Richmond boss Gale backs Tassie AFL club

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale has urged the AFL to make a brave call and admit Tasmania as the competition's 19th club.

The AFL and club presidents will meet in March to decide whether a Tasmanian team should be created.

Gale, a proud Tasmanian, is the latest high-profile name to throw his support behind the state's bid for an AFL license.

Tipped by some as an ideal candidate to be the next AFL chief executive when Gillon McLachlan bows out, Gale is a staunch advocate for another club.

"I'm biased (as someone who grew up in Tasmania), but I'd love to see a Tasmanian team," Gale told SEN.

"They've got a legitimate right to be in the competition - where there's a will, there's a way.

"It's not without complexity, clearly, but I think it would only boost our credentials as a truly national competition.

"I just think it would be accretive to the entire undertaking of Australian Rules Football."

Gale agreed there were some parallels with the AFL expanding the women's competition, with the 2023 season to include all 18 clubs, up from just eight in the inaugural campaign in 2017.

"One of the great decisions the AFL, and probably Gil (McLachlan), made is they just threw caution to the wind," Gale said.

"I think the AFLW competition was earmarked (to start) in maybe '19 or '20, but in 2014-15, they said 'let's just do it'.

"Sometimes that's the best way to lead.

"We've figured it out through trial and error and it's a bloody good comp."

An independent report on the merits of a club in Tasmania, conducted by former Geelong president Colin Carter, was released last year and found the state deserves to be represented with a club.

Four-time Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson has been working with the Tasmanian AFL