The AFL’s decision to end Hawthorn’s long-standing presence in Tasmania has generally been viewed as an unavoidable consequence of the Tasmania Devils entering the competition. The prevailing argument is straightforward. Tasmania is finally getting its own AFL club, and for that club to succeed, it must stand alone without sharing the football landscape with an existing AFL team.
On the surface, that logic is difficult to argue against.
The Devils should be the centrepiece of football in Tasmania. They should have the state’s full attention, the strongest possible membership base, and the opportunity to build an identity that is uniquely their own. After decades of waiting, Tasmanian football supporters deserve nothing less.
Yet while the AFL’s approach is understandable, it is worth asking whether the league has overlooked a significant opportunity. In its determination to create a clean transition from Hawthorn’s era in Tasmania to the arrival of the Devils, the AFL may have sacrificed what could have become one of the most compelling and marketable rivalries in Australian football.
Rather than removing Hawthorn from Tasmania entirely, the AFL could have embraced the state’s unique football culture and used it to create a genuine north versus south rivalry that would have benefited both clubs and the competition as a whole.
For more than two decades, Hawthorn’s relationship with Tasmania has been unlike any other interstate partnership in the AFL.
Since 2001, the Hawks have played a significant role in bringing elite football to the state, particularly in northern Tasmania. Their presence at York Park in Launceston extended far beyond hosting a handful of matches each season. Hawthorn became embedded within the local football community, developing strong relationships with supporters, sponsors, and grassroots football organisations.
The partnership was mutually beneficial. Hawthorn gained financial security and a secondary home base, while Tasmania received regular AFL content and exposure at a time when its ambitions for a standalone licence continued to be overlooked.
Over time, the club built a loyal supporter base throughout northern Tasmania. Many football fans who attended Hawthorn matches as children are now adults. For them, Hawthorn’s connection to Tasmania is not simply a commercial arrangement. It forms part of their football identity.
That history matters.
In a sporting landscape increasingly focused on creating meaningful engagement, established emotional connections are valuable assets. They are not easily replicated, and they are rarely created through marketing campaigns alone.
This is where the AFL may have missed an opportunity.
Instead of treating Hawthorn’s departure as a necessary condition of Tasmania’s entry into the competition, the league could have explored a model that retained a limited Hawthorn presence in Northern Tasmania while allowing the Devils to establish themselves as the state’s AFL club.
Such an arrangement would not have undermined the Devils. In fact, it may have strengthened them.
One of the most successful elements of professional sport is rivalry. The games that generate the most interest, attract the biggest crowds and create the strongest emotional investment are often those with genuine historical, geographical or cultural significance.
The AFL understands this better than most.
The league actively promotes rivalries because it recognises their commercial and competitive value. Carlton and Collingwood remains one of the competition’s premier fixtures because of more than a century of history. Adelaide and Port Adelaide have developed one of football’s fiercest contests because they represent different football traditions within the same city. West Coast and Fremantle draw enormous interest because they compete for the support and pride of Western Australia.
The common thread is authenticity.
These rivalries were not manufactured. They evolved naturally from existing tensions, identities, and loyalties.
Tasmania already possesses those ingredients.
The north-south divide has long been part of the state’s cultural and sporting identity. Whether discussing politics, infrastructure, economic development or sport, regional loyalties have always played a role in public debate.
While the rivalry is often good natured, it remains a genuine feature of Tasmanian life.
The AFL had an opportunity to harness that reality rather than ignore it.
Imagine a scenario in which the Tasmania Devils are based primarily in Hobart and play the majority of their home matches at Macquarie Point Stadium. At the same time, Hawthorn continues to play a small number of matches in Launceston each year, maintaining its connection with northern Tasmania.
The narrative would immediately write itself.
The Devils would represent Tasmania’s future and its long awaited place within the AFL.
Hawthorn would represent a club that had spent decades building a connection with Tasmanian football supporters.
Every meeting between the two clubs would carry significance beyond premiership points.
Questions of identity, loyalty and regional pride would naturally become part of the conversation.
Would Northern Tasmania remain loyal to Hawthorn?
Would the Devils unite the entire state behind one banner?
Could the new club establish itself against a team that had effectively served as Tasmania’s AFL representative for more than twenty years?
Those storylines would generate discussion across the state and beyond.
Importantly, they would not need to be manufactured.
The foundations already exist.
From a commercial perspective, the benefits are equally obvious.
The AFL is constantly searching for compelling narratives that can elevate regular season matches into marquee events. A Tasmania versus Hawthorn rivalry would have delivered exactly that.
Broadcasters would have a unique story to tell.
Sponsors would have a marketable rivalry with clear emotional hooks.
Supporters would have a fixture to circle on the calendar each season.
The league would gain a rivalry that was distinctly Tasmanian while also carrying national appeal.
Instead, the AFL appears to have prioritised certainty over opportunity.
The concern from league headquarters is understandable. Officials likely fear that allowing Hawthorn to maintain a foothold in Tasmania could divide supporter attention and potentially impact the growth of the Devils during their formative years.
That is a legitimate consideration.
New clubs require support, stability and a clear identity if they are to succeed.
However, history suggests that rivalries often help clubs establish themselves rather than hinder them.
Having a clear rival gives supporters someone to measure themselves against. It creates emotional investment. It builds tradition. Most importantly, it provides relevance from day one.
Many expansion clubs spend years searching for an identity.
The Devils could have inherited one immediately.
That is not to suggest the AFL has made a catastrophic mistake. Tasmania’s entry into the competition remains a historic achievement, and the Devils are likely to attract strong support regardless of whether Hawthorn remains involved in the state.
But it is fair to question whether the league has taken an overly cautious approach.
In seeking to provide the Devils with a clean slate, the AFL may have walked away from a rivalry that could have become one of the most unique and compelling in the competition.
The irony is that modern sport spends enormous resources trying to create the kind of emotional investment that Tasmania already offered.
The history existed.
The supporter base existed.
The geographical divide existed.
The narrative existed.
All the AFL needed to do was embrace it.
Instead, the league has chosen a different path.
Only time will tell whether that decision proves correct. The Devils will undoubtedly forge their own identity and create their own rivalries in the years ahead.
Yet there remains a strong argument that Australian football has missed out on something special.
A rivalry built on history, geography and genuine emotion.
A rivalry between the club that helped keep AFL football alive in Tasmania and the club that finally gave Tasmania a place in the national competition.
A rivalry that could have captured the imagination of an entire state.
For a league that places such value on storytelling and engagement, it may prove to be a golden opportunity lost.
You can find more from Dave on his own substack, It’s a Dave Thing.
