From the afltas.com.au website
Tasmanian senior players Sam Siggins and Grace White
AFL Tasmania has announced the structure for top level senior football across the state for 2025, a key step forward ahead of the Tasmania Devils joining the AFL and AFLW competitions.
In a major boost for Tasmanian men’s and women’s local footballers who dream of playing at a higher level, a Senior Talent Academy program will be launched in 2025 before the entry of the Devils into the Victorian Football League men’s (VFL) and women’s (VFLW) competitions, anticipated for 2026.
Operating in three regions – the South, North and North-West – the Senior Talent Academy is being established in consultation with the state’s AFL/W club and will help to prepare aspirational Tasmanian players for the VFL/W and trial for list spots. Building from the success of the 2024 representative program, there will be more opportunities for men and women competing in Tasmania to pull on ‘the map’, with an expanded calendar of matches, expected to be as many as five or six games for senior Tasmanian men and women in 2025.
The new high-performance model for senior football will have training groups in all three regions and play a series of state representative fixtures against quality opposition across the year, including VFL and VFLW teams, while players will still represent their local Premier League clubs in their home region.
When the 19th AFL license was awarded to Tasmania, a key step on the journey to Tasmanian teams in the AFL and AFLW was entering the VFL and VFLW competitions, originally flagged for 2025. Since that time, the Tasmania Football Club has been working through the optimal timing for entry and sequencing of competitions. In partnership with AFL Tasmania, it has been determined that the appropriate step for 2025 is to focus on preparing local aspirational talent for VFL and VFLW, for anticipated full entry into both competitions the following season.
In order to ensure three strong football regions and following extensive consultation with stakeholders across all levels of the game in recent years, it has been assessed that the best model for Tasmania is being part of the VFL and VFLW, as part of the full pathway for men and women from NAB AFL Auskick through to the elite game.
2024 marks the final year of the Tasmanian State League (TSL) competition before the move to the new-look
league competition in each of Tasmania’s three regions – North-West, North and South – feeding up to the Senior Talent Academy. This is a holistic model with premier football clubs to encompass men’s and women’s football.
Additionally, an important part of the new model is a brand new regional representative series that will take place for men and women where each region will play each other once across three separate weeks. Working off the success of the Women’s All Stars Series, the new model will provide more high-quality football for both men and women as the best from each region face off for statewide bragging rights.
As part of growing the umpiring talent pool, AFL Tasmania is also looking at bolstering the umpiring pathways system from 2025, to ensure more Tasmanians can progress to officiating at AFL/W and VFL/W levels. This will include working with a group of umpires to train and develop for officiating across both regional and state representative football.
The Senior Talent Academy program will be run by the AFL Tasmania talent department, under State Talent Manager, Dave O’Sign, with support from the community football network.
Fostering a strong connection between the Devils’ elite junior talent pathway programs participating in the Coates Talent League under 18 competitions will be an important part of the Senior Talent Academy structure, with much to be gleaned from the success of Tasmania in the Coates Talent League in recent years.
Head of AFL Tasmania, Damian Gill, said: “Establishing the optimal structure for Tasmanian football takes into account many factors, including the best way to prepare Tasmanian men and women, boys and girls to compete at the highest levels of VFL/W and AFL/W football.
“AFL Tasmania is working closely with the Tasmania Football Club to ensure that everything we do in this state is best-in-class and in the best interests of Tasmanian football at all levels, from junior grassroots through to the elite game.
“The Senior Talent Academy is a significant step forward for football in this state and will set out to help many players be ready for VFL and VFLW football, with a view to seeing Tasmanians feature prominently on the inaugural AFL and AFLW lists of the Tasmania Football Club.
“Having three strong regions for local football sitting underneath the Senior Talent Academy and, eventually, the VFL/W and AFL/W programs, will give Tasmanian men and women the best opportunity to be able to develop and represent our state at the highest levels of the game.”
Executive Director, Tasmania Football Club, Kath McCann, said: “The Tasmania Football Club is committed to putting in place and supporting a model and timeframes that give the Devils the best chance of being successful in the AFL and AFLW competitions, with Tasmanian players part of that success.
“The foundation for Tasmania’s success in the AFL and AFLW will be at the local level, which will feed into the best talent development structure in the country. This is why it’s imperative that the club works closely with AFL Tasmania to ensure Tasmanian football is at the heart of the state’s journey to having its own team in the elite national competition.
“There is a lot of work to do before Tasmania is represented in the AFL and AFLW competitions, but the announcement of the Senior Talent Academy and how community football will look in 2025 is an important development for the game in our state.”
