Tasmania's quest for inclusion in the AFL was meant to be decided by a vote of club presidents late last season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Some six months on, the bid for the league's 19th licence sits in a holding pattern as the federal government mulls whether to cough up funds for a contentious $715 million new stadium.
The project on Hobart's waterfront appears the final sticking point, with AFL boss Gillon McLachlan unmoved on the league's stance that a team cannot exist without it.
"If you're going to have a team in Tasmania, you can't limp into it," he told AAP.
"We moved out of our suburban venues a long time ago."
The Macquarie Point roofed stadium requires a $240 million contribution from the federal Labor government, which is assessing the project's merits ahead of its May budget.
The state Liberal government has pledged $375 million and is trumpeting the stadium, and surrounding infrastructure, as an entertainment precinct game-changer.
But many have questioned whether it is the right priority for Tasmania, amid a cost-of-living crisis and with essential services stretched.
The state Labor opposition and Greens are opposed, as are 10 Tasmanian federal parliamentarians, including Liberal MPs, who signed a letter urging the league to say yes to a team without a new stadium.
"Tasmania is one of the founding football states and has a long history of making rich contributions to the national game," it read.
"We deserve a team of our own without having to make taxpayers pay for a stadium - something no other state has had to do to get a team."
RSL Tasmania is against the stadium location, saying it will overshadow the nearby cenotaph.
Former Geelong president Colin Carter, who produced a report in July 2021 into the viability of a Tasmanian club, at the time said a team shouldn't be contingent on a new stadium.
McLachlan acknowledged criticism at a recent business lunch in Hobart, noting the redeveloped Adelaide Oval and Perth's 60,000-seat stadium got off the ground despite opposition.
Plans were first raised by former premier Peter Gutwein in March last year, about a month before he retired from politics.
He described the stadium as an "aspirational vision" for the state's sporting future.
The state government claims the infrastructure will draw at least 44 events a year and create 950 jobs per annum during its operation.
Eight AFL matches are currently held in Tasmania per season, four at Hobart's Blundstone Arena and four at University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston.
The state government says a standalone side would play four games a year at University of Tasmania Stadium, which is slated to undergo upgrades.
Under a 23-game home-and-away season, that would mean seven fixtures at a new facility.
It has long been argued a side in Tasmania, which has produced champions of the game such as Peter Hudson, Alastair Lynch and Matthew Richardson, would be a fillip to community football.
Glenorchy, a club that has claimed 17 premierships since being founded in 1919, was left scratching to field a state league side this season.
The AFL in February announced it would pour $360 million into a Tasmanian franchise across a decade, including money for grassroots football and talent academies.
The league says it will chip in $15 million towards the stadium, but hasn't ruled out increasing the figure.
McLachlan says he is neither "confident or not confident" about the federal government providing stadium funding.
"I'm just trying to make sure that we prosecute the case and work towards delivering a precinct that's more than football," he said.
"I feel confident about what we'll deliver as a game, but if we can have a project that actually delivers beyond that, I know that's the right decision."
Australian Associated Press
