Alastair Clarkson to advise Tasmanian bid for standalone 19th team
2 min readTasmania’s hopes of having a standalone AFL team has been bolstered with the addition of Alastair Clarkson as an advisor to the taskforce behind the bid.
According to The Age, Clarkson will receive a six-month contract to advise the Tasmanian group as it prepares to pitch the idea of a 19th team to AFL presidents next year.
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Clarkson’s signing was announced by Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein in state parliament today.
The four-time premiership winner is expected to provide advice on a funding strategy, a proposed Hobart-based stadium, as well as state football pathways and talent identification.
Clarkson, who is currently studying in the United States, has previously expressed great interest in a 19th team being based in the Apple Isle, saying he would consider coaching the team himself.
« From this far out, if I was unemployed like I am now I’d be putting my hand up big time to get involved in such an exciting venture, » he told SEN in September.
Clarkson’s Hawthorn teams regularly played home games in Tasmania during his 17-season tenure as coach, and the 53-year-old has been a big advocate of the state’s proposal for a standalone team.
« I just think that we’ve got to reinvigorate footy down in Tasmania, and it’s going to take a period of time to do that, » he said.
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« We want, in five or six years’ time if that was the time that Tasmania came into the [AFL] competition, we want to make sure that the bulk of the players who’re going to play for the Tassie side are heartland Tassie people.
« Tassie should already, in my view, have a team in the competition and because it hasn’t, well let’s roll up the sleeves and make sure… none of this quasi stuff. Let’s get a Tassie standalone team out of the Tassie market. Let’s take our time to build it up. »
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