Sunday finale locked

TSL schedule agreed

A FINAL four, and a Sunday grand final at North Hobart Oval if it is in the south, has been locked in by AFL Tasmania for next year’s TSL. At an operations meeting in Campbell Town, the clubs were told of the amendments for the 2020 season, with the TSL fixture to be released officially next week. TSL general manager Carl Saunder said the move to North Hobart — should a southern team qualify for the grand final first — was due to Blundstone Arena being out of action while preparing for the ICC T20 World Cup, but left the door open for it becoming a regular occurrence. “It is certainly something that if it eventuates and it is held at North Hobart Oval we will see how it goes and see if it is successful and see if it is something we want to continue on with,” Saunder said. “It is a bit like the Sunday grand final, it is an opportunity to try something different and we will make an assessment like we do at the end of every year about what works and what doesn’t and if change needs to be aide we’ll consider it.” There was some opposition to the move to a Sunday, led by the grand finalists of the past three years, North Launceston and Lauderdale, over the loss of family days and other club functions of the Sunday after the traditional Saturday grand final start. “That was certainly noted and we understand that,” Saunder said. “But this is an opportunity to trial that and it will be interesting to see how that impacts on clubs and their ability to generate that revenue with the grand final now being played on a Sunday.” Saunder said research on the TSL since its introduction in 2009 showed only two fifthplaced teams had won an elimination final making it an easy decision to move from a topfive to a top-four in the seventeam league. “We just think that is appropriate for a seven-team competition that the top four qualify for essentially what we play for for 21 weeks,” he said. The negative feedback to the changes wasn’t universal though, with North Hobart president Craig Martin welcoming the move to a Sunday final and a top-four. “I’m happy with both to be honest,” Martin said. “If it gives us the best chance of getting a really good crowd. “If you’ve got he combination of a Sunday grand final that doesn’t clash with other grand finals like the Old Scholars and doesn’t clash with an AFL preliminary final and it is a southern grand final at North Hobart Oval, then I think you’ve got a really good chance to have a great crowd. “I know some of my colleagues don’t agree with that, but that is certainly my view.”