Tasmanian State League

Tasmanian State League
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2014 TSL Season
Formerly TFA (1879–1886)
STFA (1887–1896)
STFL (1897)
STFA (1898-1905)
TFL (1906–1927)
TANFL (1928–1985)
TFL Statewide League (1986–1998)
TSFL (1999)
SWL (2000)
TSL (2009-present)
Sport Australian Rules Football
TV partner(s) WIN Television
Official website Home: TSL Website

The Tasmanian State League (TSL) is the highest ranked Australian rules football league in Tasmania, Australia. It currently consists of 10 clubs; 5 in the north of the state(Launceston, North Launceston, Western Storm, Devonport & Burnie) and 5 in the south of the state (Glenorchy, Clarence, Lauderdale, Tigers, Hobart City).

History

League Presidents

Tasmanian State League

After a hiatus of eight years, AFL Tasmania announced plans for a return of the statewide league in 2009.

The concept attracted widespread public and media debate on the return of a statewide competition, with many in the football world hesitant over such a move due to the perilous financial position most of the participating clubs were left in after the previous competition was disbanded in 2000.
Many believed the push for a return of the league was a direct result of the media and the Tasmanian State Government's strong campaign in getting a Tasmanian team admitted into the AFL.

Under the AFL Tasmania plan, ten (10) clubs were invited to join the competition.

Clarence, Glenorchy, Hobart and North Hobart along with former Southern Amateur club Lauderdale in the South. North Launceston, South Launceston and Launceston from the North and Devonport and Burnie Dockers from the North-West Coast.

The response from many clubs was initially luke-warm at best with many concerned at the lack of detail in the AFL Tasmania plan and the rushed decision-making process of the move.
Ulverstone Football Club from the North West Coast bowed to pressure from its playing list and some factional groups within the club to put in a submission to join the competition in 2009.
Despite a membership vote narrowly ending in favour of joining, the Robins had missed the AFL Tasmania enforced deadline and were initially to be included in the 2010 Roster, however the remaining clubs (most notably its closest and most bitter rival Devonport) exerted considerable pressure upon the League not to alter the current makeup of teams for a period of ten years, therefore Ulverstone were excluded from joining.

SFL Premier League club Kingborough also lobbied AFL Tasmania to be included in the competition, but their case for inclusion was dismissed by the game's governing body due to their inadequate facilities and poor standard Kingston Beach Oval headquarters.
Former TFL club New Norfolk (1947–1999) was not invited to join the league because of their poor financial position.

Also, as a result of the new competition getting off the ground, the Tasmanian Devils VFL team was disbanded.

On 4 April 2009, the opening match of the reformed competition took place at King George V Park between the reigning premiers of the SFL Premier League, Glenorchy and reigning NTFL premier Launceston and resulted in a 21-point triumph to the Blues.
The inaugural Grand Final was held at Bellerive Oval on 19 September between old rivals Glenorchy and Clarence resulting in a thrilling 6-point victory to the Roos in front of 7,534 fans.

The 2010 season started brightly with over 12,000 attending the first round of matches but soon after there was a great deal of off-field controversy with former Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon originally accepting an unpaid role acting as a mediator between the clubs and AFL Tasmania as the relationship between the clubs and the governing body had become further strained. However, after only two weeks of the season, three clubs (Clarence, North Launceston and North Hobart) had decided to do their own bidding and Lennon walked away from the position.
There were further controversies, namely AFL Tasmania's decision to withdraw support for the Reserve grade competition after the Burnie Dockers announced only days before the start of the season that they would not be fielding a reserve grade side. Two other clubs (Hobart and Launceston) also struggled to field a reserves team throughout the season, and as a result the competition was run by the clubs themselves for the remainder of the season. It would be axed at season's end.
A finals set-up that included an extra week was roundly criticised by football pundits across the State and it failed to garner great enthusiasm amongst the footballing public as small crowds attended, with AFL Tasmania later admitting that they would be looking at returning to the more tradition Final Five set-up in 2011.

During the 2013 season, the South Launceston Football Club decided that it would not pursue a new TSL licence at the end of the season, and arranged to move into the NTFA in 2014; despite this, the club went on to win the 2013 premiership, meaning that there was no defending premier in 2014. The club was replaced by the Prospect State Football Club, which competes under the formal club name of Western Storm Football Club.[1]

2013 Tasmanian State League Ladder

Source: TSL season 2013 results

Team Played Won Lost Draw For Against Percentage Points
South Launceston* 18153019711138173.20%60
Burnie 18144018311303140.52%56
Launceston 18126015771182133.42%48
Clarence 18126017081294131.99%48
Lauderdale 18117014381324108.61%44
Glenorchy 189901425152993.20%36
North Hobart* 1871101315164180.13%28
North Launceston 18612014611392104.96%24
Devonport 1821601128208654.07%8
Hobart* 1821601112207753.54%8

2013 TSL FINALS Series[2]

Final Team G B Pts Team G B Pts
Elimination FinalClarence1714116Lauderdale141498
Qualifying Final Burnie19993Launceston131694
1st Semi Final Burnie1920134Clarence121385
2nd Semi Final South Launceston*2111137Launceston11773
Preliminary FinalLaunceston9660Burnie101474
Grand Final South Launceston*101474Burnie91165

Clubs

The Tasmanian Football League operates on a single table system, with no divisions, conferences nor promotion and relegation from other leagues.

Current Clubs

Jumper Club Nickname Location Training Ground Home Ground Debut Premiership Years Total of Premierships
Burnie Dockers Football Club "Dockers" Burnie, Tasmania West Park Oval West Park Oval TANFL/TFL/SWL/TSL: 1987 – TSL: 2012 TANFL/TFL/SWL/TSL: None
TSL: 2012		 1
Clarence Football Club "Kangaroos" Bellerive, Tasmania Bellerive Oval Bellerive Oval TANFL/TFL/SWL: 1947 – TFL: 2009 TANFL/TFL/SWL: 1970, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000
TSL: 2009, 2010		 11
Devonport Football Club "Magpies" Devonport Tasmania Devonport Oval Devonport Oval TANFL/TFL/SWL: 1987 – TFL: 2009 TFL/SWL: 1988
TSL: None		 1
Glenorchy Football Club "Magpies" Glenorchy, Tasmania KGV Oval KGV Oval TANFL/TFL/SWL: 1921 (As New Town Football Club) – 1957 (As Glenorchy District Football Club) – TFL: 2009 TANFL/TFL/SWL: 1935, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965, 1975, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1999
TSL: None		 14
Hobart City Football Club "Demons" North Hobart, Tasmania North Hobart Oval North Hobart Oval TBA TBA 0
Lauderdale Football Club "Bombers" Lauderdale, Tasmania Lauderdale Oval Lauderdale Oval & Bellerive Oval TSL: 2009 TSL: None 0
Launceston Football Club "Blues" Riverside, Tasmania Windsor Park Windsor Park TANFL/TFL/SWL: 1994 – TFL: 2009 TANFL/TFL/SWL: None
TSL: 2011		 1
North Launceston Football Club "Bombers" Invermay, Tasmania Aurora Stadium & Invermay Park Aurora Stadium & Invermay Park TANFL/TFL/SWL: 1986 – TFL: 2009 TANFL/TFL/SWL: 1995, 1998
TSL: None		 2
Tigers FC "Tigers" Kingston, Tasmania Twin Ovals Complex Twin Ovals Complex STFA (1893–1907), Channel FA (1908), Kingborough FA (1909–1966), Huon FA (1967–1995), SFL (1996–2013), TSL (2014–present) KFA: 1930, 1933, 1936, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1966
HFA: 1980, 1991, 1995
SFL: 1997, 2011		 15
Western Storm Football Club "Storm" Prospect, Tasmania Prospect Park Aurora Stadium TFL: 2014 None 0

TANFL/TFL Statewide League Clubs: 1945–2000

TFL 1945–2013

Audience

Media

Official Magazine

Currently there is no official magazine for games during the 2014 season. A new provider and TSL Record is currently being re-designed for the 2015 season and beyond through Tall Zebra Media.

Television

The ABC and TVT6 (Now WIN Tasmania) have broadcast the league previously.

All Tasmanian based stations have news and results shown regularly in their news broadcasts. Southern Cross report full-time scores from the TFL as well as other leagues around the state during the half time break of their Saturday night AFL broadcast.

Radio

League matches were formerly broadcast on radio from 1931 to 2000, however there are currently no radio broadcasts of TFL football with the exception of the Grand Final and the occasional roster game on ABC Local Radio which is also streamed online.

Newspapers

The Hobart Mercury in the South, The Examiner in Launceston and the North as well as The Advocate on the North West Coast all provide extensive coverage of TSL football in their publications.

Attendance

The Tasmanian Football league crowds compete heavily with AFL matches on television. Crowds at the beginning of the season are usually quite high and are up with the mainland state football competitions. Attendances usually slide considerably until it will increase during the finals. Night games, especially ones that do not clash with AFL matches are well attended.

Patrons at TFL games pay at the gates or hold club season passes.

Individual awards

Alistair Lynch Medal Winners

Presented to the Best and Fairest player in the Tasmanian State League from 2009.

Peter Hudson Medal Winners

Presented to the Leading Goalkicker in the Tasmanian State League from 2009.

Premierships, Leading Goalkickers and Records

See also

References

  1. ↑ Phil Edwards (4 Dec 2013). "Storm warning". The Examiner (Launceston, TAS). Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  2. ↑ TSL season 2013 results

External links

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