South Launceston have applied to be part of the Northern Premier League

It comes after fellow premier division club Bridgenorth expressed their interest in joining the NPL in December and just weeks after NTFA president Damien Rhind said successful applicants would be announced in early March.

The NPL is part of the state's new three-pronged regional model to start in 2025 given the State League is disbanding at the end of this season.

Bulldogs president Steve Hibbs said the club ticked all the boxes and provided insight into what's required.

"They've already sent out the criteria we need to tick, you need the four teams being the men's seniors, reserves, women's and under-18s and also a stable junior pathway," he said.

"We feel as a club we certainly tick that, that's the main hurdle I think."

He said South wanted to hold onto the juniors they had developed and therefore offer them the opportunity to play at the highest local level.

Hibbs highlighted the Bulldogs had a successful junior program that went up a notch in 2023.

"The pathway from the junior club to the senior club was only strengthened last year," he said.

"Our coaching group really connected and went back and worked hard with our juniors to make sure that stays a stable pathway for them to follow."

Hibbs said the Bulldogs looked forward to the possibility of playing against Launceston and North Launceston who will be joined by four NTFA clubs in the top tier.

"Them coming back can only lift the level of our league so as a club it's up to us to come up to their level and make sure we do compete.... we feel we can, especially with what we've got coming through the ranks."

Senior men's coach Jack Maher elaborated on why holding onto the club's juniors was important.

"It was a thing we spoke about last year that we wanted to aim for," he said of the bid.

"We've been a pretty good breeding ground here with our junior program and even with our 18s and seniors, a lot of the time we lost players to TSL.

"So the big thing is we're going to keep them in the one place if it all goes ahead and we're successful in getting in that top league."

The Bulldogs recruited former Launceston Blues players Jay Blackberry and Brendan Taylor last season, who Maher said helped them get ready for the bid well in advance.

"We started to put in things in place last year with lifting our standards and what we expect from our playing group," he said.

Women's young gun Georgia Gillow added: "It's exciting because it shows they (the club) want to be the best they can."