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.
