Footy on the brink

Next move will decide state’s future The fate of the state’ s football future is out of his hands, but Tasmania nA F LT ask force chairman Brett God frey writes that Tasmania needs a date for inclusion, not futuristic platitudes

FOOTY in Tasmania is at a tipping point.

Whatever AFL bigwigs decide to do next will seal the fate of the code in our state.

Leading Australian businessman Brett Godfrey, the chair of the Tasmanian AFL Taskforce, writes an exclusive piece in today’s Mercury setting out the case for the Apple Isle to finally have a team in the national football competition.

AFTER 12 months of work resulting in a 300- page report, I am convinced that AFL in Tasmania is at a tipping point.

What the custodians of the game do over the short-term will determine the fate of the codeinthestate.

I have spent my corporate life developing or interrogating business plans. I know that stuff, not football specifically, but footy is a business too.

In June 2019, I was asked to chair Tasmania’s AFL Licence Taskforce. Before accepting I did my due diligence, talking to the likes of Jeff Kennett, GillMcLachl an, and Tasmanian football identities. They were frank and honest and I shared their concerns. I was a cynic but frankly always start fromthatposition.

The government put together an exceptional group of business leaders and football brains to see if a way forward could be found. Any one of this group could have been the chair. So why me? I wasn’t even Tasmanian nor particularly passionate about AFL. Perhaps it was for those reasons. Not being Tasmanian nor having AFL as“my sport ”, definitely gave me an outsider’s perspective for the necessary reality check for the sportinTasmania.

Mostpost-completionbusinesscasesareconsignedtothe “bin” and never get put into play. The best business cases will unearth not just the good opportunities but the difficulties, the risks, the true costs.

Pushing ahead with a flawed plan is an anathema to meoranyonewhovaluestheir reputation. It would be folly to push a failed business plan as the people on the taskforce have status and standing outside of football.

The objectives of our work were many. It wasn’t just about an AFL team for Tasmania.Thathadbeenattempted many times over the past 30 years without success. Did

Tasmanians even want a club? Could we address and con sign to history all the“excuses” level led against Tasmania in those three decades of seeking entry to the“national but one” competition?

What we also felt crucial, was to assess if the state could even afford a club, let alone retain the drafted or recruited talent to compete long term. These and the other 48 pieces of work we undertook were monumental in scope but had to be validated, even before attempting to“summit our mountain” in convincing the power brokers that the value of a Tasmania n team would actually be accretive to the AFL.

After consulting with everyone who held a view, analysing all the data, tapping prospective sponsors, interrogatingothersportsaroundthe world, and debunking every mythwecouldfind:weunanimouslysignedoffourbusiness case as “compelling”. We saw a pathway that benefited TasmaniabutalsotheAFL.

My initial cynicism around the affordability issue was “reality checked” — the business case stacked up. Tasmania musthaveitsownteam—full stop.

Butwealsohadtoconsider rejection.Thistimethoughwe didn’t plead through passion, parochialism, fairness, justice, even if backed by a robust and reputationally sound business case.

All these can be called out as subjective by those with vested interests to maintain the status quo or offer up plausible deniability. I can understand that tactic but historical “facts” cannot be denied.

Lookunderanyrockthatis Tasmanian football and the facts expose the truth … they are unequivocal. Simply and honestly, through this untreated neglect, the code is in decline.

Lookateveryteamthathas enteredtheAFLpost-VFLand you see long-term growth

spikes in participation (boys and girls), talent (draftees) and what the AFL appears very focused on, eye balls( dollars ).

Today’s kids (participation) are tomorrow’s AFL supporters (revenue streams). The generational shift in participation is to other sports. Those kids in 10 years will go to the Derwent Entertainment Centre (basketball) instead of Blundstone or UTAS( AFL ).

For those that love the game and can influence, ignore this at your peril.

Tasmania in 2020 is one of the most vibrant and exciting destinations in Australia. It’s why I started investing here and is my home away from home. I believe most on the mainland still see a 1990 Tasmania, not the confident state that leads the nation in many economic and quality-of-life indicators. A now united state where 64,000 people said they would pledge to support not a Northern or Southern team but a united Tasmania team.

Fiscally prudent businesses always protect their home markets before pursuing “exciting” new growth. Tasmania has produced more than its fair share of talent and is a heartland football state. It shouldn’t need a “champion” but it does. Someone willing to be brave and take a decision to seriously consider a complete plan for Tasmanian football. It needs a date, not futuristic platitudes. Words spoken in 1990 such as, “that there was a genuine prospect of Tasmania having a team in the national competition in the near future —1995 is a date by which we’ d be realistically looking at Tasmania joining” (Alan Schwab) are condescending and serve no purpose but to try and put the“genie back in the bottle ”.

Nearly every AFL leader since Alan has acknowledged that Tasmania should have a team and that they can see a horizon when that happens.

True leadership goes beyond the horizon to look around the corner. Put a line in the sand and work towards making it happen.

A year-long commitment by the taskforce means we have done all that is in our power to do. We step away knowing we debunked the myths and clearly demonstrated that Tasmania is capable of funding its own AFL team and that 64,000 people or more have pledged to support it.

There remains a window of opportunity here. I believe if this were a pure investment it would be oversubscribed. Tasmania has come a long way in the 30 years since this issue first surfaced. It is a travesty that it didn’ t happen long ago.

The business case stacked up. Tasmania must haveit sown team–fullstop.

Brett Godfrey