THE proposal for a second Tasmanian VFL team based in Launceston was dealt a major blow yesterday when AFL Tasmania refused to back the plan.
Football Victoria would only give the green light to the Northern Bombers' proposal to enter a second Tasmanian side in the VFL in 2007 if AFL Tasmania supported it. But AFL Tasmania's general manager Scott Wade said yesterday a second Tasmanian VFL team could do more harm than good.
"There is no way in the world AFL Tasmania would support it if it was going to have a detrimental effect on the Devils," Wade said.
"We've worked hard to get the Devils to the point they are now, and we're still not up with the best teams in the competition.
"What we are going to do is work enormously hard over the next two years to get the team to the stage where it
can win a VFL premiership.
"If we had two teams from Tassie, they simply could not compete at this level of competition.
"One would finish last and the other would finish second last."
Despite Wade's comments, Northern Bombers president Reg Lyons said yesterday his club had received "very positive" feedback from AFL Tasmania.
"I'd say we're a 50-50 chance to get it off the ground at this stage -- you've got to be a realist," Lyons said.
"They [AFL Tasmania] can see they've got problems out of the North with the Devils.
"This will show whether they think of the North as much as they think of the South.
"It's up to them to stand up and be counted."
The Bombers have proposed to win the rights to a VFL licence for their governing entity, the North Launceston Football Club.
The Launceston club would run the VFL structure, relying on Tasmania's northern teams to provide the players, as well as recruiting others from interstate.
VFL boss Ken Gannon said all implications of the proposal would be explored.
"[These include] issues such as the fact that the VFL is a Victorian competition, and the one Tasmanian team currently in the competition was approved by the Football Victoria board to assist Tasmanian football generally after the demise of their Statewide League in 2000,"
Gannon said.
"The other major hurdle will be the costs involved in flying [Victorian] teams over and back each week.
"These costs will be double what it currently costs AFL Tasmania.
"That expense would need to be funded."
He said the Northern Bombers' proposal would be discussed at the VFL's next board meeting on October 4.
By James Bresnehan
Last Modified on 23/09/2005 10:14