Tassie bid’s lifestyle lure

Environment key, says Saints’ great Riewoldt

ST KILDA legend Nick Riewoldt says a “unique” relaxed lifestyle in Tasmania and a central and welcoming club precinct will be the key to ensuring player retention at a new AFL club in the state.

Riewoldt, a member of the proposed team’s taskforce and proud Tasmanian, said any team would also have to closely engage local business to ensure players were embedded into the community and saw a post-football future in the Apple Isle.

In the AFL Licence Taskforce Business Plan 2019 aimed at bringing a Tasmanian team to the big league, Riewoldt also says the “football people” of the state would make sure the team succeeds, in contrast to fellow expansion side Gold Coast Suns, which is not in traditional football heartland.

The 336-game Saints star said Lance Franklin’s move from Hawthorn to Sydney at the end of 2013 showed lifestyle was important to players and a Tasmanian team had the ability to cash in on that.

“Buddy Franklin goes up to Sydney and he loves that life, which was dramatically different for him than playing in Melbourne,” Riewoldt said in the report.

“Yet playing for the Swans meant he was still part of something. That’s the issue for the boys on the Gold Coast, they’re not part of anything. Playing in front of a crowd that understands footy, it’s not a gimmick for them, they’re not theatre goers, they are football people. Tassie people are going to understand it. They’re going to support it.

“The Tasmanian experience is rare, it’s unique. Let’s say the footy club invests in a house at Orford, kits it out, puts sheds on it with boats. Hey boys, guess what? It’s stocked with everything, it’s full of fishing rods, it’s full of bait, it’s full of whatever. It’s not for everyone, but every state is not for everyone.”

Riewoldt said a Tasmanian team could take lessons from reigning premier Richmond and the environment it has created by being a stone’s throw away from its home ground at the MCG.

“I look at my cousin, Jack (Riewoldt). It is not the premierships I am most envious of, it’s the environment his club has built,” Riewoldt said.

“Play at the MCG, then walk over to Punt Rd, where family and friends, including kids, mums and dads, are waiting for you.

“If you are happy in your environment, it will reflect in the way you train and play.”

Riewoldt also highlighted the need for business to get behind a Tasmanian team and help provide “direction” for players.

“It’s much harder to walk away from somewhere if you have an interest in the community and local business, not just the footy club,” Riewoldt said.

The report also states that significantly lower cost of living expenses and the proximity to Melbourne would be other key factors for player retention.