Tigers eye HobartADAM SMITH
July 02, 2010 RICHMOND's Brendon Gale will today meet Premier David Bartlett and Cricket officials with AFL matches at Bellerive on the agenda.
All three parties yesterday confirmed the meetings but gave no further details.
The push for AFL action in the south of the state is gathering momentum, with Bartlett and AFL boss Andrew Demetriou meeting a few weeks ago to discuss the prospects of football at Bellerive.
In April, Cricket Tasmania sent stadium figures to Gale outlining the return the Tigers would make from AFL games in Hobart.
Games scheduled at Bellerive would not clash with Hawthorn's deal in Launceston, with the Hawks and the State Government soon to start re-negotiating the deal that sees the Hawks play four matches at Aurora Stadium. The deal expires at the end of next year.
It is believed the AFL would look favourably on more games in Tasmania as it would help the state's push for the eventual inclusion of its own teamby increasing the number of games played.
Gale confirmed to the Mercury yesterday he would be meeting Bartlett but would not go into details.
"Yes I am [meeting the Premier]," Gale said yesterday.
"That is about a range of matters, football related matters, but I wouldn't want to comment further than that."
The AFL has become involved in negotiations to get more clubs playing home games in Tasmania, more than likely at Bellerive, with Richmond, North Melbourne and Melbourne in the mix.
While Gale will meet with the Premier and Cricket Tasmania today, it is believed North Melbourne is the favourite to play home games in Hobart, possibly as soon as 2012.
The AFL is believed to favour the Kangaroos the club Bartlett supports because of its ongoing struggle to attract decent crowds at home games in Melbourne.
Despite its on-field battles, Richmond can still attract much bigger crowds as it retains a huge supporter base.
The Tigers would be reluctant to commit to four home games in Hobart, while four North Melbourne games in Hobart is a distinct possibility.
Harrison said his meeting with Gale was a follow-up to the figures sent two months ago.
"I might be having lunch with him, I'm always happy to talk to Brendon," Harrison said. "I guess it is indicative of the interest [of playing AFL at Bellerive].
"The approaches are coming to us, we haven't approached anyone.
"We have just said Bellerive is open for business."
A spokesperson for Bartlett confirmed Gale had requested a meeting with the Premier, but would not comment on the items for discussion.
However, Bartlett told parliament on June 15 that although re-negotiating the Hawthorn deal was the priority, it was not the only option for AFL football in Tasmania.
"We will go in with leverage and a fallback plan and I want to make that very clear, because that is important in getting value for money for Tasmanian taxpayers."
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/07/02/156091_sport-news.html
