MICHAEL Conlan, the Fitzroy powerhouse of the 1980s, will make a nostalgic return home to Devonport later in the year.
Conlan, the son of former Devonport Football Club captain-coach Neil Conlan, was born in Devonport and moved to Manuka in Canberra with his father as a youngster before being recruited to Fitzroy.
He has been approached to be the guest speaker at a special reunion being planned by the club.
The club is presently seeking interest among ex-players of a reunion of teams from 1961 till 1964.
Conlan was a mascot for the 1962 team which was coached by his father and beaten by Burnie in the NWFU grand final.
Conlan was recruited to Fitzroy in 1977 and went on to play 210 games for the Lions.
His final game was the 1989 reserves grand final win over Geelong.
After working for many years for a sportswear chain Conlan now runs his own consultancy business in Melbourne.
If it comes together the reunion is planned for July or August and the club is presently looking to form a committee to organise it.
Ling special guest
RETIRED Geelong premiership captain Cameron Ling is to be a special guest of the Devonport Tennis Club.
Ling has accepted a request to be guest speaker at an evening the club has organised at the Reece High School Community Centre on March 9.
The 30-year-old retired in October last year after leading the Cats to a 38-point win over Collingwood in the AFL grand final.
He had also played in premierships with Geelong in 2007 and 2009 and is a past best-and-fairest winner and All Australian.
Ling is one of the most popular footballers to have played with Geelong in recent years and is expected to extend his involvement with the media this year.
The function at Reece High School will involve a cost of $50 which includes finger food, musical entertainment, a memorabilia auction, raffle and lucky door prizes.
Tickets are available at the Devonport Book Shop and Sportfirst.
Ling will also be a guest of the Burnie Dockers at a coterie luncheon earlier in the day.
NTFL roster
THE NTFL executive will sign off on its 2012 roster later this week.
The league had given its six clubs an extra month to decide if they wanted to arrange any Sunday, night or twilight fixtures.
The 20-round roster is due to start on March 31 and the grand final is planned for September 15.
The season's launch will be held on Wednesday, March 21, and clubs are invited to show an expression of interest if they want to host the function.
It is understood the Smithton Football Club has already put its hand up.
Girdlestone games
THE East Devonport Football Club has made its Girdlestone Park ground available for a host of practice games during March.
With no cricket played at Girdlestone Park this year the ground has become a popular venue for clubs wanting pre-season games.
The action starts on March 11 with a game between State League clubs Burnie and South Launceston.
East Devonport will then play Lindisfarne on March 17 and the following day Devonport and Latrobe will do battle for the Devonport Challenge Cup.
East Devonport will then have an intra-club match on March 24 a week ahead of its first roster game against Penguin.
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