THE Tasmanian RSL has thrown its weight behind Anzac Day becoming a permanent fixture for AFL games at Aurora Stadium.
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President Tony Scott said that the alliance formed between the RSL and the Hawthorn Football Club had set the foundation for future games.
"The RSL is very eager to see Anzac Day football grow in stature in the years to come," he said.
The RSL will be deeply involved in Sunday's twilight game between the Hawks and North Melbourne.
Scott and five other veterans will be paraded around Aurora Stadium in a cavalcade before the game and then take an active involvement as the night unfolds with the two teams playing for the Alec Campbell Cup and the player voted best afield winning the Frank MacDonald Medal.
Alec Campbell was Tasmania's last survivor of the Gallipoli campaign and died in 2002 aged 103, while Frank MacDonald was Australia's oldest World War I veteran when he died in 2003 aged 107.
Scott said that the Victorian RSL had worked closely in promoting the traditional Anzac Day showpiece between Collingwood and Essendon at the MCG, and it was the blueprint for future Tasmanian games.
With Anzac Day falling on Easter Monday in 2011 Scott said Hawthorn would have a strong case to be playing again but he appreciated the logistical difficulties facing football fans around Tasmania when Anzac Day fell in the middle of the working week.
"We would support Hawthorn applying for a fixture on a Saturday or Sunday as close as possible to Anzac Day to keep the tradition going," he said.
Scott said the six veterans would be joined in the pre- game cavalcade by Campbell's youngest daughter Felicity Tangney, of Hobart, who will present the Alec Campbell Cup to the winning captain after the game.
Scott has been entrusted with the Frank MacDonald Medal but said he would choose a young fan from the crowd to accompany him to the centre arena for the presentation.
Hawthorn's Tasmanian operations manager Shayne Stevenson is tipping a bigger crowd than last year to watch Sunday evening's game.
"We've got the opportunity to top the 17,880 from last year given we have two Melbourne-based clubs and Tasmanian football fans will get the chance to see local players Grant Birchall, Brady Rawlings and Nathan Grima in action," he said.
Last year's MacDonald Medal winner Brad Sewell is in line to return for the Hawks after overcoming a broken collarbone.
