Australian Rules-Tasmania savours victory in 'hard fight' to secure AFL team

MELBOURNE : Tasmania declared victory in its decades-long battle to join the Australian Football League (AFL) on Wednesday as officials confirmed the island state will have a team in the nation's dominant sporting competition by the end of the decade.

The state government signed off on commitments to secure the AFL's 19th team license and has targeted the 2028 season to launch in the Australian Rules top flight.

"This has been a hard fight ... by many, many Tasmanians over a number of generations," state Premier Jeremy Rockliff said in the state capital Hobart.

"I want to pay tribute to the believers - the people at the grass roots, footy clubs, the young players that believed ... in Tasmania."

The license was a parting gift from outgoing AFL chief Gillon McLachlan, who on Tuesday secured sign-off from the league's 18 clubs, a number of which had been strongly opposed.

Tasmanian fans will rejoice at the prospect, although some may feel it long overdue.

While lacking the population and wealth of Australia's mainland states, Tasmania has embraced 'Aussie Rules' for over 150 years and produced some revered players.

Peter Hudson, one of the greatest full-forwards to have graced the game, crossed the Bass Strait to Melbourne to boot 727 goals for the Hawthorn Hawks in the 1960s and '70s.

Richmond Tigers forward Jack Riewoldt has carried on Hudson's legacy, with 769 goals and counting in his 17th season for the side.

For all that heritage, efforts to join the league came to nothing in the decades after the Victoria-based competition went national in the 1980s.

The AFL targeted richer eastern states and continues to spend a fortune propping up expansion teams in territory long owned by rugby league.

AFL clubs relying on league