TASMANIAN Devils captain Ben Beams said yesterday Kangaroos who played for his team under a partial alliance in the VFL next season would be told to perform like Devils.
Beams and Justin Plapp gave the proposed alliance their blessing yesterday when they signed on for another two seasons.
The skipper supports the alliance, but said Kangaroo players would not be passengers in the passionate "green machine".
"They're going to come here and be expected to play the way we play
- to our game plan, they've got to go at the ball as hard as anyone else, and that's what they'll be told from the start," Beams said.
The Kangaroos have been told the Devils would accept a maximum of six players from the AFL club per round.
Beams hopes the inclusion of the "outsiders" does not deter fringe Devils, particularly those from the state's North, from staying in the VFL program.
"We are a Tasmanian team and we get into this North versus South thing, it's one of my bugbears," Beams said. "Plappy and I both came down to Hobart because we wanted to be successful footballers.
"If you want to do something bad enough you'll do it.
"This is the capital city, we're a Tasmanian team, I'm from Launceston, he's from Penguin, we're Tasmanians as far as I'm concerned, and hopefully the other guys see it as that and a greater challenge to come and play for the Devils."
Plapp believes a Kangaroos top-up will deliver the Devils greater finals opportunities.
"That's the idea that appeals to me most," he said.
"The next couple of years are pretty exciting because it's going to give me the opportunity to go that step further and play in a grand final side, hopefully.
"That's what the big picture is.
"Being 28, time is running out for me to do that, and to play in a grand final with your state, even under an alignment, is pretty exciting."
The Devils met with Kangaroos officials in Melbourne last week to negotiate the deal.
Devils president Guy Abel said yesterday the club's identity would remain 100 per cent intact, and that was non-negotiable.
He said over the next week the club would consult with its players, members and major stake holders about the partial alliance.
But Abel said a flood of objections would not necessarily stop it from going ahead.
"We are going through a consultation process and all of the groups that are important to the club and AFL Tasmania will be taken into account," he said.
By: JAMES BRESNEHAN
Last Modified on 18/10/2005 11:44