Tasmania Devils news

Devils' big challenge

By Robbo June 13, 2007
From The Mercury
Reported by Adam Smith

THE Devils face one of the toughest asks in VFL football this Sunday when they travel to Skilled Stadium to take on the might of Geelong.

While the seniors sit top of the ladder and are firming for AFL flag favouritism, the Cats' VFL affiliate is travelling just as smoothly.

After nine rounds. Geelong sits second behind powerhouse Sandringham, although the Cats are coming off a loss last weekend to Werribee.

The Devils' Origin defeat at the hands of Queensland will no doubt further erode confidence in Daryn Cresswell's men, who will need to be on song to return to the winners' list.

In their favour is a decent record at Skilled Stadium, where the Devils won in 2005 and went down by a kick last season.

A former assistant coach at Geelong, Cresswell will be passing on vital inside information as his players prepare to tackle a side which last week contained 20 AFL listed players.

"We just need to come up with tactics in terms of playing against AFL-listed players," Cresswell said.

"We have to pick a side able to run, the ground is similar to Aurora Stadium and we will go into the game with a side we think can cover the ground and play good hard competitive footy."

Push for Devils

By Robbo June 12, 2007
From Adelaide Advertiser
Reported by Doug Robertson

SANFL clubs have encouraged the league to "investigate" the prospect of inviting the Tassie Devils to join the SA competition in 2009.

The push is gaining momentum on both sides of Bass Strait with the SANFL sending "preliminary" costings of fielding a team in the country's best state league to AFL-Tasmania.

There is yet to be a formal meeting between the state league boards although AFL-Tasmania GM Scott Wade visited West Lakes for informal talks recently.

The Devils - affiliated with the VFL for eight seasons and aligned to the Kangaroos - won't make a move in deciding their future until the findings of the AFL's review of Victorian football is released, probably at the end of this season.

Wade said his league was "very interested" in considering joining the SANFL, depending on how the AFL review impacted on Tasmania. He said a move would have to be financially sustainable.

"If we are going to do this, we wouldn't be doing it for five minutes, we'd be there forever," he said.

VFL general manager Peter Schwab says the Devils are "very much" wanted in Victoria. But the AFL clubs would have huge input to the findings which are supposed to regenerate football at all levels in Victoria.

Maroons right on target, Tassie right off the map

By Robbo June 10, 2007
From Sunday Tasmanian
Reported by James Bresnehan

NOT enough Tasmanians cherished wearing The Map, a shattered state coach Daryn Cresswell said last night after his side's 11-point loss to Queensland under lights at Aurora Stadium.

There were tears and bowed heads in the Tasmanian changerooms after the interstate slugfest, a classic physical contest won by the Maroons over a wasteful Tasmania 13.7 (85) to 10.14 (74).

But Cresswell reserved an extraordinary broadside aimed squarely at those he felt did not pull their weight.

He felt some rode on the coat-tails of the committed, like Ken Hall, whose superb performance in the midfield won him the Lefroy Medal as the best Tasmanian player on the ground.

It was Tasmania's first interstate match since 1999.

"It's been eight years since we pulled the jumper on, and I just hope the players were hurting as much as we (the coaches), the Tasmanian fans, and the past players who have worn the jumper were," Cresswell said.

"Too many guys take representing Tasmania for granted."

State game will end Trent's career

By Robbo June 08, 2007
From Launceston Examiner
Reported by Luke Scott

VETERAN Tasmanian footballer Trent Bartlett will run on to the ground for the final time tomorrow, after yesterday announcing his retirement.

Bartlett will play his final game for the Tasmanian side in the representative match against Queensland at Aurora Stadium.

After 81 AFL games, and four years with the Tasmanian Devils' VFL side, Bartlett said he had not made the decision to hang up his boots lightly.

"It's been something that's been in the back of my mind probably for a couple of years, and particularly over the past month," the 31-year-old said.

"I thought, what better way to finish up than to get a game for Tasmania and bow out then?"

Originally from Deloraine, Bartlett was drafted to the Brisbane Bears at the end of the 1993 AFL season at number 45.

He played 22 games with the club over three years and another 17 for the Lions after the merger with Fitzroy.

In 2000 he was picked up by the Western Bulldogs, and went on to play a further 42 matches, before returning to Tasmania to play with the Devils in 2003.

Slug on Devils

By Robbo June 08, 2007
From The Mercury
Reported by James Bresnehan

TASMANIA is facing a sharp increase in its VFL licence fee next season whether or not the Devils are a stand-alone team.

AFL Victoria plans to hit the Devils' hip pocket by upping their licence, which is already the VFL's most expensive.

That means an increase on Tasmania's $85,000 aligned licence fee, thanks to its partnership with the Kangaroos.

Or the non-aligned licence fee of $35,000, which the Devils would revert to if the alignment ends as expected at the end of the season.

But instead of paying more, AFL Tasmania wants its slice of the VFL pie.

"Next year will be our eighth season in the competition, so I would think after such a long time we ought to get the same deal as everyone else," AFL Tasmania's general manager Scott Wade said yesterday.

Stand-alone VFL clubs Frankston and Port Melbourne get a $140,000 "incentive" grant from AFL Victoria each year.

North Ballarat, which also has a partial alignment with the Kangaroos, gets $70,000 -- half the incentive grant.

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