On November 16, Booker prize-winning author Richard Flanagan stood in front of about 300 Tasmanians in Hobart’s Town Hall for a meeting of the Planning Matters Alliance and described the push for a new stadium at Macquarie Point as a “shamful con job”.
He is not alone in his opposition, with prominent and influential politician Andrew Wilkie in his corner along with the state branch of the ALP and the Greens.
It is this proposed 23,000 seat stadium that stands between a 19th licence for a standalone team in Tasmania and another failed push, probably the last to bring the football state into the national competition.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan. The league has reached a commercial agreement with Tasmania about a 19th team, but it still hinges on a stadium.Credit:Getty Images
Two days after Flanagan’s impassioned presentation, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan and Premier Jeremy Rockliff informed reporters that the commercial terms of the state funding that underpins the bid had been agreed to with $144 million committed over 12 years to the team and $60 million promised for a high-performance centre. Hawthorn and North Melbourne’s contracts were also extended.
All that was needed was a stadium, and with significant goodwill towards a standalone Tasmanian team entering the AFL, the implication was that all was in readiness.
The AFL has done its job, successfully making the bid contingent on a stadium, a condition the league says was always made clear to the government but only became part of the public discourse when former premier Peter Gutwein put forward the idea for a $750 million stadium at Regatta Point in March.
A new stadium was not an essential part of the business case that Colin Carter evaluated and ticked off in 2021 and those who were part of the business case say a new stadium was considered aspirational rather than vital.
The AFL remains adamant the government knew it was essential and, in reality, it was needed to get club support with clubs impressed when they were given details in October relating to the Tasmanian team’s entry.
By September, after discussions with the AFL, the recommended stadium site shifted like a southerly from Regatta to Macquarie Point and the government, now under a new premier after the forceful Gutwein retired, had pledged $375 million towards building it.
Federal funding was assumed, but an application for this is yet to be made and there is no rush for Anthony Albanese’s government to stump up such a huge amount of money up with the election cycle at least a year away, particularly to help a Liberal premier.
Hawthorn have made Launceston their home away from home for 20 years.Credit:Getty
That’s not all. Tasmania’s Labor Party and the Greens are using the stadium as a political tool to highlight apparent shortfalls in funding for health and education. It was not an argument lost on Flanagan. Even Liberal senator Jonathon Duniam has described the stadium as an unfair demand. Rockliff says the project won’t affect funding for health and education.
The fact the redevelopment of Macquarie Point has been a site of debate for about a decade hasn’t helped people’s moods.
That is understandable. The licence is being held as a bargaining chip until the federal government examines the proposal and private equity is sought.
But it’s becoming messier than anyone hoped despite the spruiking that followed the commercial agreement.
Sources with expertise in stadium management say the hope that 44 events will be held in Hobart per year is a dream rather than based in reality. With 11 AFL games the only guarantee, the hope is A-League, cricket, NRL, rugby union games and concerts will make up the balance. But that won’t happen for a long time.
The Tasmanian people deserve to know the stadium will be an ongoing cost for the state once the gates are opened. That means annual costs beyond the $579 million already pledged to get the licence and run the team for 12 years.
The stadium will create jobs, help attract and retain AFL players, bring sporting tourists to Hobart, potentially diversify the economy as the surrounding area is enlivened with businesses, and help brand the team. But already any broader benefits beyond the AFL ultimatum are being lost, embroiling the league in a political debate.
Speaking of attracting and retaining players, talent is not flowing through Tasmania into the AFL like the Franklin River. Only a dozen players from the state were among the 886 who nominated themselves for this year’s AFL national draft.
Three of the crop, Lachlan Cowman, Brandon Leary and Seth Campbell, are considered serious chances to join the 24 Tasmanians already on AFL lists.
Three Tasmanian male players are also in the AIS/AFL Academy in 2023. One of the trio, Ryley Sanders, goes to school in Melbourne and plays for the Sandringham Dragons. The pathways have improved with a representative team playing Queensland in 2023, but the work ahead is significant, particularly with the NBL’s presence through the JackJumpers.
The Tasmanian State League licence, a competition that relies on AFL funding, expires at the end of 2023, creating uncertainty for member clubs and their players. They cannot offer players more than one-season contracts or guarantee sponsors that things will be the same beyond 2023.
The reality remains that promising male players head to the SANFL or other state-based competitions to advance their careers rather than sticking around to play in the Tasmanian State League. They may be noticed now in Tasmania, but is their football developing as quickly as it would on the mainland?
Sources at Tasmanian State League clubs say because of the delays, AFL Tasmania has been unable to give them much indication about what foundations are being laid to rebuild the game at community level. That is making life difficult for the game’s ecosystem, the very thing the AFL appointed itself to protect and foster when it anointed itself keepers of the code.
Of course, a new team will eventually help foster participation and should regenerate community football in Tasmania, but confidence in the framework underpinning an AFL team, such as the ones existing in NSW and Queensland with academies and investment in junior development, are critical, too.
People in the north of Tasmania are also wary of the pull towards Hobart the stadium will create.
Launceston’s University of Tasmania Stadium is as good a football venue as others in the country (it hosted two finals in 2021) and has received $65 million to put in a few thousand extra seats and give it a spit and polish. The premier has stated that the number of AFL games to be played there by the Tasmanian team once the Hobart stadium is built will remain at four. The AFL’s co-operation with fixturing will be required to keep that promise.
Rockliff has spruiked AFLW, VFL and the odd other game in that part of the state, but it’s unclear whether that will satisfy those up north, who need to be prepared to travel and jump on board any standalone team.
Most want an AFL team in Tasmania, whether living in the state or on the mainland.
But many Tasmanians still need plenty of convincing that making the licence conditional on a stadium is necessary.
The AFL knows it can’t ignore growing frustration at the grassroots.
“Every change that we make in the AFL has people who have different views and I would ask them to look at the bigger picture. It’s our obligation to lead,” McLachlan said.
Tasmanians who love football need to be brought along for the ride. Establish a framework outlining locals who could be on the board, find another ambassador now that Alastair Clarkson is otherwise employed, reveal details of how the list would be built and membership options.
Then, bring some romance to the idea. Stop telling Tasmanians what the AFL can do for them and articulate what a Tasmanian team can do for the national competition.
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