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"Significant jeopardy": Why the Tassie Devils are under threat
SEN • September 14th, 2025 1:42 pm
Tasmania may have all but locked in their head coach, however, there remains ample to play out ahead of their 2028 entry to the AFL.
Earlier this week, the Melbourne Demons appointed Geelong assistant coach Steven King to take the role as top dog in what will be King’s first permanent gig at the helm of an AFL side.
The decision came to the surprise of many, as former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley appeared a near certainty to step into the gig, cemented as the favourite to take over from Simon Goodwin since the premiership coach’s sacking.
Speaking on Fox Footy, Buckley revealed that he simply wasn’t prepared to take on the role so quickly, as meetings with Tasmania and the prospect of securing the role as their first ever head coach remain in the picture.
“I’m meeting with Tassie on Tuesday, and I needed a little bit more of an insight into that process and their timeline before I was able to make a final call on whether I was willing to step into the Melbourne role,” Buckley said on Friday night.
With the legendary Pie expected to be announced as Tasmania’s inaugural leader in the coming months, the on-field processes can commence with immediate effect, as the Devils’ VFL/VFLW campaigns loom large ahead of 2026.
That said, the off-field drama surrounding their required Macquarie Point Stadium development continues, and according to Gerard Whateley, securing their head coach is far from the Devils’ biggest concern.
“There’s a lot to play out with Tassie,” Whateley told SEN Crunch Time.
“I think the stadium is in significant jeopardy, more so than ever before.
“There’s a report that’s due at the end of September, which I think is going to challenge the politics around it more severely than has happened - it has bipartisan support for the time being.
“I wonder when that report lands, from what I’m told, whether bipartisan support will survive that, and then what that ultimately means.
“Because it’s a conditional license, and the stadium is a big part of that, I feel less confident around the stadium as we sit here before that report lands, than ever before.
“That’s the end of September that that’s due, and I think it will test the conviction around that more severely. How do you integrate that into the preparations that are being made – there’s obviously the VFL and the VFLW, those steps have been taken.
“I think there’s going to be a moment where the AFL has to sit down and say, ‘we held our line the whole way through, are we still holding this line or are we going to deny Tasmania its team on the of the stadium.
“Who knows, who’s in charge at that stage? We could have a different chairman of commission by then. That side of it is unanswerable.”
