Politicians taking a punt on a Tasmanian AFL team: a history

But now it has a paddock before it with the big sticks firmly in sight.

The state's rich football history and undying love for Australia's indigenous game have prompted numerous attempts to convince the AFL to grant Tasmania inclusion in the national competition.

It's only in the last year that momentum has built to a point where our entry into the league is starting to look realistic.

The word is that the Tasmanian government won't renew Hawthorn and North Melbourne's deals to each play four games annually in Launceston and Hobart, respectively, when they expire in 2021.

It hasn't always been so optimistic, though. For more than 20 years, numerous Tasmanian politicians have led the charge for a standalone team, only for the AFL to smother the ball at the goal line.

Tasmanian Sport Minister Peter Hodgman, the uncle of current Premier Will Hodgman, spoke to the AFL 25 years ago to raise the possibility of a Tasmanian team being introduced in the competition. He suggested it could receive state funding.

Spokespeople for the existing AFL clubs were contacted by media at the time, saying they didn't support further league expansion but that if a vacancy emerged, a second Adelaide team should be the priority.

The political appetite for pursuing a bid for a standalone AFL team suffered a body blow. It wasn't until the late-2000s that the hunger returned.

Australia was in the initial throes of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. This was also the year the Gold Coast Suns and the Greater Western Sydney Giants were given their entree to the AFL, registering as the league's two newest clubs.

The Senate's Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee formed an inquiry into the potential establishment of a Tasmanian team in the AFL. The committee included Tasmanian senators Christine Milne and Kerry O'Brien.

Premier Paul Lennon's government-led push for a Tasmanian team was launched in 2008, as well, leading to a highly publicised meeting between Lennon, state Sport Minister Paula Wriedt and then AFL boss Andrew Demetriou at AFL House in Melbourne.

With a media scrum following them to the doors, Lennon and Wriedt got inside, only to be made to wait for 15 minutes before being summoned for the meeting.

TIME TO DECIDE:

Wreidt told The Age four years later that she'd "never seen anyone speak to a premier like he [Demetriou] spoke to Paul Lennon".

''[It was] to the point of actual bad manners," she said.

But the state bid got a big boost when confectionery giant Mars committed to being the major sponsor for a prospective Tasmanian team, pledging $4 million if the bid was successful.

A clip was shown on The Footy Show of Wriedt discussing the Mars commitment, leading controversial co-host Sam Newman to make a crude and sexist remark about the minister.

Wriedt was unsurprisingly incensed by the comment, labelling it "stupid and inappropriate". Newman phoned Wriedt to apologise.

In 2009, the Senate committee produced its final report, noting that the committee "recognises that a Tasmanian side in the AFL would bring enormous economic, social and cultural benefits to the state, as well as rewarding Tasmania's strong support for Australian Rules football for more than 100 years".

"There are cultural barriers facing a Western Sydney-based AFL team that appear to be insurmountable," the report read.

Despite the committee's findings, Tasmania was once again made to wait.

Hawthorn's era of dominance was at its peak when then deputy chief executive of the AFL Gillon McLachlan expressed his support for "a single team representing Tasmania", saying the state would be the next cab off the rank to get a team but clarifying that it would be at least 10 years before the dream was realised.

A bizarre stoush between Premier Hodgman and Gold Coast Suns president Tony Cochrane erupted in April 2017 after Hodgman said the state government would be willing for the Suns to relocate to Tasmania should the club fail in Queensland.

This provoked Cochrane to say: "The only thing Tasmania has over the Gold Coast is unemployment".

The Premier shot back a retort via Twitter: "Qld unemployment 6.4%; Tas 5.8%. Tassie more natural tourism awards than Qld. You employ a Tasmanian [Rodney Eade] as your coach."

Later that year, the North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos were awarded a licence for an AFLW team - the product of a partnership between North Melbourne Football Club and the state government.

This was when everything started to come together.

Former federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten pledged $25 million for a Tasmanian AFL team in the lead-up to the election - a proposal the Liberals didn't match.

Meanwhile, in February this year, the Football Tasmania Board was created, to be chaired by ex-Legislative Council president Jim Wilkinson.

The Premier said the board would "work to unite and strengthen football in the state".

A month later, state Treasurer Peter Gutwein told The Age's Caroline Wilson that "the time is right" for a Tasmanian AFL team.

"It's no longer a matter of if but when," he said. "In my view this should occur in the next five to seven years."

All this momentum was arrested somewhat when the federal election campaign commenced.

The Liberals stoked parochial divisions in undermining Shorten's funding pledge, saying the money would just be going towards "a team for Hobart".

Tasmanian footballing great Rodney Eade said these tactics would only hurt Tasmania's chances of getting a team.

In addition to the Football Tasmania Board, a state football taskforce was formed this year, with co-founder of Virgin Australia Airlines Brett Godfrey serving as chairman.

The purpose of the taskforce is to forge a path to an AFL licence for Tasmania.

Just this month, The Age reported that the taskforce was likely to apply for a provisional AFL licence before the end of the year.

There's still considerable time left on the clock before the siren's due to sound but Tasmania is looking strong at the contest in its bid for an AFL team.

As long as we don't get the 'Colliwobbles' at the crucial moment.

The Examiner