Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sent a clear message to AFL teams hesitating over the introduction of a Tasmanian team after announcing a $240 million funding package for a new stadium in Hobart.
Albanese made the announcement on Saturday in what was deemed “the last piece of 11 workstreams” required by the AFL to make the dream of a 19th team in Tasmania a reality.
With the funding confirmed, the AFL will now formally go to its 18 clubs hoping to receive support for a Tasmanian team.
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For any teams hesitating on Tasmania’s inclusion, Albanese’s message was simple.
“I’d say get on board,” he told SEN.
“This will make AFL stronger as a code, it will make the competition truly national and if they think about all the players from their clubs who have come from Tasmania – and there wouldn’t be a club in the AFL (without someone from Tasmania).
“This is about always going forward, always becoming bigger in terms of vision. If you’re not going forward, someone will be running past you, so this is an opportunity to move the game forward, and I’d encourage the presidents, I’m very confident that they will support Tasmania having the 19th team.”
Hawthorn, which regularly plays games in the Apple Isle every season, welcomed the funding package.
“We are thrilled for the people of Tasmania. This stadium promises to be a world-class venue, but more importantly it is the next piece of the puzzle in deservedly giving Tasmanians an AFL team to call their own,” Hawks CEO Justin Reeves said in a statement.
“Given Hawthorn’s ties to Tasmania, we know first-hand the amount of work that has been put in to secure a 19th license and intimately understand the benefits it will provide the state.”
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said an official call on a Tasmanian team would be made “in the coming days” after Albanese’s announcement.
“For a club to compete and succeed on the national stage, it needs a home that enables and empowers it to compete from the start, on and off the field, and today’s announcement gives a potential Tasmanian club that opportunity,” he said in a statement.
“It is why so much work has been done between the AFL and the Tasmanian state government to ensure not just a team for Tasmania but a destination club, playing in a destination stadium, in a destination state.
“The stadium at Mac Point is the final workstream, with the question on a 19th licence to be answered in the coming days.”
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