New NTFA Premier Division 2025

[OneEyedPie7]

I'd go back to 1879 as well if necessary, because it "backs up my claims" (which are historically factual and pretty much the story of Tasmanian football...got some gaps there you need to fill in your own head, bud, and if you want to argue any of this historical stuff with me, good luck...!)...

The point though is not the number of teams in the comp - it's the competitiveness and viability. You yourself have stated that it will be lopsided. We're also going to have an issue to contend with when the VFL Devils start, and that will be the possible huge drop between that level and the best local teams. Local footy is not there to bring in huge crowds - we're way past that because that's not how Australia functions these days. Townships and suburbs don't show up to see the local heroes anymore. Aussies turn up in huge numbers to watch elites, and the elites plus TV coverage funds everything below it (when it works properly, and too often we see lower tiers absolutely starving). Tassie's footy will be funded by an AFL franchise, just like WA and SA, plus dividends from the AFL competition, and you'd imagine the odd prop up fund that helps most clubs in some way...and our prop up will not look as good as Qld or Sydney's, because there's a lot more riding on the success of those states v ours...

So the entire point of the opposition that Launceston and North will front up against next year will be in supporting the pointy end of the structure, the one under the Devils side that actually will be "home grown" (because the AFL side will be all interstaters). And if Deloraine and Scottsdale can't pull their weight, then you'll have a huge issue in that division due to the ramifications of that. Something has to concentrate the talent into a constant weekly high standard, and limiting teams according to some high end criteria does that. At the other end, the critical issue for footy in Tasmania is putting a team on the field at all, and there are half a dozen sides, along with a few more who have gone into recess just recently, who are being absolutely destroyed week to week...again, ask the history guy, who can tell you that what Richmond, Claremont, Oatlands, Woodsdale, and worst of all, R-Toorak, can manage these days, is worse than anything struggling teams have managed in 145 years, and that's just 2024 alone. If a town's main priority is getting a team on the park at all, then this needs to be made as achievable as possible...get them out there and playing, and give the kids somewhere to play that won't go belly up next season. I'm worried that two of the Premier sides will be closer to this than the high end after regular thrashings by at least one team playing out of York Park...they might as well just go there now...

The other possibility could be a reintroduction of rep footy. South, North and NW, playing each other four times a year, gives you a twelve round series, make it six and you get eighteen rounds. A player on the Devils list not playing VFL that week would play for their region, and if their team had the bye they could guest for another. Guess what - that's a three team comp! And what's more, it dumbs down the premier divisions by taking the best players. Why not just streamline South, North, Longford and Launceston into a top league and at least get the north covered...you'd know our rep side when it meets up against the S and NW in rarer intrastate games would be battle hardened, that's gotta be a plus...

To your point regarding rep football, that is already happening next year. The NTFA, SFL and NWFL will play regular games against one another.

Jack Maher has vacated his position at South after accepting an assistant position at South Adelaide.

It appears that all premier league clubs bar North Launceston will have new coaches heading into next year.

 

[jj15]

So any news on Scottsdale and Deloraine coaches?