AFL chief executive Gillon McLachan announced the expansion of the national women’s competition on Wednesday with North Melbourne and Geelong joining for the 2019 season plus Gold Coast, West Coast, St Kilda and Richmond in 2020.
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North plans to brand its team the “Tassie Kangaroos” and play half of its home games in Tasmania.
The announcement was warmly welcomed in what The Age this week described as “the long-neglected football state” with AFL Tasmania describing it as “great news”.
It is hoped a semi-Tasmanian team will develop enough talent from the state to fill half its list, opening doors for the likes of Launceston’s Daria Bannister, Courtney Webb, Georgia Hill and Mia King who were all selected by the Allies this year.
At least two young Tasmanian players are expected to be drafted into the AFLW this year.
The Tasmanian Government has formed a partnership with North Melbourne involving an investment of $500,000 for each of the next five AFLW seasons.
The AFL has added that it is investing “significantly more” in the Tassie Kangaroos venture than to any other AFLW team.
As part of the deal, North Melbourne will also establish a permanent training base and grow its presence in Tasmania with the additional funding funnelled into all-girl Auskick centres, female youth competitions, coaching courses, expanded talent programs, intrastate games and promotions.
Kangaroos CEO Carl Dilena said the club’s submission “involved the state of Tasmania in a meaningful way”.
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He said North had led the way with its next generation academies in Tasmania boasting 29 percent of participants across all clubs.
“Now that we have the go ahead to form a team in the AFLW, we will finalise the exact details of our partnership (with the) Tasmanian Government and ensure maximum benefit to both North Melbourne and Tasmania.”
Premier Will Hodgman described the Tassie Kangaroos as a major step forward for football in the state.
“This will result in massive exposure for our state with the AFLW captivating more than 5.5 million TV viewers and more than 12 million online viewers,” he said.
“Our state has a strong history with the North Melbourne Football Club and this partnership strengthens it, giving our talented young female players an opportunity to increase their skills and competition levels.”
The arrival of North Melbourne and Geelong will take the AFLW to 10 clubs.
EARLIER:
The AFL has added North Melbourne and Geelong to the AFL Women's competition for 2019, with four more clubs to enter in 2020.
AFL chief Gillon McLachan announced the addition of North Melbourne and the Cats for the 2019 season, with Gold Coast, West Coast, St Kilda and Richmond to enter the AFLW in 2020.
Essendon and Hawthorn could receive licences for the 2021 season.
Tasmania had loomed as a big winner as the AFL prepares to expand the AFL Women's competition in readiness for 2019, with the long-neglected football state winning a national licence in a joint bid with North Melbourne.
The Tassie Kangaroos will be the first AFL team to officially carry ‘Tasmania’ in its name.
Half of the team’s home games will be played in the state, with a special Tassie Kangaroos guernsey to be worn during the games.
Geelong are the other hot favourite for a new licence after the commission reached a decision early on Monday. While the Cats remained unclear regarding their fate, the strength of the Geelong bid is understood to have enhanced the club's chances.
While head office has maintained its silence over the announcement scheduled for Wednesday, Fairfax Media understands the league could introduce as few as two new teams from 2019, with more clubs to be granted licences in 2020.
The AFL faces a strong backlash from a number of clubs should that be the case, with Richmond and St Kilda foreshadowing their strong disappointment after being left out of the inaugural eight-team AFLW and strongly pushing their cases after being granted provisional licences in 2016.
A successful North Melbourne-Tasmania bid would mean a hybrid team would play four games in each state with a view to ultimately developing enough talent in Tasmania to fill half the team with local players. At least two and potentially three young players are likely to be drafted into the women's team — more than are expected to be taken in the national AFL men's draft.
Negotiations continue between North and the Tasmanian Government over the naming of the new team, which looks likely to play as the Tasmanian Kangaroos.
West Coast was another strong contender and late on Tuesday remained in the dark as to their chances of a licence although that club has been the target of heavy lobbying from Fremantle. The Dockers share the view of most of the incumbent eight clubs that the AFL should hasten slowly in expansion due to the lack of available talent.
The Eagles look likely to be included by 2020 at the latest in the AFL's move to stagger the expansion and would come in next year should the commission introduce not two but four new clubs for 2019.
Tigers CEO Brendon Gale pointed recently to the momentum a Richmond team could have on the competition and said he feared the club could prove a victim of its own success should the AFL favour a smaller club.
