THIS WEEKS GAMES

VIEW FROM HERE |Hall of Fame - Recognising those who contribute to Tasmanian Football
Last night was the seventh year that AFL Tasmania has presented our Tasmanian Football Hall
of Fame induction dinner, which is the final and most significant element of the annual Hall of
Fame project.
Following our 2004 Tasmanian Team of the Century
project, establishing a Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame
was a natural progression. Our Tasmanian Football
Hall of Fame is uniquely different to a number of other
football and sporting Hall of Fame events throughout the
nation.
Tasmanian football’s is unique for the following reasons:
1. We have three levels of induction – inductees can
then be elevated to a ‘Legend’ and then a Legend
can be further elevated to ‘Icon’ status.
We have done this because we believe it is important
to recognise the wonderful contribution of the many
great players, coaches, umpires, administrators,
members of the media, club volunteers and sports
trainers whom have contributed to community
football in all three regions of Tasmania or on a
nation scale. To date we have 257 Inductees which
is still not that many when you consider that this
covers almost 150 years of football in Tasmania.
However, to become one of the now 36 legends your
contribution has had to be enormously significant
and then to be elevated to be one only 10 icons your
contribution to our game has had to be significant on
a nation scale.
Icons in Tasmania’s Hall of Fame will be considered
for nomination for inclusion in the Australian Football
Hall of Fame and to the Tasmanian Sporting Hall of
Fame.
2. A key aspect of our Hall of Fame is also the annual
induction of community football aspects of our great
game, those being enshrined under three special
categories (including 2011 inductees):
- Great Club – Clarence District Football Club
- Legendary Team – Ulverstone’s 1976 state
premiership team
- Memorable Game – Tasmanian Devils versus
Geelong Cats in 2003 VFL final at Bellerive Oval,
being synonymous of a golden era of Tasmanian
football finals in the VFL.
We have and will also continue to induct special
category elements into our Hall of Fame, the
most famous example being the induction of the
Queenstown ‘gravel’ Oval in 2007.
These community football inductions enable AFL
Tasmania to “tell and record the story” of Tasmanian
football at the same time that we pay tribute and
recognise the significant contribution of many individuals
to our game in Tasmania or nationally.
With Rodney Eade elevated to Icon, Bob ‘ Tassie’
Johnson elevated to Legend and the induction of people
such as Ben Harrison, Trent Nicholls, and Simon Minton-
Connell this reinforces our recognition of those who have
performed on the national football stage.
However, the elevation of Ivor Warne-Smith and Colin
Robertson to Legends and also the induction of the
likes of Max Griffiths, Wayne Wing and Graham Fox
demonstrate we will always recognise those who
perform in Tasmania
Shaun Young
General Manager
Wrest Point State League
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