South Hobart coach Ken Morton on Northern Tasmanian soccer scene

Despite having watched his South Hobart side steamroller a youthful Olympic side 6-0 at Windsor Park on Saturday, Morton said the signs were there that the club was heading in the right direction.

In a wide-ranging interview about soccer in the North, the hugely successful and respected tactician saw no reason why Launceston could not sustain three statewide men's teams, hoped Tasmania's desire for an A-League team was not swamped by the AFL arrival, said Launceston City should be looking to finish top four and predicted a bright future for their former winger Jaden Fidra.

Asked what advice he had for an Olympic side with five losses and a -20 goal difference, Morton said: "Keep working hard.

"They had some good footballers out there so keep working hard for your coach and listen to the advice and guidance that he's giving you.

"When you bring in new staff it takes time for them to get their ideas through into the club and work through everything. I think they're going well with a group of young lads who are going well and fought very hard against us and it's now a matter of patience and time because that's what you need."

Morton wished coaches Helder Dos Santos Silva and Lynden Prince success with the Olympic project.

"It's always difficult for people going into clubs, starting a rebuild and working through the club to build a solid foundation but I think Helder has started to do that with support from Lynden in the under-21s. I think they are well organised and play with a lot of patience.

"Riverside are a very young side but they'll grow under this coaching structure.

"People need to remember that we've been going for 14 years with the academy and it's starting to produce quality players like young (Sam) Lancaster and Danny Arnaiz and already established players in the first team like my son Nick and Laka (Bradley Lakoseljac). So the base is there for us whereas others are having to build that base."

Morton has been impressed by this season's NPL imports, including United's Englishman David Owusu, Portuguese Andre Chamusca at Riverside and Americans Mason Smith and Alex Jacobs at City.

And he saw no reason why the Northern region could not have three competitive statewide men's teams.

"Why not? Nowadays there's a few visa players coming in and that's been a good sign this year.

"I think all the visa players that have come in at different clubs are good quality so that lifts the standard. We did that at the beginning because the local players responded to those visa players as well."

Morton kept a close eye on Friday night's Northern derby at Prospect Park between two of his former clubs City and United and saw positives for both.

"We play City next week so I was very interested in the match on Friday.

"I thought that tactically Launnie City were quite bright and sharp and on top of things.

"I think (coach) Daniel (Syson) needs to have a good year. Finishing in the top four would be a good achievement and I think he's got the players to do that. The playing group show a lot of good moments and good potential.

"Launceston United are working really hard to stay in matches and they got another goal. Owusu is a good player but he needs a bit more support around him. They're both good clubs, I should know I've been at both."

South Hobart have been leading the charge for a Tasmanian A-League team and are keen to start the process by joining a potential second division of the national soccer competition.

In the wake of the state being accepted into the AFL last week, Morton remains confident this is the best way to go.

"I hope we get a second division team here first and we can build on that and maybe get into the A-League eventually.

"I hope soccer's not overlooked. It's a great game with a lot of participants at the moment. Our club is growing massively and I know Riverside and Launnie United have lots and lots of juniors, so I hope not."

One familiar face in South's side at Windsor Park was Fidra, who came off the bench late on and was unlucky not to make it onto the scoresheet.

After a sparkling season at City last year, the Queensland-born winger from Ross has spent time in Europe, earning a contract with Club Deportivo Llosetense before joining Morton at Darcy Street on his return to Tasmania.

"We've had him with us since the start of the season when he came back from Spain. He's been going through a tricky injury. He got 60 minutes in the 21s and then another 15 in NPL.

"Super young lad, great potential and we hope we can add a little bit to his game and make him something special."

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