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Full Noise by SN
Join our Fantasy SRP leagueWatson’s Devils concern: Will young players want to go to Tassie?
SEN • February 12th, 2026 12:12 pm
SEN’s Tim Watson has one key concern around the Tasmania Devils AFL side.
With their stadium locked in, the Devils look certain to join the competition in 2028.
While fans are excited to see a side represent the Apple Isle, Watson isn’t so sure that young players from mainland Australia will be that keen on heading south to play for the 19th side.
Having recently spent some time in Tasmania, Watson wondered if he’d enjoy it as much as he does now if he were a young person beginning to make their way in pro sports.
He discussed that predicament with Sam Edmund on SEN Breakfast and what the AFL might have to do to keep young players there longer.
Watson: “I was down in Tassie last week. I was having a good look around and it was a great place to visit, especially for an older person like me who loves the ambience of a place.
“We explored Freycinet and Hobart, and we went to MONA and all those places… Launceston too.
“I was thinking and my wife and I were talking about this, ‘What a great little state it is’.
“But then I’m thinking, ‘Would it excite me if I was a young player? If I was an 18 or 19-year-old that thought that I was going to be one of the best players in the land and likely getting drafted by Tasmania.
“I don't know if I'd want to be going to Tassie. That's the point.”
Edmund: “What is it that a young player wants to see in the environment of the AFL club that they step into?
“Does it matter the geography of it, or is it just the fact that they've been selected and they're in AFL now?
“What's missing down there as a young person that you wouldn't get down there that you can get in Melbourne?”
Watson: “Well, I think it might be just the excitement of a big place, living in a city-type environment that offers all sorts of opportunities and different places, socially or whatever it might be.
“Why did Geelong get all these players wanting the sanctuary and the solitude and the anonymity of the surf coast then? I reckon if I'm a young Jeremy Cameron, I would love to be drafted by the Tassie Devils.
“I still think they're up against it, and I believe that the AFL, because they'll be really concerned about the retention… I wouldn’t be surprised if they change the ruling around the retention of a player that’s drafted early and how long you have to commit.
“I think that they'd be looking at a three-to-four-year deal.”
