Members of the clubs participating in the finals in this weekend's AFL finals lucky enough to secure tickets are ready for the historic slate of Launceston based games.
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Already this year the Essendon Bombers have shaken the rafters of UTAS Stadium with a victory in their first game at the venue this century, while the Western Bulldogs, Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney Giants will be taking up occupancy of the oval as COVID-19 continues to impact their homes states.
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Of the four participating clubs, the Bombers may well have the home-ground advantage.
When their game against Hawthorn was announced earlier in the season an already rapturous Tasmanian supporter base swelled rapidly to see about 2500 members in the state, but longtime Bombers tragic Charlie Andrews said he was not hanging his hat on that.
Bring from Launceston Mr Andrews was lucky enough to be able to secure two tickets to the hotly anticipated final and, despite not being over-confident, was hopeful Essendon could break their drawn-out finals duck.
The second highest Tasmanian supporter base for the four teams was Sydney who registered a significantly lower number of fans in the state at 800.
Robigana local Margaret Price was one of those 800 Swans members keen to have her barracking heard when her team took on the Giants in the Saturday fixture.
Ms Price said after moving to Launceston from Sydney a decade a go she never expected to see her team play a final in her adopted home state.
Like Mr Andrews she was unsure how the match would play out, but said she was "keeping her fingers crossed" the Swans played their best game.
"It's been a fantastic ride being a member. Anything could happen against the Giants," she said.
Sydney's opponent, the GWS Giants, were dwarfed by the larger club's member totals.
Having only been competing in the competition since 2012, the Giants had only been able to attract 82 members in Tasmania.
Launceston man Rick De Sousa was a foundation member of the Giants who saw his side compete in a grand final only two years ago.
Like Ms Price he signed up when he lived in Sydney, but since coming to Launceston kept some skin in the game because of what it meant to him to have been along on the ride since the very start.
He was inspired by a resounding call to arms from inaugural GWS coach Kevin Sheedy and had not looked back since.
Mr Price said he was overjoyed to be able to watch his club play in Launceston, and was coy on what the result might be.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think we'd be seeing GWS play here," he said.
"But if they bring their best then I'm very confident they've got the firepower to get over the line."
The Bulldogs were third on the list with a Tasmanian supporter base of 700.
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