By: BRETT STUBBS
``It would have been nice if we could have hung on to one of them [the recruits], but the reality is we didn't expect to, and we've probably held on to two or three more locals than we thought,'' Wade said yesterday.
``The end result is probably as we expected, maybe a little bit in front.
``At the end of the day the only high-quality Tasmanian player we have lost to the state is Street for football reasons.
``Interstaters have gone back to their own state league or South Australia.
``We always knew those players were down here for one single reason, to play VFL football, as they had no ties in Tasmania.''
Wade said small forward James Charlesworth could not be included because he had informed AFL Tasmania he would be going interstate to pursue his university studies well before the Devils' demise.
``It proves we didn't have the mass exodus of Tasmanian players that we thought,'' he said.
``The thing it proves most to us is we had an imbalance of interstate recruits in the Devils.
``We should have had more Tasmanians, but we couldn't get them in there.''
Wade said it was positive the new State League would have players of the calibre of Brett Geappen, Cameron Thurley, Luke Shackleton, Brennan Savage and Ben Setchell in its first year.
``It is probably a better result than we thought but the credibility of the competition will be a slow, steady growth,'' Wade said.
``On the scale of zero to 10, we are really starting on one.
``We want to build the credibility as we go forward. We accept that this is about starting at a low base and working our way forward, but it is terrific those guys are hanging around.''
He said AFL Tasmania was working with the 10 State League clubs on ''tidying up a few licence issues'' but they should be resolved soon and the competition launched later this month or early next month.
WHERE THE DEVILS ARE HEADING
DEVILS' line-up from its final VFL game against Box Hill on August 31 at Bellerive, and where the players are heading --
B: Adrian Williams (possibly QAFL), Justin Hardy (Central District, SANFL), Kane Richter (Lauderdale, TSL).HB: Mitch Robinson (AFL draft), Simon Plummer (QAFL), Rhys Long (North Hobart, TSL).C: Allen Bielski (North Hobart, TSL), Nathan Street (South Fremantle, WAFL), Lachlan George (SANFL).HF: Tom Salter (possibly QAFL), Michael Cassidy (Hobart, TSL), Brett Geappen (North Hobart, TSL).F: James Charlesworth (Redlands, QAFL), Brennan Savage (Launceston, TSL), Paul Koulouriotis (Victoria).Foll: Tim Plummer (QAFL), Cameron Thurley (Clarence, TSL), Ben Setchell (Clarence, TSL).Inter: Tim Bongetti (Victoria), Rowan Andrews (unknown), Tom Langford (West Adelaide, SAFL), Luke Shackleton (Burnie, TSL).
Last Modified on 09/12/2008 10:07