No VFL forces TSL star to leave
Tigers’ Lovell to chase AFL dream via SANFL
TASMANIA’S delay in entering the VFL competition has forced star midfielder Kieran Lovell interstate, his TSL club says.
Lovell, a former Hawthorn player and runner- up in this season’s Alastair Lynch Medal as the TSL best and fairest, has signed on for SANFL club West Adelaide.
The 23- year- old led the TSL in kicks, clearances and loose ball gets for Tigers this year.
He spent the past two seasons at his original club after being cut from the Hawks.
Tigers president Paul Gadomski said Lovell would have stayed to pursue his dream of his AFL career if the state was entering the VFL next season, as was originally planned.
“When we recruited Kieran it was always only for two years,” Gadomski said.
“He made it quite clear to us from the start he wanted to try and reinvigorate his AFL career. His medium- term plan was to come back to Hobart and hopefully play in the Tasmanian VFL side when it got off the ground. “As that hasn’t eventuated, he has chosen to move back interstate.”
Gadomski said AFL recruiters’ view of the TSL being below the SANFL standard also forced Lovell to relocate.
He said the debate over whether the state should be entering the VFL — as proposed by the Gill McLachlanled steering committee, but opposed by the AFL Taskforce unless a VFL licence was part of an AFL licence — was part of a broader discussion on the future of the sport in the state.
“There’s bigger decisions to be made around the structure of football in Tasmania before we take that ( VFL) step,” he said. “To push forward with something like that in essence without a strategic long- term plan would be a mistake not only for the state league but for local footy in general.
“That is where I hope ( new head of AFL Tasmania) Damian Gill will take it rather than looking at individual areas of Tassie football and trying to put in band aids or strategies to fix local problems.” He said he hoped Gill “actually looks at it from a strategic point of view and get a plan together that we all work towards”.
He said Lovell would be a significant loss to the Tigers, but was confident the likes of Will Campbell, former Mariners captain Lachie Clifford ( who missed most of 2020 through injury) and Riley Ashlin could help fill the void.