A second meeting between key Northern stakeholders has been set for August, following AFL Tasmania's maiden "workshop" on Wednesday.
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Head of AFL Tasmania Damian Gill admitted there's "a lot of work to do" to build the right model following the Tasmanian State League's upcoming disbandment in 2024.
However, the first meeting between the TSL, NTFA, NTJFA and AFL Tasmania was without one pivotal player as North Launceston declined to attend with president Thane Brady citing "pathetic", "dismissive" and "disrespectful" treatment.
Gill said the meeting was about working through issues and how to tackle them.
"[There was] some great agreed action, some next steps, a lot of conversations that need to happen between all of us - the NTJFA, the NTFA and the TSL clubs," he said.
The ending of the TSL's licence agreement has played a major role in the change to regional football in 2025, which will sit underneath the incoming VFL team.
AFL Tasmania came to the meeting with a concept model for Northern Tasmania, similar to an earlier meeting in the South of the state, with Gill admitting it's not "100 per cent perfect".
He described it as "target practice" to get input from those in attendance.
"This is something that needs to be driven in the region and owned by the region to make sure it's a really healthy, strong, sustainable and vibrant footy ecosystem in the North of the state moving forward," he said.
"If you arrive to an outcome without any counter views or observations, it's unlikely you're going to get as good a result as you would if your opinions and approaches were challenged.
"I think it's really healthy to have different views and different approaches as part of working towards a model because ultimately, we want to build a model that is really strong for Northern footy long into the future and we want more clubs at a premier standard in a community footy setting in Northern Tasmania."
Explaining his club's stance, Brady said "many requests for constructive joint dialogue on the TSL future past 2023 has been rejected or simply ignored by AFL Tasmania" over the past four years.
Brady has put 37 questions to Gill that he hopes will be covered imminently and before the Bombers will meet with the state's organising body.
"Our preference was we would have loved to have North Launceston present," Gill said.
"We understand their decision and their thinking and we'll continue to work with them moving forward, as we will with every club in Northern Tasmania and every association.
"Kudos to the Launceston participants in the spirit in which they attacked it. They raised some very fair questions, some fair points."
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