade said the current contracts that see the Hawks play four games a season in Launceston and the Roos three in Hobart — costing Tasmanian taxpayers $7 million a year — should not be renewed after they expire at the end of 2021 and was the only leverage the state had in negotiations with the league.

“From personal experience, I can tell you that they, they being the AFL Commission, do not care about Tasmania having its own team in the national competition,” Wade said.

“Our Government taking a stance and risking no games is our only acceptable solution in the short term; until the AFL Commission Chairman (Richard Goyder) declares that Tasmania can have its own AFL team.

“For me, it would be acceptable if the timeline on when we can have our own AFL team was still 10 to 15 years away, but grant us our own AFL licence by a certain date — then Tasmania will have a goal to reach, and by working in partnership with the AFL, our own AFL team becomes a reality rather than an ongoing aspiration.”

He said without a commitment of a timeline from the AFL, football will eventually die in the state and the Tasmanian Government should look at other codes or sports.

“Is Tasmania’s only purpose, in respect to Australian rules football, to supply more players to interstate AFL Clubs and to pay for games to enhance the bottom-line of two Melbourne based Clubs?” he said.

“Government would be better off investing this money into helping our own community footy clubs, or even our national cricket teams, hockey teams, our own basketball team, soccer team, netball team, etc.

“I genuinely cared about Tasmanian football, but the reality is our great game will eventually be lost to our community, until we have our own team in the AFL national competition.

“It is the only worthwhile initiative that our Government should support.”

Governments of both main parties have stated taxpayer-- sponsored AFL games were a boom for tourism and economic activity during the winter, but Wade believes it is time to move on.

“Tasmania will survive without AFL games and I am sure our Government could quite easily invest in many other tourism and economic development strategies that will provide similar returns on investment for the state,” Wade says.

“Surely seven AFL games does not make or break our Tasmanian economy?”

FOR senior Australian rules football players across the country, the month of September is either exciting, painful or both. For my nephew, Collingwood defender Jeremy Howe, and his family, September 2018 was a new experience as he embarked on his first AFL finals campaign after 160 games in the big league.

The end result for Jeremy was most definitely painful, however, on reflection September was an exciting period for him and those closest to him. We all hope the mighty Magpies can again get to experience the joy of September next year.

During my time playing VFL/AFL at Hawthorn we won the 1983 premiership flag, however, while I was part of the extended Hawks squad for that campaign, I was not close to being selected in the team, and as a former CEO of AFL Tasmania I was fortunate to attend 17 consecutive AFL grand finals representing Tasmanian football.

For me the 2018 AFL Grand Final was the most significant by a long way. To have a close family member playing was so exciting, particularly given the circumstances surrounding Jeremy’s AFL journey, the passing of his mum Kim two years ago and the injuries to overcome in the week leading to the big day. At the end of the game his emotions were raw and real. Jeremy had given everything he could possibly give and for his team to be beaten by less than a goal was such a bitter pill to swallow. However, professional athletes move on quickly. Two days after the biggest game of his life, he had a shoulder operation to ensure his preparation for 2019 would be up to scratch. Time to move forward!

The opportunity for me to view Collingwood’s 2018 finals campaign, at such a personal and emotional level, also made me enormously angry and frustrated that Tasmania does not have its own AFL team.

The West Coast Eagles and Collingwood are not just football clubs, they are communities in their own right. Seeing what these clubs mean to their people makes you realise the power of the AFL is not the game itself, it is about clubs providing joy and hope for their community. West Coast Eagles is Perth’s team. The victory has brought such joy and civic pride to a capital city and the state.

Why is Tasmania deprived of the same opportunity? Can you imagine what a Tasmanian team playing on grand final day would do for us? Can you imagine how proud Tasmanians would be and can you imagine the joy if our team won a grand final?

So, what should our state do? Do we just keep whingeing and complaining that we want our own team?

From personal experience, I can tell you that the AFL Commission does not care about Tasmania having its own team in the national competition. They are not one bit interested in this subject.

The AFL Commission, not the CEO, is the decisionmaker when it comes to the structure of the competition and be assured, they are not interested in Tasmania being treated fairly when it comes to us having a team. All they are interested in is return on investment.

Community matters to AFL clubs, but not to the AFL Commission.

If community, across our nation, is something the AFL Commission cared about, the chairman would be knocking on our Premier’s door and asking government to help the AFL to get a Tasmanian team.

Tasmania should have its own AFL team, so should the Northern Territory, and GWS should become Canberra’s AFL team. Then we would truly have a national competition and a legitimate community-focused national competition. The Australian Government and the nation’s corporate sector would jump on board and return on investment would simply be an outcome of support for all states and territories. Such a strategy would place the AFL in a position no other sporting code could compete with.

So, what should Tasmania do?

Stop funding AFL games in Tasmania. Why should our state have to pay? I am not advocating the withdrawal of Hawthorn or North Melbourne, but why doesn’t the AFL fund these games?

As soon as our government suggests such a strategy, I suggest the AFL Commission will walk away and we will get no AFL games in Tasmania. We get games if we pay for them; we get nothing if we don’t — that doesn’t seem like a good deal for Tasmania? Oh, hang on; government spin doctors will tell us the purpose of AFL games in Tasmania has nothing to do with enhancing our case for our own team, it is to do with driving tourism and economic development. Tasmania will survive without AFL games and I am sure our Government could invest in many other tourism and economic development strategies that will provide similar returns on investment for the state. Surely seven AFL games does not make or break our Tasmanian economy?

Government taking a stance and risking no games is the only acceptable solution in the short term; until the AFL Commission chairman declares Tasmania can have its own AFL team. For me, it would be acceptable if the timeline for our own team was still 10 to 15 years, but grant us an AFL licence by a certain date — then Tasmania will have a goal, and by working with the AFL, our team becomes a reality rather than an aspiration.

I would also support Hawthorn or North Melbourne becoming Tasmania’s team, similar to South Melbourne becoming Sydney’s team. I also wish St Kilda would genuinely explore the opportunity of becoming Tasmania’s team.

Neither Hawthorn nor North Melbourne wants to become Tasmania’s team; what they are happy with is taking our taxpayers’ money and, by design, they are also

happy to divide Tasmania in two for self-interest. I am not sure how anyone thinks dividing Tasmania in two is a good idea.

Is Tasmania’s only purpose to supply players to interstate clubs and pay for games to enhance the bottom line of two Melbourne-based clubs? Government would be better off investing this money into our own community clubs, or even our national cricket teams, hockey teams, our own basketball, soccer, netball, etc.

I genuinely cared about Tasmanian football, but the reality is our great game will eventually be lost to our community until we have our own team in the AFL national competition. It is the only worthwhile initiative our government should support.

Programs to get more Tasmanians drafted to AFL clubs is good for a very small number of players and their families and these programs provide AFL Tasmania with a greater purpose. However, how do these programs help secure our own team and help build a stronger and more popular community football structure? They don’t.

Given that I cannot support a Tasmanian team in the AFL in 2019, I will again be part of the Collingwood community and proudly support No. 38 in particular.