AFL Tasmania has announced that it will play its Wrest Point State League Grand Final at either Aurora Stadium or North Hobart Oval in 2012.
But in a major boost to the north-west, AFL Tasmania has allocated Burnie a home ground for the second semi-final on September 8 or 9, where it will host the winner of this weekend’s clash between Clarence and Launceston.
If a team from the south is first to qualify for the grand final, North Hobart Oval will play host. If a team from the North or North West goes through first then that game will be played in Launceston.
In confirming the arrangements for the finals, AFL Tasmania Chairman, Dominic Baker, said the existing AFL Tasmania policy was built around initially rewarding the team who made it to the Grand Final first, and then utilising the best grounds in that team’s half of the state.
“The league has five teams in the north, and five in the south, and we believe that that if you get to the Grand Final first you deserve to have the match in your end of the state,” Baker said.
"The second part of our policy is that we will utilise the best ground in that half of the state, and that is clearly Aurora in the north and Blundstone in the south. We believe it is important to host the biggest games of our state’s premier competition at our best venues.
“However, given the unique situation with Blundstone Arena not being available this year we had to find an alternative, and clearly North Hobart Oval is the next best facility.
“It’s like in 1991 when the AFL played its grand final at Waverley when the MCG was unavailable. The AFL’s policy was still to play its Grand Final at the MCG, it just couldn’t that year.
“While we have heard the call for a Burnie home grand final, we have been consistent with our approach since the start of the TSL in allocating both the Preliminary and Grand Finals to our current policy.”
“We have re-jigged things so they can host one final which will be good for the region and the Burnie Football Club.”
Last Modified on 18/01/2013 16:56