HOBART, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 26: Peter Gutwein, Premier of Tasmania speaks to the media during the 2021 AFL Round 15 match between the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the Gold Coast Suns at Blundstone Arena on June 26, 2021 in Hobart, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Despite the sudden announcement that former Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein would be departing his post earlier this month, the 57-year-old's predecessor, Jeremy Rockliff, has claimed that the state's bid for an AFL team remains on track.

The member for the Division of Braddon's comments are sure to set minds at ease given Gutwein's near persistent lobbying for the league to grant the 19th license.

Further ambiguity was also created this month when AFL CEO Gillion McLachlan announced that he would be stepping down from the role at the cessation of the season.

Rockliff's comments to The Age come as the southern state sets themselves to host two AFL clashes across the course of the Anzac weekend, with North Melbourne facing Geelong in the capital and Hawthorn doing battle with Sydney in Launceston.

While the footballing state will likely need to wait until August to receive an answer on the success of their bid, Rockliff revealed that he had already recommenced conversations with powerbrokers at AFL House.

“Tasmanians have waited decades to have a team of their own and I am convinced that moment is closer than ever before,” Rockliff said.

“We have demonstrated that we can take our place on the national sporting stage. Tasmania deserves and should have its own AFL and AFLW teams, and as I have made clear to the AFL, I am determined to finish what this Government started, and deliver Tasmania its own team, once and for all.”

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The clashes between three Victorian outfits and a northern neighbour in the Swans which will take place at Bellerive Oval and York Park between Saturday and Monday will provide Tasmanians with an opportunity to cast their eyes on elite-level football for the first time since the first week of the 2021 AFL Finals series.

However, Rockliff claimed the pair of fixtures would also allow citizens to speak with their feet once more.

RELATED: Is it time for a Tasmanian AFL team?

“I am looking forward to seeing Tasmania back in the AFL spotlight with two games scheduled for this weekend, including a blockbuster on Anzac Day that I am attending,” Rockliff added.

“Tasmanians turned up in droves last year as we hosted a record 14 AFL games, including two historic finals, and we have proved time and again that if we have the big matches, Tasmanians will be there.”

Though Tasmania's population was tallied at less than 542,000 during September of 2020, the mere fact that a smaller market should see their exclusion continued is unlikely to sit well with former Hawks' coach, Alastair Clarkson.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 21: Alastair Clarkson, coach of the Hawks,
looks on during the round 14 AFL match between the Sydney Swans and the Hawthorn Hawks at the Sydney Cricket Ground on June 21, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Speaking to SEN earlier this week, the four-time premiership steward stated that he is currently working closely with small-market NFL powerhouse the Green Bay Packers surrounding lessons for the Australian startup.

“The reason I’m up in Green Bay now is we’re continuing on consolidating our work for Tasmania and doing some more research into what we can do to put a pitch forward to the AFL so that the 19th team is a good option for the competition," Clarkson said.

“In terms of Tasmania and the model we’re trying to put to the AFL, in terms of the ownership and the equity model, then Green Bay is such a good club to research.

“Their whole culture and community and the way they play is so similar to the culture of Tasmania, there’s so much to learn over here.”

While a population figure of less than a million would see a Tasmanian team act as a small-market franchise, it is worth noting that with Green Bay's populace currently sitting within the vicinity of 325,000, should every member of the Packers' organisation (an estimated 1000 employees) and each roster member (54 players) take the field in front of a packed out Lambeau Field crowd (a capacity of 81,441), more than 25 per cent of the area's citizens would be in one place.

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Clarkson also echoed Rockliff's sentiments that Gutwein's departure would not halt the bid's progression.

“We’re just getting on with the job and the only thing that’s going to stop us is the AFL Commission in July or August knocking us back,” he said.

“But until then, we’re going to do everything we possibly can to put a pitch to the AFL that’s going to be pretty hard to refuse.”