The Hawks’ four home-and-away matches – as well as a pre-season fixture – in Launceston will make way for the Tasmania Devils’ arrival in 2028. Hawthorn argued to keep its matches in the northern part of the state given the Devils would play out of Hobart. But the AFL confirmed on Tuesday morning that Tasmania would get an open run across the entire state. Hawthorn president Andy Gowers said the club was already discussing with the AFL where those home games would be staged. “We
would want those games to be back at the MCG and that’s part of the discussion with the AFL,” Gowers said. “I am not going to talk exact numbers (money lost), but what I will say is it is a significant factor in our bottom line and has been for a number of years. “That’s part of our disappointment.” Hawthorn has about 8000 members as well as full-time staff based in Tasmania. “That is clearly one of our major considerations,” Gowers said. “Members down there
on the ground but also staff, we’ve got full-time staff who work there. “We feel for them and we’ll be communicating with every member, all of our staff, all of the people down there who have supported us and got involved in the football program down there – we feel for them.” When asked if the AFL would assist the Launceston staff with employment in Tasmania, Gowers said: “I don’t know the answer to that question.” Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said the decision was like
being “kicked out of a home”. “You know the people at the coffee shop, the hotels and go on the same sort of walks and around the same sort of people all the time,” Mitchell said. “It feels like we’ve sort of been kicked out a home and I understand, I guess, from the AFL’s perspective. “I mean it’s easy to group all of Tassie together, but we’ve spent the vast majority of our time in Launceston and we’ve loved our time there. “We’re enormously
disappointed we won’t get the opportunity to continue to be a part of that community. “Having said that, we’ve still got seven games to go, so we’ll do our best to show how much they mean to us on Thursday night.”
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