The fact the Tasmanian Devils will be making their home debut in the national under 18 competition at Penguin’s Dial Park is a sign that AFL Tasmania sees the region as vitally important following the disastrous events of 2018, believes football manager Craig Notman
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The Devils will play their first home game in the competition formerly known as the TAC Cup on Sunday, April 14, at 11.30am, against the Calder Cannons with Notman saying the contest would help showcase the talent pathway in the state, and provide youngsters in the region with hard evidence that they can still progress through the sport despite the absence of a State League club in the region.
He also said it would be an opportunity to tell the people of the North-West AFL Tas has not forgotten them.
“To take the first game to the North-West Coast is quite important,’’ Notman said on Thursday.
“For me it does show that we as an organisation do have the region front of mind and that we are showing a serious commitment to the region.
“It would have been just as easy to play the first game in either Hobart or Launceston, but we’ve decided to do this because we think it is important to showcase the talent pathway.
“We feel this will show that it doesn’t matter if you are a boy from Ulverstone, or a boy from Smithton or a boy from Hobart you can all have the same opportunities to coaching that the pathway provides.
“Having a full-time talent staff member (Jamie Hayward) was just the start and hopefully people of the North-West Coast can get behind it.”
Notman said the quality of Dial Park, which began its life as a football venue in round 1 of the NWFL last year, helped make the decision just that bit easier.
“I was blown away by the venue as the surface there is first rate,’’ he said.
“In fact it is step up from what many of the other clubs would have experienced in the competition.”
While there was still a lot of water to go under the bridge, Notman believed there would be a good chance there could be a “number” of North-West Coast products in the Devils team that day, however practice match form in the lead-up to the game to be the deciding factor of who makes the cut.
He said he had been “really impressed” with the depth of talent coming out of this region in what was a positive sign for the future.
The April 14 clash will be the Devils’ only appearance on the Coast in season in 2019, with the chance for more games in future seasons. The team will play 10 home matches, with the remainder of games to be played in Hobart and Launceston.
The re-introduction of a Tasmanian team in the under 18 competition were one of the recommendations from AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan’s steering committee, which was formed after Devonport and Burnie withdrew from the State League.
The Tassie Mariners were originally in the TAC Cup from 1995-2002.