It’s about when, not if, for Tassie

I AM confused over why, years down the track, Mr McLachlan hasn’t grasped two very basic aspects of footy. Firstly, football belongs to the people, not to the AFL. Secondly, it’s not about whether or if Tassie acquires its own team, it’s about when. In the obvious absence of this knowledge, and of a feeling for the spirit of the game, the only possible outcome seems already set in stone. Mr McLachlan, if it’s within you, would you, please, muster the grace, courage and decency to say, No? David Dyson

Bothwell

VIDEO MARKETING

I AM encouraged as an avid footy supporter by the Premier’s strong and necessary stand against the AFL’s disrespect. Our game is dying a slow death here as players continually leave for opportunities in mainland leagues, while the AFL pour’s millions into the larger states and props up non-profitable Victorian teams. We need to take this fight to sports-loving fans nationwide. Perhaps we could produce a video depicting our past history, player highlights and achievements, a video which would gather support from all fair-minded sports fans nationally. Go Devils. Wayne L. Cooley

Bellerive

IT WILL NOT WORK

TASMANIA cannot afford its own AFL team and it’s obvious the AFL will never pay for it like it has the Gold Coast and GWS. If Premier Gutwein does carry out his threat about Hawthorn and North Melbourne, the only thing it will achieve is hurting Hawthorn and North Melbourne fans, and fans of other visiting teams, and Tasmania’s economy.

Stop being pig-headed Premier and stop trying to stuff up something that has worked for years, it has worked better at York Park than at Bellerive, but it has worked, so leave it alone.

Mick Leppard

Invermay

ONYA MR GUTWEIN

I MUST take issue with reader Peter Hill’s comment (Letters, February 20) that if Gil McLachlan has an understanding of Tasmanian politics, he’ll call the Premier’s bluff and refuse to commit the AFL to a timeline for a Tasmanian team. Mr Hill goes on to say there is no way the Premier will go to an election having told electors that the Liberals will not fund any further AFL football in this state .

I beg to differ. Irrespective of what Mr McLachlan knows about Tasmanian politics, he and his team of highly paid professionals will be astute enough to realise the Premier and his AFL taskforce are fair dinkum, and if the Premier backed down from his either/or statement to the AFL, that that will have a far greater impact on his Government’s re-election prospects than if he rolled over to the continuing disrespect from the AFL. In short , Tasmania has had enough. And the Premier has made that clear.

Mr McLachlan did a good job keeping the season alive last year, now he needs to do something in respect of this issue. And do it now.

Peter Williams Sandy Bay

PLENTY OF REASONS

I AM suspicious of the sudden flurry of advocacy from our Premier and the Mercury for a Tasmanian AFL team. Is it a means to maintain his present high public acceptance before a snap election and before some nasties arise from the long delay in fully revealing political donations at election time?

All we’ve had recently is an unconvincing offer.

We would need a population of at least one million for a Tasmanian AFL team. Better still, a million in the South and a million in the North, with industries and business enterprises large enough to provide employment for players and club sponsorship.

We would need vibrant competitions in each of the football zones of the state, capable of producing young players to be picked at AFL draft level. Count up how many players Tasmania has provided into the AFL in the past few years without counting the few — like Howe, Mihocek and Brown — who did it off their own bat through the VFL.

Look at the attendance at current games in Tasmania. Newspapers now don’t include these statistics but, from my experience, few state league games would attract more than a thousand. The days of 25,000 at a southern TFL grand final are long gone. What would we get? Eleven home games a year spread five to Hobart, five to Launceston, with the North-West Coast thrown an inducement of one game to avoid the parochial argument between South and North. Say 20 per cent of southern supporters may attend northern games as they’ve done for Hawthorn but I guess a smaller percentage of northern supporters would come South. That means one home game every few weeks. That’s testing the keenness and loyalty.

The great risk is to repeat the Gold Coast experience or worse. Count up the top players who stayed two or three years, went home to Mum or friends and now are stars in their new club. Brisbane copped it and Greater Western Sydney is copping it now.

If my gestimate of 15 is right, if the present Tasmanian-born players in the AFL were to return where would the other 30 come from?

After the Gold Coast experience, the AFL gave about 13 top draft picks to the GWS in their first draft. Look at the stars they’ve lost in the past three years. If we are given, say 15, where are the other 15 coming from? Locals who have never experienced AFL standards or delisted from AFL clubs or elsewhere?

The standard, and hence the appeal of Tasmanian football, began to decline when schools handed over responsibility of junior football to clubs in the early 1980s ... but that’s another story.

Doug Cole West Hobart