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The Tasmania Devils AFL team has secured a coach, is on track to build a stadium and is training its up-and-coming players as the state prepares to join the national football league in 2028.
Some of the Devils’ first official players are likely to be sourced from interstate, but the Tasmanian club is looking to its homegrown talent as the foundation to field a strong side for the future.
Through its pathways program, about 420 young people from areas around Launceston, the North West and Hobart already train regularly to develop their potential as AFL and AFLW players.
Prince trains with the Tasmania Devils’ Launceston hub, which supports young talented footballers to develop their AFL potential. (ABC News: Duncan Bailey)
Fifteen-year-old Launceston local, Prince, is part of the program and trains four times a week, splitting his sessions between the Devils and his local football club.
He said being considered for a future AFL career was a “dream come true”, and that he was motivated by his family’s refugee journey from Sierra Leone before he was born.
Prince’s family migrated from West Africa to Tasmania before he was born. (ABC News: Duncan Bailey)
“[My family] went to a refugee camp in Ghana … where my brother and sister were born … and then [to] Australia,” he said.
“It requires a lot of resilience to migrate and raise multiple kids in a different country.
“That work ethic has been passed on through my upbringing and I just really want to work hard at my sport to give back to [my family].“
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Coby, 15, is a fellow Tasmania Devils pathways player who almost left football behind after a loss in his family.
Playing in the AFL had been his dream since watching a football game at the MCG when he was six years old.
He said getting the call to say he had made the pathways team was “one of the happiest days” of his life.
Coby says his Nan’s passing has inspired him to push on with chasing his AFL dreams because she was his biggest supporter. (ABC News: Duncan Bailey)
“But when my Nan passed away, I thought, ‘How am I going to overcome this and do what I usually do without my biggest supporter?'” he said.
“Then I realised, if I quit I would never know how good I could be.
“Now I want to be the best that I can be [for her] … hopefully that’s going as far as the AFL.”
Devils set sights on AFLW
The Tasmania Devils pathways program also focuses on creating a competitive AFLW side for the state.
Lilanni plays in the Tasmania U18 Talent League side. (ABC News: Duncan Bailey)
Lilanni, 17, plays in the Tasmania under-18 talent league side and is draft eligible this year.
She hopes to join her sister, Fremantle Dockers’ player Tunisha Kikoak, in the AFLW ranks.
“When I first touched the ball I [knew I] wanted to be in the draft and be an AFLW player like my sister,”
she said.
Lilanni said the increased focus on women’s football across the country had led to better development for young female players.
“There’s more opportunities for the girls that I play alongside [than before] and there’s more chances to grow as a player,” she said.
Brad Cox-Goodyer is AFL Tasmania talent pathways skills acquisition coach and says the Devils are building a strong side ahead of their debut in 2028. (ABC News: Duncan Bailey)
AFL Tasmania talent pathways skills acquisition coach Brad Cox-Goodyer said the Devils had already been working to develop individual talent.
“We’re in our third year now and it’s exciting … [we] get better every year and [are] hoping to get more kids playing for the Tassie Devils,” he said.
“We want to try and attract as many people to football as possible and from all different types of backgrounds.“
