PROVIDING the state's top football talent with a pathway to the AFL will be the biggest challenge facing Tasmanian administrators.
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With money being pumped into developing players from New South Wales and Queensland, AFL Tasmania chief executive Scott Wade said Tasmania and the Northern Territory must ensure that their programs were top-class to compete.
"We've had an enormous challenge that we've had to face over the last decade and we will absolutely have to face it over the next decade," he said.
"It is a big challenge and we have limited resources.
"At times people have a little bit of a slap at AFL Tasmania about being focused on the elite.
"We have an obligation to provide the best talent pathway for our most talented young players in Tasmania to get drafted to the AFL, so we don't apologise for investing heavily in talent."
Wade said regional and junior clubs must get better at encouraging their best players to challenge themselves at the highest level - the state league.
"That is when the state league has done an enormous job to help us provide that pathway," he said.
"If you are a young fella and have aspirations of playing in the AFL, you have to play state league footy as it is the only way you are going to get drafted."
