Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd believes the inclusion of a 19th team into the league will cause unbridled chaos among the AFL.
The goalkicking superstar issued his prediction after listening to AFL chief Gillon McLachlan during his press conference from Tasmania.
McLachlan said it was imperative that the incoming team be set up for “immediate success” while also looking to limiting the impact that would have on the rest of the league.
Watch every match of every round of the 2023 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
“Personally, I don’t see how you get both,” Lloyd said on Nine’s Footy Classified on Wednesday night.
“He’s saying limit the damage on the other clubs.
“We’re used to Gold Coast and Giants winning two or three game in their first year.
“If we want to get (Tasmania) up to six to 10 on the ladder, well that’s going to be carnage, I reckon, for the other teams.
“It’s critical now what these list bosses do over the next five years to set themselves up to get through that period.”
The AFL’s two newest teams both struggled mightily in their first season in the league with both the Gold Coast Suns and GWS Giants winning the wooden spoon.
In their inaugural seasons the teams were handed 19 of the first 27 players selected in the 2010 and 2011 drafts.
Geelong great Jimmy Bartel, who’s now a GWS board member, said the league must put solid plans in place and stick by them.
“We can’t have a situation if (Tasmania) do really well early that then we have vocal clubs come out and go, ‘We’ve got to take it back off them’, because what ends up happening is we end up coming back to it and then we create a 10-year, 12-year problem,” Bartel said.
“If it’s a strict five years, well every club can plan around that five years and (Tasmania) can be well and truly on their way.”
The Age reports the pending club will, under draft plans, receive fewer priority picks than fellow expansion sides Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney.
In addition, the league wants the side to be competitive in its opening year, so a heavier focus on experienced players is also expected.
The draft plan, according to the report, would see four or five first-round picks given to Tasmania in the 2027, 2028 and 2029 national drafts.
Of those picks, the club would be required to trade two each draft to bring in experienced players.
Should one or both of those picks not be traded, it would roll into the following season as an additional selection.
How ‘cleverly constructed’ Tas plan won | 04:07
Additionally the new club is expected to be granted an additional $1 million outside of the salary cap to try and lure big name players.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said on Wednesday he was confident Tasmania’s opening years in the league would be smoother than the Suns and Giants, given the lessons learned from both of those builds.
“I think we’ve learned a lot about list builds and how we do that work to ensure, I think, probably more immediate success rather than longer term success,” he said on Wednesday.
“I think that we have tools and free agency and a lot, we learned a lot about actually how you do that while limiting the impact on the rest of the competition.
“Then in the end, like in our heavily regulated, equalised game, there’ll be the right people in the right spots making the right decisions.
“I think we will, reasonably quickly and with the support of the clubs, get a set of rules to put the squad together. It’ll be good decision making after that.”
Tasmania’s AFL team will enter the competition in 2028.
