Twelve months from now, the Tasmania Devils will call out the first number one draft pick in club history and the Tasmanian fans must be in the room when it happens.

While the Devils will be onlookers in next week’s draft which will be held at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, the 2027 draft presents an opportunity for the AFL’s 19th team to arrive with a significant bang.

Just as they did with the Gold Coast Suns in 2010 and Greater Western Sydney a year later, the AFL shouldn’t be afraid to take their marquee off-season event interstate and host the 2027 National Draft in Hobart.

Unlike New South Wales and Queensland which are primarily dominated by the rugby codes, Tasmania is footy heartland and only the third draft outside of Victoria deserves to be showcased.

A draft in Tasmania would provide Devils supporters the chance to immediately connect with the young men selected to wear the green, red and gold guernsey.

The Devils will dominate the draft discussion either way at they hold seven first round selections – picks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 – although several are expected to be traded.

Just imagine a scene of Ken Hinkley presenting one of his newly prized young stars holding the jumper to a rapturous applause with AFL Tassie-born legends including Royce Hart, Peter Hudson, Ian Stewart and Matthew Richardson all in the room beaming with pride.

Staging such an event would also deliver an immediate economic and tourism boost to the state with the draft being broadcast on national television across consecutive nights, beaming the images of Tasmania’s natural beauty right across Australia.

All 18 rival clubs with their recruiting staff, the top draft prospects, their families and national media would flood into Hobart, packing out hotels.

Venues including MyState Bank Arena and Princes Wharf No1 already have the floor space and broadcast capability to host a prime time TV event.

We’ve already seen the excitement when the Devils hosted their own mini-draft event earlier this year to announce the eight young men who would join the club. While there was no stream fans were screaming their interest from the rooftops.

For a football heartland that waited generations for its own team, watching Tasmania’s inaugural draftees pull on the jumper inside a Melbourne stadium would be a missed opportunity.

The 2027 AFL Draft needs to be in Hobart.

Originally published as Why Tassie must host the event in 2027 ahead of the Devils debut