Tasmania Devils AFL boss Brendon Gale outlines must-haves for new club

The chief executive of the new Tasmanian AFL team says he feels the "full weight of responsibility" in getting the club ready to enter the league in three years' time.

Brendon Gale started with the Tasmania Devils this week after an incredibly successful 15-year stint at Richmond, leading the club to three premierships in four years.

The former Richmond ruckman and head of the AFL Players Association, who is from Tasmania's north-west coast, said he felt immense pressure to perform in his new role and help to make the AFL's 19th club a success from the get-go.

"I do feel the full weight of responsibility," he said.

"I don't want to mess this up, we want to be a really competitive club on and off the field."

Caitlyn Evans, Oliver Kelly, Taya Parker, and Jimi Partridge display the Tasmania Devils foundation guernsey design at a launch event in March 2024. (Supplied: Solstice Digital/Rod Thompson)

Independent review finds new Hobart stadium costs to 'exceed $1 billion' Photo shows A concept image of the proposed Hobart stadium at Macquarie Poi nt. A leading independent economist tasked with reviewing Tasmania's proposal to build an AFL stadium on Hobart's waterfront finds the project is "already displaying the hallmarks of mismanagement" and is likely to exceed $1 billion.

Gale said a new stadium proposed for Hobart's Macquarie Point was key to that, but declined to say whether he was concerned that it was yet to be confirmed if the contentious proposal would go ahead.

Under the AFL entry deal the stadium is required to be ready in time for the 2029 AFL season.

The stadium is still being assessed by the state's planning commission under the Project of State Significance process, and then needs to be voted through both houses of parliament to become a reality.

"That'll run its course and the government and the parliament will be the ultimate arbiter of that process and that decision, but all I can say is that as far as the team is concerned, the performance, it's really, really important," he said.

"To be competitive in this AFL industry, this cutthroat, ruthless industry, you need financial strength and stadium finances go to the heart of that.

"I've seen it, I've lived it, I've seen the experience of clubs with poor stadium builds as opposed to those with strong stadium builds, I've seen Adelaide oval change the destiny of Port Adelaide, and of a city and a state."

The proposed Macquarie Point stadium has its supporters, but also many who say the money would be better spent elsewhere. (Supplied: MPDC)

The stadium's price tag is now estimated at $775 million, but that figure does not include almost $50 million of "revenue-generating features", including a food and beverage fit-out, audio-visual services and LED advertising signage.

Gale said he was confident there was "strong political support" for the stadium proposal, and said the Project of State Significance process was "an appropriate check and balance".

"I'm just proceeding on the basis that it's going ahead and ultimately those decisions are for people on a much higher pay grade than me," he said.

"But we're doing everything we can within our power to build the strongest club as we can, to build the strongest team, to build the strongest connection with our members and fans, and what will be, will be."

Brendon Gale says the new club will need the "right mix of elite youth and hardened professionals" in its players list. (ABC News: Sandy Powell)

Call for list concessions to aid fledgling club

Gale said he wanted the AFL to grant "broad and deep" concessions for the new team as it built its first list, including extra draft picks and measures to recruit experienced players.

The power of the AFL versus Australia's smallest state. It was never an even contest Photo shows Two men in suits speaking at a press conference outside. The AFL might need to start paying attention to the political problem it's created in Tasmania with the deal it has made for a Hobart stadium, writes Adam Holmes.

He said a draft proposal provided to the club by the AFL was "not as generous" as what was provided to the last two expansion clubs: the Greater Western Sydney Giants and the Gold Coast Suns.

"I guess we need to understand why and their motives behind that and land somewhere that's good for us and right for the competition," he said.

"The spring for competition relies on high degrees of competitive balance, so they'll want to afford us the kind of concessions that can get us competitive early and get us the right mix of elite youth and hardened professionals."

Brendon Gale (second from right) during his playing days at Richmond. (Richmond Football Club)

'Planets aligned'

Gale said the opportunity to return to Tasmania and lead the new club eventually became a "no-brainer" for him.

"The club loomed really large, not just from the heart point of view, because it is my home, but almost from an intellectual point of view, to have the opportunity to build a club from scratch. At the end it became a no-brainer," he said.

"I can't say I really coveted it [the role] because four or five years ago I never even thought it would really happen, so all the planets aligned, and I couldn't be happier.

"This is a club that will represent the whole state and showcase the very best Tasmania has to offer. Tasmania's going to walk taller from having a team participate in the biggest elite sports competition in Australia."

Club chairman Grant O'Brien says Gale is on the "very top shelf of sports administrators in Australia". (ABC News: Sandy Powell)

Devils chair Grant O'Brien said the club was thrilled to have Gale on board.

"The success of our club is going to be built on the quality of people that are attracted to and involved in our club, and we couldn't have a better example of that than Brendon, who sits on the very top shelf of sports administrators in Australia," he said.

"Brendon's a winner and our club needs to be successful both on the field and off the field in order to deliver the sort of community, economic and social benefits that the state has got to gain from having the club here."

Gale said he expected to hire list managers and recruiters "relatively soon", and then look at making key coaching appointments "sooner rather than later".

"We need some experience and some acumen and some experienced heads to work our way through our list concessions," he said.

"They'll have a huge bearing on how we establish and set up our club.

"A senior coach and that not as urgent, a bit depends on the VFL and when we enter, but it's earlier rather than later."

Click here to read article