WE WILL GET OUR OWN TEAM

ROO DECLARES HIS ‘CONFIDENCE’ IN BID

CONFIDENCE in Tasmania joining the AFL has never been higher says former St Kilda champion and AFL Taskforce member Nick Riewoldt.

Speaking on Melbourne radio station SEN yesterday, Riewoldt said a start-up Tasmanian team would be instantly more viable than the expansion clubs from the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney.

The taskforce is preparing a business case to be delivered to the AFL by the end of the year and has also flagged applying for a provisional licence.

“I’m as confident as I’ve ever been,” Riewoldt said.

SEN host and former Melbourne champion Garry Lyon pointed out that every club that had received a provisional licence in the past had entered the nation’s peak competition very soon after.

Riewoldt thought five years may be too soon for Tasmania but that a decade would be a very realistic goal.

“That’s the aim [to get a provisional licence] within the next few years,” Riewoldt said.

“I don’t think that would be an issue [uniting the North and South]. If Tasmania are committed to wanting their own team, which they are, I don’t think the perceived NorthSouth divide will be an issue.

“If they announced tomorrow that they’re getting a provisional licence and Tassie is getting a team in 2028, I reckon you’d have 30,000 members tomorrow.

“That’s the difference between the Giants and the Gold Coast and Tasmania.”

Riewoldt has been a longterm supporter of a Tasmanian team and was part of the AFL’s steering committee last year aimed at addressing issues around grassroots football and the talent pathway.

“I’m just doing my little bit behind the scenes,” the former St Kilda captain said.

“I’m part of the taskforce that is putting together a business case and all the contingencies that need to be looked at if or when you’re starting up a football club, specifically the culture and the issues around retention that an expanding football club will face.”