South Australian club Norwood a preparing a bid to be the AFL's 20th team.
With Tasmania given the green light to join the competition as the 19th club in 2028, Norwood believes the league should have an "even number" across the board, according to Channel 7's Mitch Cleary.
"The Norwood Football Club, the powerhouse out of the SANFL, is now preparing a bid to become the AFL's 20th license after Tasmania enters the competition," Cleary says.
"Norwood will host two games during this weekend's Gather Round and they want to become the AFL's third team in South Australia after the Crows and Power.
"Part of their pitch suggested to the AFL that they can't have 19 teams and they need an even number in the competition when Tasmania (join).
"We've seen Northern Territory put forward its case in recent times while consortiums out of Perth and Canberra have put their hands up."
EXCLUSIVE: New details have emerged on the future make-up of the AFL competition with South Australiaโs Norwood staking its claim to become the 20th AFL club. https://t.co/5zYfOfGqUb @cleary_mitch @7AFL #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/NQAumM79p4
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) April 3, 2024
Amidst the fervor of the second Gather Round hosted in South Australia, Norwood will put on display its oval when it hosts Brisbane and North Melbourne on Friday, with St Kilda and Richmond following suit on Sunday.
AFLW matches have also been hosted at the venue.
One of the oldest and most successful clubs in the SANFL, Norwood has taken home the premiership 31 times in its history, including most recently in 2022.
Despite Port Adelaide and Adelaide dominating the market for the past two decades, the 'audacious bid' from Norwood will have plenty of backers, with famous local companies Wolf Blass and Coopers their major sponsors.
Channel 7's Josh Money reported that if Norwood were to get the 20th license, they could โsteal thousands of members from both the Crows and the Powerโ.
โThis is set to become a huge talking point and one that could potentially change the shape of football in the state and also in the country."
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon responded to the bid claims, saying: "At the moment, we are looking at betting down our 19th license, exciting news out of Tasmania the last couple of weeks with 170,000 members at the Devils but that is where our focus is.
"Betting down the stadium and making sure that we get the Tassie Devils up and running.
โThey've (Norwood) got a great ground and they've got great history and they're doing great stuff in the SANFL.
โI think a lot of people like the even numbers but there's nothing that says you have to (have 20 teams).
"There's always interest in expanding the AFL competition but if we are going to do that, we are going to do it in a sustainable manner."
As Norwood attempts to ramp up their push for the 20th club in AFL land, Port Adelaide has once again put forward plans for a national reserves competition.
Currently, the VFL hosts 14 out of the 18 AFL teams, with the Power, Adelaide, West Coast and Fremantle isolated in their respective state leagues.
The eastern clubs Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and GWS all joined the Victorian league in 2021.
With the Eagles, Power and Crows seemingly for the move to a national reserves competition, it is the Dockers - who have an affiliation with Peel Thunder - that are yet to get on board.
Dillon said that any "progress" to the game would require timely discussions with all key stakeholders.
โIt's a huge responsibilityโฆ we're looking to progress the game and push into new frontiers but at the same time, respecting the history, tradition and heritage,โ Dillon said.
โIt's going to be an interesting discussion, there will be lots of parties involved, we have to talk to the SANFL, Port Adelaide will obviously have a massive say in it, but it'll be a conversation that takes place over, it could be months, it'll take a bit of time.
โWe have to make sure that what we do, when we're making calls like that, that we're not thinking what's best for the next 12-24 months but for five, ten years ahead.
โThe SANFL is a great league steeped in history and tradition and we need to respect that with any of the discussions and decisions that we do make.โ
