In a highly significant development for the battle over the game in Tasmania it has emerged that the AFL and its state body are pushing the Kangaroos to more strongly identify with the struggling heartland state and that North is open to the name change depending on the funding model.

But Hawthorn has thrown a curve ball into the women's licence bidding by including a strong Tasmanian component in its presentation to be put to the AFL on Thursday.

This is understood to have raised some eyebrows at head office and foreshadowed the looming battle between the two clubs over home games in the most southern state.

North Melbourne chief executive Carl Dilena, whose club will also present to the AFL on Thursday, confirmed talks regarding the Tasmanian Kangaroos, adding that North's bid involved not just an even split of games in Hobart and Launceston but a commitment to the development of women's talent across the state.

Of the name change for a women's team, Dilena said: "That's come up in discussions but nothing has been formalised or agreed to yet. We are looking at a suite of ideas as to how we can make an impact in Tasmania.

"If we are successful in winning a licence there are a number of options and a lot will depend on the partnership going forward and the joint venture approach."

North would play half its women's home games in Tasmania and the other half at Arden Street.

The Hawthorn bid, which includes a plan to play some women's games at the Hawks' second home ground in Launceston, comes at a highly sensitive time for the future of the game in Tasmania with the AFL working behind the scenes to endorse the Kangaroos as the league's only Tasmanian club.

Both clubs have received a letter of endorsement from Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman, but only North's bid has been presented as a potential joint venture with AFL Tasmania. The AFL, whose chief Gillon McLachlan has stressed his preference for a one-team model, underlined that preference when it handed the Kangaroos the entire state last year as part of its multicultural development academy.

Hawthorn, which did not bid for a women's licence the first time around, is aware and highly concerned regarding the AFL's intentions regarding North and Tasmania. But the Hawks still have four years to run on their highly lucrative four-game-a-year agreement with the Tasmanian state government and Launceston's University of Tasmania Stadium.

North's three-game-a-year deal with Hobart's Blundstone Arena also runs until 2021, but the onus has been placed on that club to push its presence across the state in working to develop the talent pool, which has dried up to devastating proportions in recent years.

This is despite millions of dollars of sponsorship money poured into Hawthorn by the state government since the Hawks first played in Tasmania in 2001. The most recent five-year deal is worth $20 million.

Even the most optimistic forecasts have just three and potentially only one Tasmanian draftee in the 2017 draft.

Andrew Dillon, who has replaced Simon Lethlean at the football helm of the AFL, joined a committee including commissioner Jason Ball, follow executives Travis Auld, Sarah Fair and Tanya Hosch along with AFL Women's boss Josh Vanderloo to hear the eight club presentations this week.

Six of those will come from Victorian clubs – also including Essendon, Geelong, Richmond and St Kilda – along with Gold Coast and West Coast.

Dillon on Tuesday said the commission would grant the new licences at the end of next month to join the eight existing teams in 2019. He said the competition was open to admitting all eight bidders and as few as just two.

Only Hawthorn, Gold Coast and Essendon do not hold provisional licences, having not bid previously.