QUICK FIX IN LIMBO

Premier says Tassie’s VFL plan for 2021 must be AFL pathway

TASMANIA rejoining the VFL is fast losing support from the top end of town with Premier Peter Gutwein opposed to the move without a provisional AFL licence.

The 2018 Tasmanian football steering committee — chaired by AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan — recommended the state rejoin the VFL in 2021 as part of a cure to fix the code’s Tasmanian woes.

However, this recommendation has been opposed by the AFL Taskforce business case released last month, and the move has been paused by AFL Tasmania and will not proceed in 2021 if the process has not been resolved by May.

Mr Gutwein has backed the Taskforce’s recommendation against a stand-alone VFL team.

“I think it will be a very difficult proposition for the state to have a VFL team that wasn’t linked to a provisional licence for an AFL and AFLW team,” Mr Gutwein told the Mercury.

“I think there is a natural progression there. I think having a stand-alone VFL team would be very difficult to be successful both on and off the field without there being a pathway to a provisional licence.”

The recommendations from the Taskforce business case, including opposing a stand-alone VFL team, have also been accepted by the State Opposition as well.

AFL Tasmania chief executive Trisha Squires spoke about the Taskforce for the first time and acknowledged the Taskforce’s anti-standalone VFL recommendation, but would not be drawn on commenting on the VFL team’s long-term future.

“When the Taskforce asked me to put a pause on that, I have and I really want to respect the process that is taking place between the State Government and the Taskforce and the AFL commission,” Squires said. “Right now I wouldn’t come out and run a VFL side while this process is taking place. I really want to respect the process.”

In the AFL Licence Taskforce Business Plan 2019, the Taskforce says a VFL team without a provisional AFL licence will have the exact opposite effect, taking Tasmania further away from its bigleague dream.

The Taskforce business case does include the costs for a VFL team, but only as part of an AFL set-up — not as a stand-alone team. “Should no commitment be forthcoming for a Tasmanian AFL club, our recommendation is that the state declines to fund the VFL program,” the report says.

The report raises questions as to why Tasmania is asked to jump hurdles other teams have not faced and concluded a stand-alone VFL team would be detrimental to the code.

“There appears a genuine belief it will fail, causing irreparable damage to the state’s ambition around its own AFL club.”