Tasmanian premier Will Hodgman says he won't stop putting pressure on the AFL to grant the Apple Isle a football license.
Hodgman told ESPN the state is more than viable to sustain a team and will continue to campaign for a 19th AFL licence, comments that echo those made by St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt on ESPN.com.au last week.
"I think it is the right time [for Tasmania to have an AFL license]," Hodgman said.
"We've long made the case, we've long produced some of the game's best.
"A Tasmanian team make the competition truly national. If there's a spot to join the league, we want to seize it. We're ready to pounce when the opportunity arises."
Riewoldt, a Tasmanian, last week wrote last week he was "disillusioned about the island state's treatment at the hands of the governing body" for neglecting Tasmania for an AFL franchise.
"Tasmania is football heartland but it has been kicked to the kerb during the AFL's march to the modern era," Riewoldt wrote.
An ESPN poll showed a vast majority of footy fans agree with Riewoldt and Hodgman, with 93 percent (of more than 1700 votes) stating Tasmania deserves its own team.
A key concern blocking the AFL's expansion across Bass Strait is the fierce divide between north and south, a claim refuted by Hodgman.
"That's nothing to be afraid of. I think that's a bit of an excuse. There's certainly a strong, parochial competition between north and southern Tasmania, but that can be a powerful thing to harness," he told ESPN.
"There are plenty of clubs who play some of their games in other places than their home base, so there's no reason why a Tasmanian team couldn't split its time between southern Tasmania and the north, north-west coast even."
Tassie has over the years produced iconic VFL/AFL figures such as Darrel Baldock, Peter Hudson, Ian Stewart, Royce Hart, Alastair Lynch and Matthew Richardson.
But last year, for the first time since 1986, the state failed to produce a young player that was drafted by any of the 18 AFL clubs.
Hodgman said the state's booming economy - fuelled by a rapidly growing tourism industry - would underpin a standalone AFL team.
"We haven't seen such growth in our tourism industry for some time and I think that reflects a high level of confidence in what Tasmania can do," he said.
"There's no reason why we can't have a Tasmanian team and attract corporate support to back it.
"We value AFL being played in this state. That's why we sponsor Hawthorn, that's why we want North Melbourne to play games in the state and that's great for Tasmanians to see AFL footy in our home state.
"And they're really important relationships and we respect those, but I think most Tasmanians have a dream to field a team of our own one day."
And should that dream one day become a reality, Hodgman said he had an affinity with the code's newest team being called the Tasmania Devils.
Swan's sinking feeling
Sydney ball magnet Isaac Heeney says he's slowly on the mend after being bed-ridden by glandular fever.
Heeney says he was the fittest and strongest he had been leading into the new season until he was struck down by the fatigue-inducing bug following the club's preseason clash against North Melbourne in February.
"I played that and later that week I came to training and was just really wrecked. I thought it was just a bad common cold and it got worse," Heeney told ESPN.
"My glands were through the roof. I got some blood tests and it didn't show it for the first four blood tests.
"I couldn't get out of bed for three and a half weeks and it took me a while to get back into things.
"I was sleeping for the majority of the day. I'd just nod on and off. It was tough. Mentally it was challenging because I wanted to get outside and do something but my body wouldn't let me.
"I felt I was on top of everything and ready for a massive year. It's set me back seven or eight weeks."
The 21-year-old said he's now more cautious with the amount of sleep he gets each night and his diet - two elements he admits to not taking seriously enough.
Since playing four games this year and averaging 22 disposals, Heeney says he's still recuperating and searching for that four-quarter performance.
"I'm slowly starting to run games back out. It's just a matter of building that back up and getting that game fitness back to where I thought it was before I got glandular fever," he said.
Red and black - and purple
The winds of change are indeed blowing through the AFL - and not before time, many would say.
This week, Essendon players were called to a team meeting - not to listen to coaches discuss tactics and strategies for the upcoming game against West Coast but to hear from members of the 'Purple Bombers', a coterie group aiming to assist the club in creating a safe environment for LGBTIQ supporters and players, and also to encourage diversity.
The players heard stories of how LGBTIQ supporters enjoyed attending games but remained nervous about when the next homophobic slur might be shouted from someone nearby.
To show their support for the initiative, Essendon trained this week in special 'pride' guernseys in conjunction with the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on Wednesday.
"I've signed for marriage equality because everyone should have the right to marry the one they love." - Orazio Fantasia#Footy4IDAHOT pic.twitter.com/CMTbKvqczS
— Essendon FC (@EssendonFC) May 17, 2017
(The Bombers, of course, will have their match on Sunday officiated by Eleni Glouftsis, the first time that a woman will take charge of a VFL/AFL game).
The message of tolerance has even reached two elite Associated Public Schools - Melbourne Grammar and Brighton Grammar.
The schools' 1st XVIIIs will this weekend play in their own footy Pride Game, competing in guernseys with rainbow-coloured strips specially made for the occasion.
Giants up for a giant fight
We hear Greater Western Sydney will play hard ball with North Melbourne - or any other club trying to lure out-of-contract star Josh Kelly from the Giants.
GWS will insist on two first-round picks for the classy midfielder - the same price that Collingwood paid for another Giant, Adam Treloar, in 2015 and 2016.
All things point to North pushing as hard as they can for the young midfielder - coach Brad Scott is an avowed and long-time Kelly fan; the Kelly clan lives in Melbourne; the midfielder offers exactly what North needs - skill in extracting the ball from congestion, polish on the outside - and, as we know, Kelly's dad, Phil, played 61 games for the Roos in the early 1980s.
So the Kangas now have a big decision to make: do they want to pay two first-round draft picks, plus $9 million over nine years, for a gun 22-year-old midfielder? Or do they want to keep their powder dry, and warchest untouched, until a slightly less risky proposition presents itself?
THIS WEEK'S MUSINGS
1) The unpredictable nature of the 2017 season:
-The AFL ladder after Round 6 - Adelaide 1st, Sydney 18th
-The AFL form ladder Rounds 7-8 - Sydney 1st, Adelaide 18th
2) North Melbourne last weekend became the first team to win against the top team on ladder one week (Adelaide) and lose to a side lower than 16th the next (Sydney)