Devils' VFL future still in question as State League enters final season

Speaking exclusively with The Examiner, O'Brien said the club's focus had been on the launch of the name, colours, logo and foundation guernsey, but insisted introducing the men's and women's teams was the next step.

"The entry of the VFL and the VFLW (teams) is a priority for us and AFL Tasmania and the AFL at the moment," he said.

"From our perspective, now the launch is out of the way, the football workstream is a higher priority and so too with the AFL CEO (Andrew Dillon).

"We will engage with the AFL to come up with the answers to those things ... we are working with all of the key stakeholders here who've got carriage of this issue to make sure it happens in the right way at the earliest opportunity."

The 2025 arrival of the Victorian state-level teams has been keenly-anticipated ever since Tasmania was awarded the 19^th AFL licence, a decision which resulted in AFL Tasmania's announcement that they would not extend the State League beyond 2024.

The transition to a three-pronged regional model has not been short of controversy, especially in the North, with successful TSL clubs Launceston and North Launceston resisting the move to the NTFA Premier League competition beginning next year.

Asked whether the change in model with no immediate VFL replacement would be detrimental to football's development in the North, O'Brien replied:

"I think the answer to that is when the VFL team is set up, it'll be set up for success," he said.

"And that will be through the efforts of AFL Tasmania, it'll be through the efforts of the AFL. There's no intention to put anything other than our best foot forward with the VFL, because ultimately, they're going to be the precursor to the AFL and AFLW teams.

"So all of these are good questions, but they can't be answered at the moment, not by us anyway in all truth, because we are only one of the stakeholders in all of this.

"But again, if you want to look at it through the realistic lens of what's in our best interests, our best interest is a very competitive VFL and VFLW team and that'll be our focus."