The Carter Review

[Sanctorum]

The Carter Review, is an initiative by the AFL to look into the pros and cons of Tasmania being granted a licence to enter a stand-alone team in the AFL competition.

Following is an extract from the report to explain the scenario, and I highlight this to emphasise the real importance of this matter:

"The AFL’s ‘purpose’ is expressed as: “Progress the game, so that everyone can share in its heritage
and possibilities”. The AFL’s vision is to be Australia’s national sport and a unifying social force,
and presumably this applies to Tasmania which has been part of our heartland since the game’s
earliest years. But Tasmania is the only state excluded from our national competition, and
football’s position in that state is under threat."

The Carter Report was released last week and offered 3 alternatives:

1. Stand alone team - the report concludes that this would be a financially viable option
2. Relocation of a Victorian team to Tasmania - this would require the support of a club's board and members
3. Joint venture between a Victorian team and Tasmanian government - play all "home" games in Tasmania

The authors of the report do not provide a firm recommendation on which way the AFL should go, other than to state that options 2 and 3 are likely to be more "sustainable", however the AFL CEO Gil McLachlan (a Saints supporter) has issued an initial statement that he considers options 2 and 3 as his preferred direction. This drew an entirely predictable and angry response from the Tasmanian Premier, that Tasmanians would expect nothing less than a stand alone team and to set a timetable for that now....

The full report can be read here:

https://mcusercontent.com/7cd32ad25c565 ... e_2021.pdf

I live in Brisbane but if I was a Tasmanian I would be livid with McLachlan coming out with such an ill-considered and pre-emptive opinion about what the AFL should decide.

What McLachlan fails to understand is that a: Tasmania will never ever agree to options 2 or 3, and b: there's no way any of the 10 Melbourne clubs will ever agree to options 2 and 3 either!!!

So much for the ambition to "grow the game" or to be "Australia's national sport and unifying force" - what a joke and so disappointing from a bloke who I always considered to be in full possession of his faculties.

It's apparently alright to set up new clubs in non AFL states, never mind that this has come at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars and both teams on perpetual life-support, and at the same time try to validate a denial to a state that has a celebrated history of providing elite players to the 18 AFL teams.

As for a 19th team creating a logistical problem for the fixture, all they need to do is skip the mid-season byes and adopt a rolling fixture such as in use by the NRL.

Instead of farting around on this question McLachlan should show some real foresight and propose the creation of a 20th consortium, to come in on the heels of the Tasmanian Devils, consisting of the whole of northern Australia from Darwin to Townsville, the "Northern Crocodiles", playing home games in Darwin, Alice Springs, Cairns and Townsville.

Do all of this now and McLachlan will go down in history as the Father of Australia's Premier Football Code!

[B.M]

I don’t even want to read about it

The AFL can get f***ed and Gillan McLaughlin is a c***!!!

And if I ever get anywhere near him, I’ll call the prick out!!!

Show some balls and do the right thing

They manage to prop a basket case up, yer won’t consider a viable option

F*** off!!!

[Wayne42]

A lot of teams struggle in the AFL each year because there just isn't enough good quality players in Australia to support the 18 teams that make up
the AFL competition.

A 19th team will dilute the playing stocks even further and if they then bring in a 20th team the No.1 sport in Australia will be less than elite.
There will be players playing in the AFL who just aren't up to it. They will be there because list spots need to be filled.

How would a team work in Tassie anyway, would they have to play 1 home game in Hobart then the next one in Launceston and keep alternating throughout the season.
Do Tasmanians still like football, i mean their local competition is slowly falling apart, has been for an eon.

The Tassie question is a real poser for the AFL.

[happy feet]

I don’t even want to read about it

The AFL can get f***ed and Gillan McLaughlin is a c***!!!

And if I ever get anywhere near him, I’ll call the prick out!!!

Show some balls and do the right thing

They manage to prop a basket case up, yer won’t consider a viable option

F*** off!!!

I think your post is a bit over the top. I’m sure Gillan is not the slightest bit interested in you or your opinion.

[scallopsroe]

A lot of teams struggle in the AFL each year because there just isn't enough good quality players in Australia to support the 18 teams that make up
the AFL competition.

A 19th team will dilute the playing stocks even further and if they then bring in a 20th team the No.1 sport in Australia will be less than elite.
There will be players playing in the AFL who just aren't up to it. They will be there because list spots need to be filled.

How would a team work in Tassie anyway, would they have to play 1 home game in Hobart then the next one in Launceston and keep alternating throughout the season.
Do Tasmanians still like football, i mean their local competition is slowly falling apart, has been for an eon.

The Tassie question is a real poser for the AFL.

We were in Launceston a few years to watch us play the Hawks. A local (Saints supporter) we were having a drink with said we will always follow the Saints wouldn't matter if there was a local Tassie AFL team. That view if fairly typical in Tassie. Nice spot to watch footy though.

[B.M]

Of course he’s doesn’t - and therein lies the problem

He’s also not interested in the opinion of an entire state (about 400 000 (over half of which would follow footy)

And neither do you so it seems!!!

It’s a disgrace that the Gold Coast (whom don’t GAF!) have had a team for ten years…. of failure!!!

And Tassie gets North Melbourne (who haven’t even got a supporter base in Melbourne!) and Hawthorn using the state for its money. Money that we walked out on BTW!

As I said
Gillon McLaughlin and his cronies can get well and truly f***ed over this - and that’s not the sentiments of 1 supporter… it’s the thoughts of thousands!!!

No one can provide any winning argument as to why tassie can’t support a team!!!
It’s a joke!!!

[Devilhead]

You would be happy for the Saints to move to Tassie?

[darylcowie]

The old VFL Tassie team had a dark green guernsey with a gold map of Tassie on the chest.
If they ever get a Women's team...........

[SaintPav]

What about option D?

[B.M]

No I wouldn’t

Tassie deserves its OWN team!!!

[Yorkeys]

Unimpressive report. Carter an unpersuasive advocate. Doubling down on Suns debacle as a precedent is silly and the President's, who actually decide, will decline.

AFL has bigger existential problems and another team dependent on taxpayers money is almost obscene given what Australia has in front of it. Remember Tasmania is already heavily propped up by the rest of Australians. Just give the top 8 more games down there.

Why should the long suffering rest of Australia cough up even more dough indirectly for a vanity project of the Tassy Premier who will be forgotten soon enough.

[B.M]

piss off yorkeys you arrogant prick!

Been playing footy down there for 150 years, it is a foundation state with die hard fans!!!
By the way, get a clue when discussing the Tas economy.

A tas team would be 100% self funded. Could survive with no assistance.

I’m not sure the team would be a vanity project for one man, but more likely the 400 000 he represents!!!

StK a financial basket case, propped up by the AFL

How bout we f*** them off?!

How would you like that?!

Get a fkn clue

<one day ban for abusing another poster>

[Vortex]

The elephant in the room is 10 sides in Melbourne. The AFL need to find a way to reduce that number and then Tassie can have a team. That's my read on the situation.

[St Plugger]

This may be sacrilege for many here, but my view is that it's actually a lifeline that Gils giving the Saints. The club, in a modified guise, would continue in perpetuity if it took the bait and relocated. [even through the effects of climate change]
The remaining minnows in Melbourne will slowly fail and at the very least probably have to amalgamate or worse. No more Saints in any guise. I could support a "Southern Saints" with the red white and black. Even the shield could be modified slightly to the shape of Tassie. I could not support a North Scrayilda or a St Melscray or a Scraykildamel with a red blue and white jumper and a who knows what as a mascot!

[happy feet]

Of course he’s doesn’t - and therein lies the problem

He’s also not interested in the opinion of an entire state (about 400 000 (over half of which would follow footy)

And neither do you so it seems!!!

It’s a disgrace that the Gold Coast (whom don’t GAF!) have had a team for ten years…. of failure!!!

And Tassie gets North Melbourne (who haven’t even got a supporter base in Melbourne!) and Hawthorn using the state for its money. Money that we walked out on BTW!

As I said
Gillon McLaughlin and his cronies can get well and truly f***ed over this - and that’s not the sentiments of 1 supporter… it’s the thoughts of thousands!!!

No one can provide any winning argument as to why tassie can’t support a team!!!
It’s a joke!!!

The economics of this matter are quite complicated. I admire your passion for supporting the team and the noble intent of a team for Tasmania, but beyond that you really don’t have a clue. Please take some advice and stop abusing or belittling anyone who disagrees with you.

Despite thinking that you speak for 400,000 Tasmanians, the fact is that you don’t. You only speak for yourself and until you are somehow elected to some form of government office, remember this please. You speak only for yourself.

Decisions as to the future of the competition will be made by the numbers, the economics and a business case. Until you can produce such a business case with a positive NPV then I suggest you refrain from denigrating others, including the CEO of the AFL.

[saynta]

The Carter Review, is an initiative by the AFL to look into the pros and cons of Tasmania being granted a licence to enter a stand-alone team in the AFL competition.

Following is an extract from the report to explain the scenario, and I highlight this to emphasise the real importance of this matter:

"The AFL’s ‘purpose’ is expressed as: “Progress the game, so that everyone can share in its heritage
and possibilities”. The AFL’s vision is to be Australia’s national sport and a unifying social force,
and presumably this applies to Tasmania which has been part of our heartland since the game’s
earliest years. But Tasmania is the only state excluded from our national competition, and
football’s position in that state is under threat."

The Carter Report was released last week and offered 3 alternatives:

1. Stand alone team - the report concludes that this would be a financially viable option
2. Relocation of a Victorian team to Tasmania - this would require the support of a club's board and members
3. Joint venture between a Victorian team and Tasmanian government - play all "home" games in Tasmania

The authors of the report do not provide a firm recommendation on which way the AFL should go, other than to state that options 2 and 3 are likely to be more "sustainable", however the AFL CEO Gil McLachlan (a Saints supporter) has issued an initial statement that he considers options 2 and 3 as his preferred direction. This drew an entirely predictable and angry response from the Tasmanian Premier, that Tasmanians would expect nothing less than a stand alone team and to set a timetable for that now....

The full report can be read here:

https://mcusercontent.com/7cd32ad25c565 ... e_2021.pdf

I live in Brisbane but if I was a Tasmanian I would be livid with McLachlan coming out with such an ill-considered and pre-emptive opinion about what the AFL should decide.

What McLachlan fails to understand is that a: Tasmania will never ever agree to options 2 or 3, and b: there's no way any of the 10 Melbourne clubs will ever agree to options 2 and 3 either!!!

So much for the ambition to "grow the game" or to be "Australia's national sport and unifying force" - what a joke and so disappointing from a bloke who I always considered to be in full possession of his faculties.

It's apparently alright to set up new clubs in non AFL states, never mind that this has come at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars and both teams on perpetual life-support, and at the same time try to validate a denial to a state that has a celebrated history of providing elite players to the 18 AFL teams.

As for a 19th team creating a logistical problem for the fixture, all they need to do is skip the mid-season byes and adopt a rolling fixture such as in use by the NRL.

Instead of farting around on this question McLachlan should show some real foresight and propose the creation of a 20th consortium, to come in on the heels of the Tasmanian Devils, consisting of the whole of northern Australia from Darwin to Townsville, the "Northern Crocodiles", playing home games in Darwin, Alice Springs, Cairns and Townsville.

Do all of this now and McLachlan will go down in history as the Father of Australia's Premier Football Code!

Or a team in Canberra.

[Wayne42]

Tassie has had some good players over the journey.

Tassie Team Of the Century
Backs - Verdun Howell – Tassie Johnson – Ivor Warne-Smith
H/B - Barry Lawrence – Laurie Nash – Brent Crosswell
Mids - Rodney Eade – Ian Stewart – Arthur Hodgson
H/F - Darrel Baldock (C) – Royce Hart – Daryn Cresswell
For – Horrie Gorringe – Peter Hudson – Alistair Lynch
Foll – Percy Jones John Leedham (VC) – Terry Cashion
INT – Neil Conlan, Darrin Pritchard, Paul Williams. Michael Roach, Len Pye,
Rex Garwood, Matthew Richardson.
Coach – Roy Cazaly
Assistant Coach – Robert Shaw
Umpire – Scott Jeffery

[Freebird]

I don’t even want to read about it

The AFL can get f***ed and Gillan McLaughlin is a c***!!!

And if I ever get anywhere near him, I’ll call the prick out!!!

Show some balls and do the right thing

They manage to prop a basket case up, yer won’t consider a viable option

F*** off!!!

Showing your true colours BM
Why should tassie receive a stand alone side when they can't supply anywhere near the talent each year to the lists that equate to the rest of the three states (Vic, WA, SA).
Tassie would be living off the draft picks from other states to survive. Victoria supplies over 50% of the draft picks each year. Tassie would supply maybe one player each year.

[Crossy66]

Move the gold coast suns to Tassie, simple, save a fortune.

[Waltzing St Kilda]

Agreed that there are too many sides now, diluting the talent base, which is already thinning as kids turn to soccer.

We will we ever again see a St Kilda side -- or any side -- featuring stars the calbre of Lockett, Winmar, Harvey, Burke, Loewe?

The answer is to fold up GC -- maybe turn Brisbane into Brisbane-GC -- and give Tassie its side.

[minneapolis]

The old VFL Tassie team had a dark green guernsey with a gold map of Tassie on the chest.
If they ever get a Women's team...........

Daryl Daryl Daryl. Gold my son.

[Vortex]

I don’t even want to read about it

The AFL can get f***ed and Gillan McLaughlin is a c***!!!

And if I ever get anywhere near him, I’ll call the prick out!!!

Show some balls and do the right thing

They manage to prop a basket case up, yer won’t consider a viable option

F*** off!!!

Showing your true colours BM
Why should tassie receive a stand alone side when they can't supply anywhere near the talent each year to the lists that equate to the rest of the three states (Vic, WA, SA).
Tassie would be living off the draft picks from other states to survive. Victoria supplies over 50% of the draft picks each year. Tassie would supply maybe one player each year.

This point further highlights the elephant in the room, 10 sides in Melbourne. We already have a talent pool that struggles to support an 18 side competition. Presently the size of the talent pool heavily subsidises the two franchise teams further reducing the available talent for the other 16 teams.

Factor in the magnetism created by the rich clubs that draws a stronger current of the best talent towards themselves, and also the leverage the rich clubs have through the free agency system, now factor in a 19th club that will have to be subsidised for talent not only equal to the AFL's franchise clubs, but for decades longer, if not on a permant basis due to the disparity in projected population growth between the Gold Coast, Western Sydney and Tasmanian regions.

I have heard through a reliable source that the Carter Review is nothing more than a trick similarly used in politics whereby the owners of the review can utilise it for deflection. Expect all 18 presidents to vote NO to a 19th team unless a solution to reducing 10 teams in Melbourne can be found.

The reliable source is a sponsor of the Gold Coast Suns and has a personal relationship with the President.

[happy feet]

Move the gold coast suns to Tassie, simple, save a fortune.

And GWS to Canberra.

[bigcarl]

My take on the Carter report.

Tasmania should and inevitably will have a team in the AFL. However, 18 clubs is more than enough if a supporter can hope to see a premiership in their lifetime.

The smart decision would be to fold Gold Coast Suns and replace them with a Tassie team. Unfortunately Jillian has ruled that out.

I really don’t think printing more licences - a 19th and 20th club - is the answer. Tassie, if it wants a team, will have to settle for a relocated Melbourne side. Probably one of Kangaroos, Hawks, or - dare I say it - Saints.

I wouldn’t welcome it, but if it came to it I’d still follow St Kilda. I guess we’d still be the only club south of the Yarra.

[Saintmatt]

The elephant in the room is 10 sides in Melbourne. The AFL need to find a way to reduce that number and then Tassie can have a team. That's my read on the situation.

Spot on.

But Carter gave the AFL the report they wanted (& knew they were going to get).

Carter was never going to recommend that GCS be punted and that licence and their funding be re-directed to Tassie. Which is pretty much what Tassie want/need.

The rubber will hit the road when the AFL announces what inducements a Melb team will receive to go to Tassie. North was going to get extra draft picks for 10 years + $50M cash + a new stadium etc to go to Gold Coast. Be interesting to see what they come up with this time 'round