After all, that's what people really care about it, isn't it?

There are more reporters and bloggers covering AFL alone than politics.

In high school, I set my sights on becoming a sports reporter and did work experience at the Herald Sun's sports department.

It was there I discovered that to be a successful sports reporter, you must play golf. The best access journalists got to footy stars was on the golf course.

Imagine how much you'd learn in 18 holes, compared with a staged media conference.

Unfortunately, I made little progress during 10 weeks of golf lessons for beginners and decided to change tack.

As it turns out there's not as much difference between a back page story and the front section where my byline usually sits.

AFL boss-in-waiting Gillon McLachlan was in town to announce a change in governance of the game in Tasmania.

There was a media release explaining the new structure with more spin and meaningless management speak than anything the government media unit could produce.

And like many media conferences, the subject of the statement was just an excuse to front up and ask about what Tasmanians really wanted to know.

In this case, the chances of Tasmania finally getting its own team in the national competition. It's an issue that has been dragging for almost as long as the forestry wars with seemingly as many twists and turns.

Like a true media-trained politician, McLachlan was vague - "Tasmania's [an] incredibly important part of our national view of football" - and difficult to pin down.

But he gave just enough to keep Tasmanians hanging on, touting his preference for a single team to represent the state and urging the locals to get over the North-South rivalry.

McLachlan's responses were designed to placate the masses of Tasmanian fans, whose wallets the AFL has happily plundered for years.

That's part of the problem - there's little financial incentive for the AFL to admit a Tasmanian club when it already reaps millions from the state.

No doubt the game and politics will collide more and more as we get closer to the 2024-26 now-or- never period and there will be equally as many stories about it in the front news pages as the back.

The administrators of the game are yet to meet with the new government but it is inevitable they will have many discussions over the coming years about potential taxpayer support required to make work whatever option is chosen for the state.

What's clear is that nothing dramatic will happen for a decade, more realistically at least 12 years.

And nothing is certain. More games will be played in the state in the meantime with the Kangaroos most likely to play three games in Hobart next year. Beyond that, McLachlan had few answers.

Why is it so difficult for the AFL to spell out its plan for footy in Tasmania?

Unlike politicians who can be turfed out every four years, the AFL has no excuse to eschew long- term planning. Sure, it's complicated and will involve careful negotiations with clubs but keeping all options open just adds to the confusion.

To keep everyone guessing is unfair to the clubs that already play here, the clubs that are often mentioned as possibly relocating permanently across Bass Strait, and, more importantly, Tasmanian footy fans.

Ten years is not such a long time if the end result involves setting up a new club.

If the AFL is serious about rewarding footy-mad Tasmania with its own team, it should commit soon to give it the best chance of success.

Just give Tasmanian footy fans a straight answer.

If not a team of their own, they deserve that.