News

From The Mercury
Reported by James Bresnehan

THE door has been thrown wide open for the Tasmanian Devils to join the SANFL in 2009.

SANFL boss Leigh Whicker said yesterday his league liked the idea of having a team from Tasmania join the Adelaide-based competition to end the bye in the nine-team league.

Whicker said the SANFL would be prepared to meet all the Devils' travel costs and scrap their annual $85,000 VFL licence fee -- an overall saving of more than $330,000.

The South Australians put together an affiliation proposal and presented it to AFL Tasmania two weeks ago.

The SANFL then formed a working committee, which plans to meet with Tasmanian officials this month to discuss the proposition.

The SANFL chief's enthusiasm for Tasmania follows a survey of SANFL clubs that found eight out of nine captains favoured Tasmania joining the competition, and another that showed 79 per cent of SA fans felt the same way.

Whicker said the SANFL even mentioned the Tasmanian proposal at a meeting it had with AFL boss Andrew Demetriou on Tuesday.

''We like the idea of a Tasmanian team coming into our competition, and we are keeping the AFL informed about our dealings with them,'' Whicker said yesterday.

''We are keen to explore the Tasmanian option and the benefits to South Australian and Tasmanian football.

''We've put together a broad-brush document to analyse the implications.''

He said it was logistically too difficult to admit the Devils next season.

Issues outlined in the SANFL-Tasmania document include: * How the Tasmanian club would be structured. * The manner it would operate in conjunction with AFL Tasmania. * How player lists would be formed. * The relationship of the Tasmanian club to the SANFL clubs. * Proposed funding.

AFL Tasmania will discuss the SANFL document at a full board meeting in three weeks.

''We have got some very difficult decisions to make about the future of the Tasmanian Devils,'' said general manager Scott Wade.

''Moving to the SANFL is not beyond the realms of possibility.''

The nine-team SANFL has flirted with the idea of bringing in a 10th team for the past decade.

Body: In that time, negotiations with AFL Northern Territory have failed to produce a Darwin-based team.

''AFL NT have renewed their interest in putting a team in our competition,'' Whicker said.

''They are having the same discussion with the WAFL.

''The significant distance and expense of travel to Darwin has been the main stumbling block.

''Tasmania is a much more attractive proposition because of direct flights there, and it is more financially viable.''

It would cost an estimated $400,000 a season for Tasmania to travel to Adelaide for nine away games and for SA teams to travel to Tasmania for

nine Devils home games. The same arrangement between the SANFL and the NT would cost about $1 million.

Whicker said the SANFL would cover the cost of travel and accommodation between South Australia and Tasmania.

''The SANFL would pay because . . . you can't have someone out of pocket,'' he said.

AFL Tasmania pays about $250,000 a season for the Devils to travel to Victoria and for VFL teams to play in Tasmania.