When the original rules of the game were being written in Melbourne, Tasmanians were playing footy, too. It’s taken 160 years for the state to get its first genuine chance at the elite level, but early signs indicate the Tasmania Football Club is thriving.
For now, the Devils are playing in the second-tier VFL competition, but that is only as a two-year pathway to a guaranteed place in the AFL and AFLW.
Locals have been voting with their feet. In March, the Devils debuted by selling out their first game at North Hobart Oval. On Anzac Day, they crushed the VFL’s home-and-away attendance record when more than 14,000 packed into Ninja Stadium. At the weekend, despite the pouring rain in Launceston, nearly 2,500 still turned out.
Tasmania, a heartland Australian football state, is finally being represented on the national stage and the Devils have been driven into the national consciousness.
The club is acutely aware of its responsibility to the community. Soon after the Devils were confirmed as the national competition’s 19th club in 2023, Kathryn McCann joined as executive director and continues to provide integral foundational leadership. “We see our roles as a privilege,” she says. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deliver something very special.”
An incredible 216,000 foundation members signed on. That surge of support has sent junior participation numbers skyrocketing, and Tasmania now boasts the nation’s highest female participation rate. The men’s team have won four of their first five games and sit third on the VFL ladder.
In two weeks, the club’s VFLW side will enter the fray, building even further on the momentum already created. And, in a landmark deal, all of the club’s VFL and VFLW home games are being broadcast live on free-to-air TV.
That provides unprecedented access. “We are a whole-of-state club, and not everyone can get to the games, but allowing people to join in and be part of that journey with us is so important, and it’s what we’ve based the club on from the start,” McCann says.
Traditionally, parochial geographical divides have made uniting Tasmanians difficult. However, joining McCann at the executive level are former Richmond CEO Brendon Gale and chair Grant O’Brien, both from the state’s north-west coast. This is not a club anchored to one corner of the state, but one that stretches across the island.
Matches are not concentrated but dispersed. The Devils play in Hobart, Launceston and soon Penguin, where a mid-season doubleheader will be staged as a weekend-long community event.
Last year, when political turmoil threatened the club’s existence, 15,000 Tasmanians rallied in support. In addition to the record-breaking Anzac Day crowd, 107,000 Tasmanians tuned in to the television coverage, out-rating the state’s viewership of the traditional Collingwood v Essendon AFL match.
McCann speaks of milestones happening almost every day. “I think we would all agree that the Devils have come along at a time Tasmanian footy needed it most,” she says.
“We’re building a footy club, and now the community and the fans actually have some footy to engage with, and it’s really shifted the conversation and engagement. It’s super exciting.
“But, we’re not planning and preparing the organisation to play Coburg. We’re planning and preparing to play Collingwood. The next two years are so fundamentally important for pressure-testing the organisation.”
Community is at the core of everything they do. The finer details reflect it. The ever-popular mascot, Rum’un, was created by a local puppeteering company and made using fabric from recycled Tasmanian school uniforms.
The club has also been instrumental in developing the Tasmanian Academy of Leadership and Sport, which provides young Tasmanians with a pathway into the elite sport sector. “We’ve got 90 students this year, and without these opportunities, some would’ve left the island,” McCann says.
They are creating a tangible connection that Tasmanian footy fans like Tiana Brown gravitate toward. On Sunday, the dedicated Devils’ supporter who, alongside Mark Brown, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity while driving the “Yes Stadium” movement, travelled north along the Midlands Highway to Launceston. After the Devils sealed victory over Sandringham, she said: “We deserve this.”
“People have come and gone and died waiting for this team to happen. But now, we’re sitting here in the cheer squad with kids all around us, waving flags, shaking pom-poms, and joining in the chants. I am so immensely proud to be Tasmanian.”
While the debate surrounding the proposed new stadium on Hobart’s waterfront has lingered – the project quoted to cost $1.13bn prompted a “No Stadium” campaign just as visible and vocal as its counterpart – Salamanca’s streets are now filled with myrtle green. Pubs and cafes are alive with footy chat, and the state appears energised by what lies ahead. You can even order a pair of custom-designed Tassie Devils Blundstone boots. This is the club fans have been waiting for.
