State League Football
I SHARE Hugh Boyd’s frustrations with the current state of the current Tasmanian State League; however he has a number of inaccuracies in his correspondence (Letters, The Examiner, May 30).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Nick Riewoldt was born in Tasmania, but lived in Queensland and was number one draft pick in 2000 from Southport.
Alastair Lynch was born in Burnie, but was recruited from Hobart in 1986, which was the first year of the Tasmanian Football League (the statewide competition).
Matthew Richardson was recruited from Devonport in 1992, which played in the TFL. Currently in the AFL there are 39 Tasmanian players and six umpires.
So much for the argument the state league cannot produce quality players or umpires. There is no doubt the current TSL has serious issues. One of those is a lack of money.
There is a pathetically low salary cap of about $80,000 a year.
Top players can play at lower levels with fewer commitments and be paid far more than they would get at a TSL club.
It could be well argued TSL clubs need funding from the AFL so they can have a cap of $500,000 (including coaches) in order to not only keep their talent but attract it from interstate.
TSL clubs used to be able to recruit ex-AFL players as coaches and mentors. That is now impossible for most due to the lack of funds. Tasmania needs a strong TSL and to be advocating a return to regional leagues is a retrograde action, not a positive one.
Geoff McLean, Launceston.
Asylum seekers
ALTHOUGH the next general election is months away obviously Peter Dutton is already setting the agenda on which the election will be fought.
Harping back to the Howard era the tried and tested formula of demonising asylum seekers and the opposition’s approach to border protection is front and centre.
Of course the usual cry of preventing the possibility of asylum seekers drowning is trotted out but never a mention of the treatment of those in permanent detention on islands well away from the public gaze.
When will governments accept that the Western Nations with their willingness to blindly follow the US in order to oust the leaders of many Arab countries had created a vacuum which ISIS and others were only too willing to fill.
Is it any wonder that desperate people who are driven from their homes, who have already faced great danger before boarding boats for the last leg of their journey, only to be turned away or for those who did make it be in interned indefinitely.
It’s time to stop using these pour souls for political point scoring.
A Carter, Mowbray.
Depression
ON THE inside looking out.
An illness on the increase in society. Reasons are varied and many. To suffer is to understand.
Non verbal may taken as being anti social, whereas sometimes the mind just needs to rest. Tiredness is always present, yet a facade may be presented despite the lack of mental energy.
Thoughts that may run rampant may be thoughts of your own, which even your closest may be unaware.
A carefree attitude may not always appear as it seems. Indifference may in fact may be just going with the flow to conserve mental strength.
Appetite and social activities may be lacking. Often dark thoughts are within and mental energy is taken to formulate reasons to continue. Solitude can be friend or foe.
Each day can be a struggle within but not exhibited externally. Depression may lay dormant for a lengthy time but may choose to rear its insidious head for no reason.
Help is always available should you choose to seek it.
Ian O'Neill, Deloraine.
- Lifeline 13 11 14
Big Bash boom
IT IS good to see Big Bash League games in regional areas.
However, why are only Launceston council ratepayers contributing to the cost of staging the BBL clashes in Northern Tasmania?
Surely this event will benefit more than the Launceston council rate area.
Jennifer Styles, Newnham.
Funding
Every year hundreds of vulnerable Tasmanian women need pregnancy support.
They wonder who will help care for their child, who will help pay the bills, and who will help put a roof over their heads.
They need a loving arm to lean on—and generous practical support.
How instead is our parliament thinking to respond to this need?
Not by providing critical funds to pregnancy support services, but by funding yet more abortion. We will give more help, but only to end your pregnancy.
There is something blindly heartless about this. Come on Tasmanian parliamentarians, you can do much better: Help our vulnerable women and their babies.
Campbell Markham, Hobart
Political correctness
Last week there was a letter from a lady complaining that her liver was twisted by the lyrics of a couple of mid nineteenth century songs.
Seriously. Music, in that era was strictly to entertain.
The writer, by her own admission, enjoyed them at the time until political correctness became the creed. Luckily, it didn't rear its head in the ‘30s.
Would have been somewhat incongruous to see billboards referring to Mickey the other gender rodent or Donald Drake. Bit surprised Donald’s title hasn't come under scrutiny.
Even more foolish would be Roy Orbison warbling about a “pretty opposite gender person”.
If she genuinely wishes to have her liver disturbed, she could maybe watch an episode of the Joan Rivers Show.
But maybe she wouldn't find a foul mouth offensive.
D.Palmer, Newnham.
