Tasmania is set to join the AFL in 2028, helping the expansion of Australian Rules Football in the country.
However, with the 19th club set to take the stage, former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire claims some current AFL presidents aren't happy with the uneven number, flagging North Melbourne to be in the firing line.
As the Devils will take their rightful place in the Apple Isle, McGuire has called for "the AFL (to) move North out of (Tasmania)" and push them toward the regions of Mickleham through to Whittlesea, taking in Kalkallo, Beveridge, Donnybrook and Wollert or risk being axed from the competition.
โIf North don't (expand their influence to northern Victoria), I can tell you - non-Victorian presidents and some of the Victorian presidents, don't want to have 19 teams,โ McGuire said on Nine's Eddie and Jimmy podcast on Monday.
โThere's an easy solution for this. One will go.
โAnd it wasn't that long ago that St Kilda were right under the microscope on this.โ
โIf you don't stand for something, you stand for nothing in this game.
โBig clubs fill the MCG, get the ratings, your expansion clubs get up there, get in the community, get them excited about football.โ
In anticipation of the AFL's newest team, McGuire believes the Devils should have the state as ground zero for the club to make its own, moving the Kangaroos out of there while sending the big clubs to Tasmania to maximise the start.
North Melbourne play at Blundstone Arena in Bellerive in front of a lowly crowd.
In five outings there during 2023, the Kangaroos saw an average of 5,248 fans while a measly 5,365 witnessed Adelaide's 57-point victory last week.
โI think the AFL should move North out of there, pay them the money and start bulking up those games in Tasmania and send some of the big clubs down once a year to get the Tasmania people lined up and excited (for their team in 2028),โ McGuire said.
โThey weren't excited by the weekend, I can promise you.
โSend the good teams down there.โ
Despite McGuire's assertions that some club presidents could see North Melbourne be axed if the AFL acted on their wishes, talks have already begun about where a 20th side would come from.
Earlier this year, during Gather Round, reports indicated that SANFL side Norwood was keen to even the number of teams in the competition.
League CEO Andrew Dillon said the league will eventually grow to 20 teams but is not worried about having an extra bye due to the uneven amount.
โI am not as worried about a bye and 19 teams but the history of the VFL into the AFL is it has grown," Dillon said on ABC Radioย a week ago.
"From 1987 we went from 12 teams to 14 and we are now at 18, soon to be 19. There will be growth but it's just a matter of doing it at the right time.
"We have got a lot of work to do in Tassie and that's the real focus at the moment.
โIt is making sure if there is a 20th team there is a market for it and they want that team.
โWe have seen it in Tassie, 100,000 Tasmanians signed up and another 100,000 almost from around Australia and the world. They want a Tassie team and they want it to start as soon as it can.โ
If the AFL were to truly make this game a national sport, the Northern Territory would be the ideal place to expand, however may not be financially viable.
Noise from the west is also starting to build as calls for a third Western Australia team have been flagged as another growth area, while far North Queensland and Canberra are potential landing spots.
In the pre-season, all 18 club captains were asked if the AFL were to add another team following Tasmania, where would it be?
The majority answered with Darwin (8), while WA and North Queensland had four each in favour as Hawthorn's James Sicily said "we're good" with 19.
