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Lachlan Geleit • May 12th, 2025 5:55 pm
Tasmania head of recruiting Derek Hine has been blown away by the number of current AFL players who have contacted him with interest in playing for the Devils.
Hine was appointed in the key role last week and has already begun looking at the type of player the Devils will target for their 2028 entry into the competition.
With players already interested in the Tassie project and several Tasmanian youngsters like Ryley Sanders and Colby McKercher really starting to make an impact at the top level, Hine and the club’s powerbrokers have confidence that the Apple Isle will be an attractive place for AFL players to live and play in.
“Those (Tasmanian) guys are clearly first point of contact,” Hine told SEN Tassie’s The Devil’s Advocate.
“But we've sort of been mindful that they are all contracted players and talking to Todd (Patterson), Brendon (Gale) and Alastair (Lynch), the amount of interest (is big).
“I've only been in the chair a week, and player managers and players have contacted me directly about potential opportunities that are going to present as well.
“That in itself gives me, Todd and certainly Brendon and Alastair a level of confidence that there's a real attraction to play here.
“We spoke about the profile of the list… but I think it's really important that we get the profile of the athlete right as well.
“That’s the player that's going to be able to come into the state and thrive in the state, and have a real buy-in.
“I've been taken aback by the amount of AFL talent that are running around now that have contacted me with just wanting to be involved in something new.”
If Tasmania do enter the competition in 2028, they’ll be the third team to join the AFL in a two-decade span, but Hine doesn’t expect the off-field build to be as tough early as it was in non-football states of Queensland and New South Wales.
“This is very, very different to GWS, Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast,” Hine said.
“They’ve done an amazing job, but it wasn't that long ago you'd go to GWS to watch a game and they're flashing the rules up on the scoreboard.
“That's not going to be the case here, you’re going to be locking supporters out because you can't get them all in.
“This is a football state. I genuinely think talking to a few of the guys that I've spoken to, and I'm talking players, and these are only casual conversations … but there's a genuine interest.
“It's how we turn that interest into acquisition that is the important thing.”
As well as recruiting players from rival clubs, Tasmania are set to receive plenty of draft concessions with the club to be given around a dozen first-round picks in its first three years.
Photo: @brentcostelloe on X.
