Tasmanian Devils Football Club
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| Full name | Tasmania Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname | The Devils |
| Strip | Home: Green, with stylised black, gold and red devil logo, black shorts, and green socks.
Away: White strip with green panel and gold tasmanian map, white shorts, and green and white hooped socks. |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Sport | Australian rules football |
| League | Victorian Football League |
| First season | 2001 |
| Ground | Aurora Stadium, Bellerive Oval |
| Club song | We're from Tasmania |
| President/Chair | Guy Abel |
| Coach | Lance Spaulding (Caretaker coach) |
| Captain | Brett Geappen |
| 2007 | Last |
The Tasmania Football Club, nicknamed The Devils, is an Australian rules football club in the Victorian Football League in Australia. Formed in 2001, it is the youngest and the only non-Victorian club in the league. The club is based in the state of Tasmania at Bellerive Oval and is currently run by AFL Tasmania.
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[edit] Club History
- See also: Australian rules football in Tasmania
During the '90s, Tasmania had shown strong interest in joining the AFL and after rejected bids in 1995 and 1997 the Australian Football League instigated the formation a Tasmanian team for the newly re-constructed Victorian Football League. The Tasmanian Devils Football Club formed in 2001 and was admitted into the VFL in its inaugural season the same year. The AFL continues to own the club.
The nickname "Devils" was chosen as the moniker for the club after the tenacious marsupial predator the Tasmanian Devil which is indigenous to the island of Tasmania. The club colours green, red, gold (and black) were inspired by the original State of Origin "map" guernsey and are also Tasmania's sporting colours.
The Devils established home grounds in both Hobart and Launceston to deal with the long standing north-south rivalry. Originally northern home games were played at Ulverstone, Devonport, Burnie and at Launceston's Aurora Stadium while North Hobart Oval hosted games in the south. At the end of the 2005 season the team moved from North Hobart Oval to Bellerive Oval for home games in the south and began playing all northern home games at Aurora Stadium.
2001 and 2002 brought mediocre results but, under the direction of coach Matthew Armstrong, the Devils made the finals for the first time in 2003, finishing a respectable third. The 2004 and 2005 seasons saw the Devils again making the finals.
At the start of the 2006 season the Devils and the North Melbourne Football Club began a partial alignment but the season proved to be a disappointment, with the Devils finishing eighth and missing the finals. During the 2006 season Armstrong was forced to step down as coach, due to internal pressure from the playing group, ending his six year term as Devils coach. North Hobart premiership coach and former Devil Brendan Bolton was made stand in coach for the remainder of the year.
At the end of 2006 Tasmanian and former Sydney Swan Daryn Cresswell was named coach of the club for 2007 after a successful career as an assistant coach at Geelong and the Brisbane Lions.
[edit] Attendances
The Devils have generated the largest crowds in the VFL; in the early stages they averaged around 4,000 per match at both North Hobart Oval in Hobart and Aurora Stadium in Launceston, (considered modest by AFL standards) but crowds fell away sharply in 2007 to approximately 1,500 at Bellerive Oval and less than 1,000 at Aurora Stadium.
[edit] Sponsors
Major Jumper Sponsors:
- Wrest Point Hotel Casino (2006-present)
- Patrick (2001-2005)
Apparel Sponsors:
- Burley-Sekem (2001-present)
Ball Sponsors:
[edit] Alignment with AFL club
Following the trend of AFL clubs to align themselves with VFL clubs for match fitness of reserves players, in 2005 the Kangaroos expressed intentions to align with the Devils. A deal was struck that involved a capped number of players from the Kangaroos in both the Devils and the North Ballarat Football Club in the VFL.
In September 2007 AFL Tasmania announced an end to the alignment. The club will take to the field in 2008 as a stand-alone club.
[edit] Awards
[edit] Premierships
Premiers: - (finished 3rd twice)
Runners Up: -
VFL Club Champions: -
[edit] Individual Awards
Alastair Lynch Medalists (Best and Fairest):
- Leigh Walker (2001)
- Cameron Blight & Ben Atkin (2002)
- Jordan Doering (2003)
- Matthew Jovanovic (2004)
- Ian Callinan (2005)
- Brett Geappen (2006)
- Leigh Adams (2006)
JJ Liston Trophy Medallists:
- Ian Callinan (2005)
[edit] Players
Players for the club have included Ben Beams, Jason Heatley, Ken Hall, Cameron Thurley, Ian Callinan, Brad Davis, Trent Bartlett, Barry Brooks, Kurt Heazelwood, Jade Rawlings, Jack Riewoldt, Andrew Lee, Jason Laycock and Cameron Blight.
- Cameron "Boom Boom" Blight became a cult figure with the Devils fans in his time with the club. 'Boom Boom' arrived mid-way through season 2001, from the Northern Bullants (VFL). Blighty joined the Bullants from the Carlton Football Club (AFL) where he was drafted from Devonport. After a disappointing 7 games in 2001 Blight returned from Victoria for season 2002 in great nick where he finished the season as equal club champion with Ben Atkin and appointed Vice-Captain for the following season. "Blighty" was deployed by coach, Matthew Armstrong, to either Full Forward or Full Back depending on where the team was struggling. Blight was named the VFL Full Back of the Year 2003. Blight is now a successful coach in his own right, guiding Smithton (NTFL) to finals in 2006 and now coaching Kingston in the SFL. Blight recently completed a High Performance Coaching Course (Level 3) with the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport/AIS) in Canberra with the (Australian Football League/AFL).
- Cameron Thurley started his football with Clarence before being drafted by the Geelong Football Club and then the Kangaroos. Thurley will be playing with the Devils in 2007 after being delisted by the Kangaroos.
- Kurt "Snapper" Heazelwood started his football with the Devonport football club (TFL). Kurt was recruited by the St Kilda Football Club from the Tassie Mariners (VSFL) where he played under Essendon great Tim Watson. Heazelwood played in the 1999 AFL reserves Grand final before joining the Eastlake Football Club (Canberra) in 2000 after being delisted by the Saints. Kurt returned to Tasmania to play with the Devils in 2005 and is now the assistant coach at the Devonport Football Club in the NTFL.
- Jade Rawlings joined the Devils in 2006 as a Kangaroos listed player and is a former Devonport Blues (TFL) player. Rawlings played in the AFL with Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs, and the Kangaroos Football Clubs before retiring from the AFL in 2006. Jade had a great year with the Devils and is now the senior coach of the Coburg Tigers Football Club (VFL).His brother Brady is a current member of the Kangaroos.
[edit] External links
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