On a grey day in Hobart in 1990, Tasmania produced a performance so powerful the AFL’s “true believer” declared the Apple Isle would soon field a team in the national competition. Almost 33 years after the AFL’s executive commissioner Alan Schwab watched Tasmania defeat Victoria at North Hobart Oval, his prophecy will finally become a reality.
That win, which came 30 years after Tasmania first knocked off Victoria, prompted coach Robert Shaw to declare it time the AFL invested properly in the “dinky-die” footy state. A decades-long journey followed, full of shirtfronts, mongrel punts and flirtations with interstate teams, with Tasmania denied time and again.
Self-interest from the old guard threatened to scuttle the latest bid as well. But when it was revealed this week that the federal government will contribute the $240m to build a new stadium in Hobart at a cost exceeding $700m, the deal was finally won.
The existing 18 AFL clubs joined a telephone hook-up at 3pm on Friday for an update on the development. Tasmania will join the AFL. For a state with a remarkably rich football heritage, it seems milestone moments occur every three decades or so. None are more monumental than this for the Tasmanian men and women who have a chance to wear the state’s colours with pride.
The celebrations aside, Shaw pondered this week why the antipathy and indifference from the mainland had lasted for so long. “Is there another example anywhere in the world of a place that has had to scrap so hard, for so long, to secure a place at the top level of a sport they helped create?” he asked.
There is reason for joy for Tasmanians who, as author James Coventry wrote in his book Football-istics, count as footy fans a greater share of the population than any other state. They are fans who barracked for Clarence or Glenorchy, North Hobart or Launceston, but also followed St Kilda because of Darrel Baldock, the Hawks due to Peter Hudson, or Richmond because Matthew Richardson and Jack Riewoldt won their hearts.
They can celebrate knowing the next generation of Tasmanians will have the chance to support the Devils, or Tigers, or whatever nickname is decided on, along with their local club.
Richardson has “vivid memories” of attending Tasmania’s upset win at North Hobart Oval as a teenager alongside his dad, Alan, and a couple of friends. A member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Richardson feared a Tasmanian team would never show the state’s potential in the AFL.
What a jumper. Great day for Tasmania. She's on ❤️ pic.twitter.com/y5crvf8SXr
— Matthew Richardson (@mattricho0) April 28, 2023
“It always seemed like it was out of reach and never felt like it was going to happen, to me, but all of the sudden … it gained momentum, almost out of nowhere,” Richardson said. He hopes it leads to a resurgence of the sport in Tasmania when noting Devonport, the team he represented before joining Richmond, is among many clubs to have floundered in the state.
“We have finally got there. And I think it is really important for Tasmania,” he said. “There is no doubt footy has probably died a death by a thousand cuts, with not as many players coming through, or clubs folding, or not able to get players, for whatever reason.
“But I think with our own AFL team down there, if kids have some talent and want to pursue it, they can touch and feel it and I have no doubt it is going to help junior development there.”
Previous bids in the 1990s, when Adelaide, Fremantle and Port Adelaide joined the AFL, and the late 2000s, when northern expansion clubs Gold Coast and GWS were granted licences, came to nothing for Tasmania. But a passion described by triple-Coleman medallist and Hobart native Jack Riewoldt as intense remained despite the knock-backs.
Riewoldt has won three premierships with Richmond but said boyhood memories supporting Clarence are among his most treasured in footy and an example of that enthusiasm.
“Me and my brothers used to stay up the night before [grand finals] cutting up old newspapers … just so that we could throw confetti over the players when they ran out,” he said. “The butcher had red and white ribbons, the local newsagency had red and white stripes. There was this element of tribalism about it … that this is who we are.”
Shortly before becoming AFL chief executive in 2014, Gillon McLachlan said he supported a “single team representing Tasmania”. He has delivered in the latter stages of his tenure.
Critics say the money would be better spent on education and health. Hurdles remain, not least the historic divide between populations in the north and south of the state. But Richardson pointed to the success the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers have had in the NBL and has no doubt fans from major clubs like Richmond will flock to Hobart for games.
“It is important, even if you are a bit of a sceptic, to give it a chance, to stay united, to get behind it and not be negative about it,” he said. “I just think it will be massive for Tassie.”
