Tasmania Devils news

From the Mercury

Reported by Adam Smith
Full article Click here


With Anzac Day falling on a Friday next year, the Devils will clash with Casey Scorpions at Bellerive in round five for premiership points.

The club has always promoted the Anzac Day round -- usually with a match against Frankston -- but will play on the day for the first time since handing North Ballarat a 77-point hiding at North Hobart in 2004.

The Devils open next season with two away games against Bendigo and Box Hill -- the only two sides it defeated in 2007. Home-and-away matches have been evenly split, with Collingwood's decision to field a stand-alone VFL side increasing the roster season to 20 matches.

However, the Devils have the opportunity to "buy" home games, and Coburg has shown interest in selling its match on June 14.

Devils coach Daryn Cresswell signed Neville yesterday as one of four recruits in Melbourne this week.

AFL Tasmania will announced the quartet in Hobart today, with the promise of more recruits to follow.

Neville, who played for Clarence and the Mariners, was taken by the Demons at No. 68 in the 2005 draft.

His shot at the AFL was ruined by a frustrating fight with osteopubis, restricting him to only a handful of games with Melbourne's VFL affiliate Sandringham over the past two seasons.

But Neville has now put his groin issues to bed.

From The Mercury
Reported by James Bresnehan


SANFL executive commissioner Leigh Whicker found out on Monday afternoon in a phone call from Scott Wade that the Devils had announced their intentions to stay in the Victorian league.

The AFL Tasmania general manager had fronted a media conference in Hobart four hours earlier to outline the Devils' future.

Whicker said he and his South Australian colleagues did not feel used as leverage for the Devils to get a better deal in Victoria.

"Not at all," Whicker said.

"At the end of the day it's not about South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, it's about the game and getting the best mix to strengthen the code.

From The Mercury
Reported by Brett Stubbs


The formation of a Centre of Excellence, a $250,000 increased AFL grant, a 50 per cent increased salary cap and closer ties with the Hawthorn Football Club are all key ingredients to lifting the Devils off the bottom of the VFL ladder.

AFL Tasmania chairman Dominic Baker announced yesterday the Devils would be staying in the VFL long-term.

"Realistically, our intention is the Devils will be remaining in the VFL while we have the Tasmanian Devils," he said.

"We will sign a (VFL) licence for five years.

"Once we have got this program set up and working well and we have a successful club inside that competition, I think we will be there for a very long time."

The review, led by AFL Tasmania board member and Western Bulldogs recruiting manager Scott Clayton, will result in the state's best young players being relocated to the Centre of Excellence at Bellerive under the Devils banner.

From The Mercury
Reported by Brett Stubbs


Stephens, based in Launceston, said he was undecided at the moment about whether he would be able to continue on with the program next year.

He sat out the program in 2006 due to previous coach Mathew Armstrong's centralised training regime but returned this year when it was set up with regional training squads in the North, North-West and the South.

"Absolutely, I have got no doubt about that it will cost Northern players," Stephens said.

"It did in the past and it will again next year. If guys are serious about their footy and want to take their footy to the next level it is just the step they are going to have to take."

Stephens, 24, said he could not commit to the Devils by living in Launceston so would have to relocate.

From The Mercury
Reported by James Bresnehan


He was part of a group of Tasmanian Devils VFL players, who were there to see their coach Daryn Cresswell play in a superules match.

A caller to the Mercury yesterday, who did not wish to be identified, labelled the incident disgraceful.

"They were drinking and one stripped off and got on a bike and rode around naked at the game," the man said.

"I'm not immune to having a drink and I understand they have to let their hair down after the season.

"But I was there with a group of young families and it's pretty poor form to have one of them running round and riding around naked.

"They're a high-profile club the Devils and they're trying to build professionalism and I read in the paper they're going to have zero tolerance to bad off-field behaviour.

"They have a responsibility to the community and when this type of thing occurs, it's pretty disappointing."

AFL Tasmania said there had been no official complaints.

From AFL Tasmania

Scott Wade, General Manager of AFL Tasmania and Donald McDonald, Kangaroos General Manager Football Operations today confirmed that the two year partial VFL alignment will not continue in 2008.

The decision to end the partial VFL alignment is consistent with conclusions reached by the Board of Management of AFL Tasmania some weeks ago, and is consistent with the Kangaroos review of its own r VFL alignment structure.

Scott Wade thanked the Kangaroos for their contribution to the Tasmanian Devils over the past two years and expressed AFL Tasmania’s sincere appreciation for the professional manner in which the Kangaroos have handled every aspect of their VFL alignment with the Tasmanian Devils.

Scott Wade advised that over the past two years the players and officials of both Clubs have established a strong working relationship.

Scott Wade reinforced that over recent months the Board of Management of AFL Tasmania has and is continuing to analyse and review every aspect of the Tasmanian Devils program and through these deliberations it became obvious that a partial VFL alignment between the Tasmanian Devils and the Kangaroos could not be sustained for the following reasons:

- AFL Tasmania is committed to improving the quality of football in Tasmania and positioning the Devils as our states elite football team; providing more talented young Tasmanian players with the opportunity to play with the Devils.

- AFL Tasmania’s Board of Management will aim to raise the bar in all areas of the Tasmanian Devils program and fundamental to this will be to have the full Devils squad regularly training together at intensity.

- AFL Tasmania is committed to the development of a Strategic Alliance with the Hawthorn Football Club and therefore the VFL alignment compromises our capacity to maximize the value that Hawthorn can add to AFL Tasmania’s talent pathway programs (including the Devils).

From The Mercury
Reported by James Bresnehan


 And Williamstown not only delivered on its promise to play Tasmanian Brodie Holland on his way back from a heel injury, it will play 15 Collingwood-listed players including Rhyce Shaw.

Among the Magpies' senior players are Tasmanian Sam Iles, as well as dynamic midfielder Paul Licuria and prolific ball-winner Ryan Lonie.

"We weren't sure how Brodie would come up, but he's come through training nicely and will definitely play," Willy coach Brad Gotch said yesterday.

"Rhyce Shaw will come over to Williamstown this week as well, which we weren't expecting."

Gibson returns three months after he was told his season was over because of bleeding on the brain.