Carlton coach Michael Voss has questioned Patrick Dangerfield’s radical idea to get the Tasmanian team going, saying it would make contracts “pointless”.
Dangerfield, the president of the AFL Players’ Association, suggested that the newest team should be able to poach one contracted player from the 18 other teams in the competition, if that player was keen on playing for Tasmania.
”I think if we’re going to do this and do this properly, Tasmania should have access to not only the best talent but the best possible people in order to create something that’s truly unique and truly special, and quite clearly, generating a really strong culture is part of that,” the Geelong star told SEN earlier this week.
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Voss wasn’t convinced that Dangerfield’s idea would work as seamlessly as he intends it.
“It’s pointless having contracts then. I would have thought contracted players are contracted players. If they’re available to be taken out of contract, then it’s fair game,” he said.
“But that’s the environment we live in. I would argue that under the current trading system that players who are contracted are still getting to the team they wish to go to, anyway.
“As a footy club, we want players who are invested (and) want to be here, so we’re always mindful of that … (but) there’s always forgiveness, in terms of the expansion clubs getting the talent, because that’s what they need to be able to thrive.”
Voss admitted that the Tasmania announcement would already have the other clubs scrambling to adjust their list strategies.
“Clearly, those discussions are already being had. I think the more serious discussions now start to come just because it’s now been confirmed,” he said.
“Until it’s real, you can’t really address those situations [and] once we start to get some rules around how they establish that list, then we can start to obviously pivot off that where we need to.”
Outgoing AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan is confident that Tasmania will have no problem attracting marquee players, indicating that he’d already held conversations with players wanting to one day make the move down to the Apple Isle.
The AFL is aiming to have Tasmania in both the men’s and women’s competitions by the 2028 season, with a VFL team set to enter the competition in 2025.
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