A feud between Tasmania and Geelong is brewing.
And the Cats might not be the only one of the current 18 clubs to take umbrage at the Devils ahead of their entrance into the AFL in 2028.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Tasmania Devils spark club tensions over staff raids
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With 18 months still left before Tasmania play their first AFL game, the Devils are slowly making staff appointments, with longtime Geelong development guru Nigel Lappin the latest to commit.
Lappin has spent 18 years at the Cats and is often credited for Geelong’s uncanny ability to turn late draft picks into bona-fide AFL stars.
It was inevitable that some rival clubs on the mainland would lose quality staff to the 19th team, but the “loopholes” the Devils have to lure them is set to raise concern, according to 7NEWS Melbourne’s Mitch Cleary.
“I know we’re about to see clubs go to war over players, but there’s going to be also wars brewing between clubs and the Tasmania footy club over key staff,” Cleary told The Agenda Setters on Wednesday night.
“Clubs have gone hard at Nigel Lappin over the last 10 years and been unable to secure him, but the Devils had success this time. They’ve been able to land their man.
“The key part of this for me now is that heading into 2027, the year before the Devils entered the competition officially, they are under no strict guidelines or formal soft cap like the rest of the competition.
“They will have to submit their funding and their wages to the AFL, but there is no black and white rule like every other club is submitted to when it comes to a soft cap for the Devils in 2027.”
It means that, in theory, Tasmania could heavily front-end staff contracts over the next 18 months, raising their average salary over the length of their deal to an astronomical number with which rivals simply couldn’t compete.
“I asked that question to all the parties today,” Cleary said of the possibility.
“They said that it would trigger red flags with the AFL, that if Ken Hinkley was front-ended all of his money into next year before they’re actually eligible to fall under the soft cap, then it would trigger some concerns with the AFL.
“But right now there are no hard and fast rules.”
St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt — who was born and spent most of his childhood in Tasmania — said concerns from rivals won’t do much if there are no rules stopping the Devils.
But Cleary said the AFL do still hold the whip hand over the league’s newest club.
“The AFL essentially owns Tasmania and they run the license before the Devils enter the competition, so they could rip up their contract or force them down a different path,” Cleary said.
“But I’m sure the other clubs will have question marks, the fact that there is no soft cap next year for the Devils.”
Riewoldt added: “If you’re Tasmania, of course you’re going to use these loopholes.
“This was inevitable though. And Chris Scott and Geelong, they’re going to be the first in a long line of clubs that are going to be pissed off with Tasmania.
“Like, right now, everyone’s happy for Tassie, or most people are happy for Tassie, that they’re going to be entering the comp, but it’s going to change once they start coming for your people.
“This is just the start of it; they’re going to come for your staff. They haven’t even started coming for players yet, at least that we know of.”
Appearing on The Agenda Setters as a guest co-host, recently retired premiership player and Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell said Lappin is a massive coup for the Devils.
“Nigel Lapin is such a big appointment because we know how important development is going to be for this club,” he said.
“They’re going to have so many young players. You get all your one-on-one coaching with development-type coaches.
“Senior coaches, they coach system. So if you’re a young player, you need the individual coaching to build on your craft, so it’s a great appointment. They’ve got the best of the best.”
