And if that’s not weird enough for you – because of The Stadium, Tasmania could now get archaic Liberal Eric Abetz as premier.
The special arrogance of the people who cooked up this idea was thinking that the locals would swallow what they were fed. One of the arguments in favour of The Stadium goes like this: the people of Adelaide didn’t want changes to Adelaide Oval when it became a three-sided stadium, but now they love it. Therefore, the argument goes, that’s what’ll happen in Hobart.
The Stadium will dwarf the colonial waterfront, sitting behind it like a giant hamburger bun.
There’s a difference between the two cities. When did you last hear of a public protest in the streets of Adelaide? There’s one every other month in Hobart. It’s a city with a non-stop history of citizen political activity going back to the 1960s.
Right now, the three hottest issues are salmon farming, logging native forests and The Stadium. In some minds, they are interchangeable.
Around now, if I were Brendon Gale, I’d feel I was stuck in an absurdist play. The still unborn Tasmanian Devils are now front and centre in the island’s culture wars, the last place you want it to be if you were the one person with the vision and ability to build a football club for the new Tasmania that was ready and waiting to jump aboard … until The Stadium.
Loading
What makes some of us angry is that it didn’t have to be like this, particularly when so much is at stake.
There are now clubs in Tasmania where once there were associations; Bracknell is one of them. A proud little footy survivor, a town of 300 people, the same couple of families keeping the club going for three generations. No AFL player has ever visited the kids at Bracknell Primary School but – guess what? – Jackjumpers head coach Scott Roth has.
Bracknell does not receive one cent from the AFL. The club secretary works 30 unpaid hours per week as well as managing the office of her family business. Remember this when next you see a story saying the AFL made a multimillion-dollar profit last year with the implication that the game is in boomingly good health – that is a dangerous illusion because it only tells the story at one level.
In 1973 Scottsdale were the best team in Tasmania and competed against Richmond, Glenelg and Subiaco for the Australian championship. For three decades they were a top Tasmanian club. Three weeks ago I watched as they kicked 0 goals, 0 behinds against their old foes, North Launceston. If Scottsdale Football Club expires, there will be no football club in the north-east of the island between St Helen’s on the east coast and Bridport on the north coast.
Over the past century, the west coast of Tasmania had eight different associations and around 100 clubs. It now has two clubs. In the bottom third of the island – including the greater Hobart area – there are only 16 football clubs left. The game is much stronger in the north and north-west, but these are precisely the areas where The Stadium is most unpopular.
The unique genius of The Stadium is that it has alienated so many footy followers. Should the Tasmanian club’s licence now be withdrawn, I would expect a loss of enthusiasm for the game at all levels, including the AFL.
What is happening to Australia’s great 19th century athletic invention in Tasmania is happening in various degrees to grassroots footy in other parts of the country. To those who insist on seeing the game and its future in purely corporate terms I say – get real. Without grassroots footy, there is no “AFL industry”.
Loading
Our game has competition aplenty. That roar heard around Australia last week was the Socceroos qualifying for the World Cup. The historical weakness of Australian football relative to soccer and rugby has been its failure to expand internationally. We have ourselves alone.
If I were addressing the 18 presidents I’d say – we need the team, and you need us. You needed us in the past and you will need us again in the future, if there is to be one.
Martin Flanagan is a member of the Tasmanian AFL Hall of Fame and is currently writing a book on country football.
