
Tasmania is gearing up for its first AFL team, the Devils, after 160 years of footy history. The club is currently in the VFL but is set to join the AFL and AFLW, with strong local support evident from record attendance at games.
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When the original rules of the game were being written in Melbourne, Tasmanians were playing footy, too. Itâs taken 160 years for the state to get its first genuine chance at the elite level, but early signs indicate the Tasmania Football Club is thriving.
For now, the Devils are playing in the second-tier VFL competition, but that is only as a two-year pathway to a guaranteed place in the AFL and AFLW.
Locals have been voting with their feet. In March, the Devils debuted by selling out their first game at North Hobart Oval. On Anzac Day, they crushed the VFLâs home-and-away attendance record when more than 14,000 packed into Ninja Stadium. At the weekend, despite the pouring rain in Launceston, nearly 2,500 still turned out.
Tasmania, a heartland Australian football state, is finally being represented on the national stage and the Devils have been driven into the national consciousness.
The club is acutely aware of its responsibility to the community. Soon after the Devils were confirmed as the national competitionâs 19th club in 2023, Kathryn McCann joined as executive director and continues to provide integral foundational leadership. âWe see our roles as a privilege,â she says. âThis is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deliver something very special.â
An incredible 216,000 foundation members signed on. That surge of support has sent junior participation numbers skyrocketing, and Tasmania now boasts the nationâs highest female participation rate. The menâs team have won four of their first five games and sit third on the VFL ladder.
In two weeks, the clubâs VFLW side will enter the fray, building even further on the momentum already created. And, in a landmark deal, all of the clubâs VFL and VFLW home games are being broadcast live on free-to-air TV.
That provides unprecedented access. âWe are a whole-of-state club, and not everyone can get to the games, but allowing people to join in and be part of that journey with us is so important, and itâs what weâve based the club on from the start,â McCann says.

Young Devils fans. Photograph: Tasmania FC
Traditionally, parochial geographical divides have made uniting Tasmanians difficult. However, joining McCann at the executive level are former Richmond CEO Brendon Gale and chair Grant OâBrien, both from the stateâs north-west coast. This is not a club anchored to one corner of the state, but one that stretches across the island.
Tasmania's entry into the AFL marks the state's first genuine representation at the elite level of Australian football after 160 years.
The Tasmania Devils have been thriving in the VFL, setting attendance records and selling out their debut game.
Kathryn McCann is the executive director of the Tasmania Football Club, providing foundational leadership as they prepare for their AFL entry.
The Tasmania Devils are set to join the AFL and AFLW after a two-year pathway in the VFL, confirmed as the 19th club in 2023.
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Matches are not concentrated but dispersed. The Devils play in Hobart, Launceston and soon Penguin, where a mid-season doubleheader will be staged as a weekend-long community event.
Last year, when political turmoil threatened the clubâs existence, 15,000 Tasmanians rallied in support. In addition to the record-breaking Anzac Day crowd, 107,000 Tasmanians tuned in to the television coverage, out-rating the stateâs viewership of the traditional Collingwood v Essendon AFL match.
McCann speaks of milestones happening almost every day. âI think we would all agree that the Devils have come along at a time Tasmanian footy needed it most,â she says.
âWeâre building a footy club, and now the community and the fans actually have some footy to engage with, and itâs really shifted the conversation and engagement. Itâs super exciting.
âBut, weâre not planning and preparing the organisation to play Coburg. Weâre planning and preparing to play Collingwood. The next two years are so fundamentally important for pressure-testing the organisation.â
Community is at the core of everything they do. The finer details reflect it. The ever-popular mascot, Rumâun, was created by a local puppeteering company and made using fabric from recycled Tasmanian school uniforms.

Rumâun, the Tasmania Devils mascot, interacts with fans during the round two VFL game against Port Melbourne. Photograph: Tasmania FC
The club has also been instrumental in developing the Tasmanian Academy of Leadership and Sport, which provides young Tasmanians with a pathway into the elite sport sector. âWeâve got 90 students this year, and without these opportunities, some wouldâve left the island,â McCann says.
They are creating a tangible connection that Tasmanian footy fans like Tiana Brown gravitate toward. On Sunday, the dedicated Devilsâ supporter who, alongside Mark Brown, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity while driving the âYes Stadiumâ movement, travelled north along the Midlands Highway to Launceston. After the Devils sealed victory over Sandringham, she said: âWe deserve this.â
âPeople have come and gone and died waiting for this team to happen. But now, weâre sitting here in the cheer squad with kids all around us, waving flags, shaking pom-poms, and joining in the chants. I am so immensely proud to be Tasmanian.â
While the debate surrounding the proposed new stadium on Hobartâs waterfront has lingered â the project quoted to cost $1.13bn prompted a âNo Stadiumâ campaign just as visible and vocal as its counterpart â Salamancaâs streets are now filled with myrtle green. Pubs and cafes are alive with footy chat, and the state appears energised by what lies ahead. You can even order a pair of custom-designed Tassie Devils Blundstone boots. This is the club fans have been waiting for.