The Tasmania Devils are beginning to plan their player coup for when they enter the league in 2028, but the newly appointed recruiter Derek Hine says there's already plenty of interest among the competition.
Hine joined the Devils project after spending over two decades at Collingwood, helping construct consistent finals-performing and premiership-winning teams. He was joined by former Melbourne list manager Todd Patterson.
The list built for the AFL's 19th side will be analysed vigilantly, which will ultimately attempt of avoiding the mistakes made by Gold Coast and GWS. The former has yet to make the finals in 14 completed seasons, with 2025 posing as the drought-breaker.
But Hine, whose experience will hold Tasmania's list prospects in good stead, has already seen a fascination in playing in the Apple Isle, despite its isolation from the mainland.
"Those (Tasmanian) guys are clearly first point of contact," Hine told SEN Tassie's The Devil's Advocate.
"But we've sort of been mindful that they are all contracted players and talking to Todd (Patterson), Brendon (Gale) and Alastair (Lynch), the amount of interest (is big).
"I've only been in the chair a week, and player managers and players have contacted me directly about potential opportunities that are going to present as well.
"That in itself gives me, Todd and certainly Brendon and Alastair a level of confidence that there's a real attraction to play here.
"We spoke about the profile of the list… but I think it's really important that we get the profile of the athlete right as well.
"That's the player that's going to be able to come into the state and thrive in the state, and have a real buy-in.
"I've been taken aback by the amount of AFL talent that are running around now that have contacted me with just wanting to be involved in something new.
"It's how we turn that interest into acquisition that is the important thing."
The Devils are currently working through their draft concessions for when they enter the competition. The league's proposal is understood to give Tasmania picks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 in their first draft (2027), with a caveat that four of those (5,7,9,13) must be traded.
Then in seasons 2028 and 2029, the club would be handed Picks 5 and 9 on top of the club's regular first-round pick. The current proposal will demand Pick 5 to be traded.
These concessions can help land many star players across the competition, while local talents such as Colby McKercher, Ryley Sanders and Lachlan Cowan would be considered as targets.
Keidean Coleman, Beau McCreery, Nic Martin, Caleb Serong, Noah Anderson, Tom Green, Lachlan Ash, Will Day, Mitch Georgiades and Cody Weightman are some names who all come out of contract at the end of 2027.
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