We've been here before with many former and existing stars of the "national" competition advocating for what should have been established many moons ago.

Gordon believed the AFL should expand to 19 or 20 teams because the nation was "crying out" for a Tasmanian team.

The veteran football administrator said the state of football in Tasmania, with clubs folding on a regular basis, combined with the sports' celebrated history was a enough for Tasmania to warrant a side.

He said a team would help revive the game South of Victoria and increase junior participation.

He might well be right but the debate as to whether we can afford it has long been used by the AFL along with regular discussions about Tasmania's North-South divide.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said this week that a standalone Tasmanian team requires backing "from the top down".

He might well be right but the top is the AFL, think about the $200 million that went into establishing Gold Coast Suns.

It's not the first time McLachlan has softly indicated his support, but words are cheap.

Last year saw a broad-scale review lead to the Tasmanian Devils being reincarnated and the state being handed a provisional licence to re-enter the VFL in 2021.

Nationals Senator Steve Martin has started a campaign for the state to have its own team by 2023, there is a Legislative Council inquiry underway and a Football Tasmania Board was announced last month.

"The pathway is there to deliver on the bottom half, and if that happens, then it'll be incumbent, whatever the timing is, for the AFL to deliver on that," McLachlan said.

"It's not going to be in the next couple of years, but at least there is a pathway and a plan there."

A plan is good but many feel we have been here before, think when David Bartlett and Paula Wriedt made a big bid about a decade ago and how that ended up.

It's time the AFL took the lead.