Experienced development coach Adrian Fletcher has been handed the task of steering the state’s best under-18s back into full-time representative football.
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The 49-year-old Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame member will coach the Devils in next season’s TAC Cup having beaten a field of quality candidates to the top job.
“[Coming back to Tasmania] is something I have thought about for a long time,” Fletcher said on Friday.
“Tasmania has and always will be in my DNA. I left as an 18-year-old, and now that I'm older it is about giving back what I have learned over the journey.
“I am excited to help young Tasmanian talent develop and help them achieve their dreams of playing our great game at the highest level, but also to develop these players as leaders in the football and Tasmanian community more broadly.”
Fletcher, who was recruited from Glenorchy, played 231 matches for Geelong, St Kilda, Brisbane and Fremantle and has spent time as an assistant coach at Geelong, Collingwood and Brisbane under the likes of Mick Malthouse and Leigh Matthews.
He has also worked at AFL Queensland as an academy and high performance manager and coached the under-18 Allies in the division 1 national championships.
Fletcher, who officially starts next month, said he is keen to build the under-18 Tasmania Devils into a long-term program.
“We have some terrific people in key positions at AFL Tasmania and around the talent pathway, so from here it is all about unifying the state and embarking on this new era,” he said.
AFL Tasmania chief executive officer Trisha Squires said Fletcher’s appointment was the start of a new era.
“We undertook a rigorous selection process to find the right person for the job, and I believe we have found that with Adrian,” Squires said.
“Adrian is an outstanding football person and is renowned as being one of the best development coaches in the business.
“With such rich football experience as a player, coach and talent manager, Adrian emerged as the ideal candidate and will provide invaluable leadership and tutelage.”
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Corey Martin
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
Having started at The Examiner as a cadet in 2009, I have held various positions telling the stories of Northern Tasmanians in sport and news. I was appointed deputy editor in 2019 and became editor in September 2021.
