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THANKS to the AFL's "Twenty20'' vision, Jeff Kennett may finally get one of his many wishes granted.
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Albeit in a bite-sized format.
The AFL's announcement of a proposed revamp to the opening round of the NAB Cup, where three teams will play each other once in shortened matches consisting of two 20-minute halves to decide who goes through to the knockout stages, is an obvious bonus for Tasmanian football lovers.
Now instead of five teams visiting the Hawks' Tasmanian nest each season there will be six, although that number could increase with a new deal between the Government and the Hawks to be thrashed out and those pesky new boys from the Gold Coast and western Sydney on the horizon.
So if we're going to get a bonus, let's make it a good one.
Like a Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton or Geelong type of one.
Mr Kennett has constantly been quoted as how he'd love the Magpies to play his Hawks down here, or to the extent where there is a rotational set-up with the bigger clubs playing at Aurora Stadium.
Well I'm sorry Mr Kennett, Collingwood will never play Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium in a home-and-away match (save for a World Cup intervention).
Even if both teams were struggling, you'd still get 50,000 to the MCG for a contest between the two, and it would be doubtful the AFL would sacrifice its crowd figures to appease the Hawks president.
Remember the AFL did admit it was a mistake that the Hawthorn v St Kilda clash was scheduled in Tasmania last year, which is not a good sign.
Also, Collingwood is a powerful club that doesn't seem to like to travel between March and September (it has four interstate trips this year), so that too could be a problem.
Unfortunately, from a home-and-away perspective, Tasmanians, and Mr Kennett, should accept that we are destined to have interstate sides and low-drawing and performing Melbourne-based clubs as visitors.
This is where the new NAB Cup may become a jewel in the crown.
Hawthorn should lobby the AFL to make sure that if this proposal becomes reality, at least one of the two teams that visit in February is top-flight.
I have always felt that the pre-season competition should be used to reward Tasmanian fans with an appearance from a powerhouse, but it has never eventuated.
In recent years, NAB Cup visitors have included (at the time) poor-performing clubs Carlton, Melbourne and Richmond, as well as interstater Sydney, which is more of an example of the AFL's lack of adventure when fixturing games in this part of the world.
This has been during the same period that other big clubs have played all over the country, in the developing NSW and Queensland markets and locations such as Alice Springs (albeit for NAB regional contests).
Collingwood even played a NAB Cup game in Abu Dhabi, so obviously travel in the early part of the year is not an issue for those guys.
Remember, this is the organisation that has failed to give us our own AFL team, and instead has given them to "non-football states'', so if we were ignored further it would be another slap in the face.
Having a Collingwood or Essendon would heighten interest and surely set new record crowd figures for the pre-season.
While the home-and-away games should always be treated as the premier contests, and in many ways you'd hate to see an overall crowd record for a NAB Cup game, it's an
opportunity that shouldn't be passed up.
When the new deal is thrashed out, Hawthorn should also make sure that GC and GWS are not frequent flyers into the state.
In many ways, it would be a sad set of circumstances if these two teams took up games here every year.
Nothing against these fledging clubs, but you could see the AFL dumping these contests on the state to a ground where they would get a similar crowd than in Melbourne.
They could become the Fremantle of this new decade.
As the Dockers did in the early part of AFL in Launceston, the clubs could always be here, even though no-one really wants to watch them.
Unlike the Fremantle of 2010 that is.
It might sound harsh, but if the new teams aren't up and running early, no-one will want to watch, not even the comparatively starved Tasmanian football public.
Now that is food for thought.