Having just seen Launceston's much loved Hawthorn trounce the highly fancied and ladder leading Fremantle to the tune of 72 points in from of 16,792 supporters, the state was riding a football high.

It was the biggest crowd Aurora stadium, now UTAS, had seen in three years and was supposed to be the platform for the stadium to host bigger and more strongly supported sides.

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Hawthorn chief executive Stuart Fox said he believed the "vote of feet" meant Launceston had put forth a strong case to attract big Melbourne-based AFL teams.

"If we could get a top Melbourne team and one of the really top interstate teams, and a great pre-season game like with did this year with Collingwood, that would be a greta outcome [in 2016]," he said.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein, before his succession to premier, was not advocating for a Tasmanian based team at that stage instead hoping to exhibit the best of what Tasmania had to offer to the AFL.

"What we've got to do is ensure we can build on what we've got and that the offering here in Northern Tasmania is as good as we can make it," he said.

As it happened, 2016 saw the Hawks host St Kilda, Fremantle, Gold Coast and Carlton at the Launceston venue with both games against the Melbourne based sides attracting crowds of upwards of 17,000.

2015 almost saw a dreaded-double header: an AFL match at UTAS and a Northern TSL rivalry game.

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But, unlike this year, the matches were staggered with the AFL match taking place the weekend before.

Away from football, the North of Tasmania was divided. A poll conducted by The Examiner revealed in Bass 47.9 per cent of those surveyed supported same-sex marriage while 40.7 per cent opposed it. The figures were almost identical in Lyons with 45.3 per cent in support and 40.4 per cent opposing.

Outside of same-sex marriage, the economy, health and jobs were the hot button issues across Northern Tasmania. Thirty per cent of those surveyed said health was the top priority ahead of a federal election, while about 25 per cent said jobs were top of the tree.

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