{"id":551726,"date":"2026-03-20T01:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T01:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/551726\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T01:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T01:04:11","slug":"tasmanian-devils-targets-signings-player-in-the-mould-of-tom-stewart-josh-carr-on-first-blunder-luke-beveridge-comments-on-zak-butters-2027-draft-prospects-zemes-pilot-and-louis-salopek-nominate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/551726\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasmanian Devils targets, signings, player in the mould of Tom Stewart, Josh Carr on first blunder, Luke Beveridge comments on Zak Butters, 2027 draft prospects Zemes Pilot and Louis Salopek nominate Port Adelaide, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tasmania has identified a potential target. Plus new Port coach Josh Carr has admitted to his first blunder and responded to a rival coach\u2019s comments on Zak Butters. \ufeffMORE IN AFL DAILY.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Watch every match of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/?pg=default&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkafl-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-afl-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ross unfazed by Saints criticism | 02:42<\/p>\n<p>TASSIE IDENTIFIES POTENTIAL TARGET<\/p>\n<p>Tasmania has reportedly identified a player \u201cin the mould of\u201d Geelong star Tom Stewart as one of its inaugural signings.<\/p>\n<p>But an AFL great has voiced concerns with the Devils\u2019 ability to attract talent ahead of the 19th club\u2019s entry into the AFL in 2028.<\/p>\n<p>Tassie has most frequently been linked to Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos, with the Devils to be boosted by a $5 million sign-on bonus outside the salary cap to use over their first two seasons.<\/p>\n<p>While Stewart will be 35 by the time Tassie enters the competition, Seven\u2019s Mitch Cleary reports the Devils want to go down the GWS route and bring in a crop of veteran leaders to help set the culture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve all heard about the Nick Daicos and the superstar approach. We\u2019ll take you to the other end of the spectrum here \u2026 Tasmania has identified a player in the mould of Tom Stewart to come in and be the cultural setter to come in and set the scene,\u201d Cleary said on Agenda Setters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey acknowledge, behind the scenes, that there are going to be players who arrive at their footy club who won\u2019t be there for their first flag push.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a five-time All-Australian, he debuted as a 24-year-old, which means he\u2019s missed out on five or six years of earning at the top level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCould he go down to Tasmania with a bigger salary cap and cash in?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd it takes me back to what the Giants were doing at the start of their tenure. Have a look at some of these names that GWS brought in for their first year: James McDonnell at the age of 35, Dean Brogan, 33, Chad Cornes and Luke Power at 32.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Devils are going to want players in the mould of Tom Stewart to come in and set the tone early for their young group.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ross unfazed by Saints criticism | 02:42<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/afl\/afl-2026-dean-cox-press-conference-comments-on-charlie-curnow-sydney-swans-loss-to-hawthorn-hawks-latest-news\/news-story\/0a7a1549621c4410b5b9b7e44660d504\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">\ufeff\u2018Work in progress\u2019: Swans coach\u2019s Curnow call after superstar\u2019s Hawks fadeout<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/afl\/teams\/hawthorn-hawks\/afl-2026-hawthorn-18-day-break-bye-sam-mitchell-post-match-press-conference-after-win-over-sydney-video-latest-news\/news-story\/107467ceae17d6eb0d032e9dc95f2611\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">\u2018It\u2019s long\u2019\u2026 but why Hawks are \u2018ecstatic\u2019 about \u2018weird\u2019 AFL layoff after backlash<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Appearing later on the program, Devils CEO Brendon Gale said the Stewart link was \u201cnews to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It comes as the Tasmania\u2019s new stadium at Hobart\u2019s Macquarie Point has been delayed to 2031.<\/p>\n<p>It means the club and its inaugural players will play home games at playing at Hobart\u2019s Bellerive Oval, along with Launceston\u2019s York Park, before moving into the new venue in 2031.<\/p>\n<p>Kangaroos legend David King has fears around the club\u2019s ability to draw star-factor players.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s going to be difficult to get players down there, it\u2019s going to be tough,\u201d King said on Fox Footy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it\u2019s just finance, maybe you might get a few, but are they necessarily the ones you want? That\u2019s going to be the discussion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be as easy as some thought on sheer numbers, (compared to) 12-18 months ago. Let\u2019s wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He had 1 possession in the 2nd!&#8217; | 00:52<\/p>\n<p>CARR ADMITS TO FIRST BIG BLUNDER, RESPONDS TO BEVO\u2019S BUTTERS COMMENTS<\/p>\n<p>New Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr has admitted to the first big blunder of his tenure and responded to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/afl\/afl-2026-tasmania-devils-want-to-remove-hawthorn-hawks-from-playing-games-in-state-mac-point-stadium-not-ready-until-2031-deterrent-for-potential-recruits-hobart-and-launcestion-midweek-tackle-latest-news\/news-story\/af2424fb99a5900f82808d1861c9c703\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Luke Beveridge\u2019s comments on Zak Butters<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>It was a rough introduction to coaching for Carr in a bruising 46-point loss to North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>The Kangaroos are coming off six-straight bottom three finishes including just six wins over those years.<\/p>\n<p>And Carr has conceded he underestimated North in the lead into the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI spoke about it,\u201d Carr told reporters on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd it started from me. It started from what I felt, in some ways, I may have led the players down that path.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd in the end, in hindsight and reflection, you go: \u2018Well, did we get it right, did we get it wrong?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI look at myself and go: \u2018I probably got a couple things wrong in the way I spoke to the players about North Melbourne and about what to expect\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just thought I could have been better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He had 1 possession in the 2nd!&#8217; | 00:52<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Carr said he wasn\u2019t surprised by Beveridge\u2019s remarks on Butters, where the Bulldogs coach suggested he\u2019d been in contact with the superstar free agent.<\/p>\n<p>Though Carr insisted Port was \u201cdoing everything we can\u201d to retain Butters as multiple Victorian clubs circle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy reaction is Luke Beveridge wants a really good player to come to his football club and there\u2019s not a team in Australia that wouldn\u2019t have Zak,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s out of contract at the end of the year and I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a lot of teams that would like to get their hands on him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s ours right now and we\u2019re doing everything we can to keep Zak and more importantly I know how invested he is in our football club.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>HIGHLY-TOUTED 2027 DRAFT DUO NOMINATE PORT<\/p>\n<p>Highly-rated prospects Zemes Pilot and Louis Salopek have nominated Port Adelaide for the 2027 draft after rebuffing interest from Tasmania.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afl.com.au\/news\/1480543\/top-draft-pair-nominate-port-adelaide-opt-out-of-tassie-watchlist\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">AFL Media reports<\/a> Pilot, a Next Generation Academy player, and Salopek, a father-son prospect as the son of ex-Port player Steven, have withdrawn from Tassie\u2019s under-17 signings access pool.<\/p>\n<p>The pair were both among 22 prospects Tassie listed as \u2018players of interest\u2019 as 17-year old talents and could\u2019ve been signed this year if the players agreed.<\/p>\n<p>But Pilot and Salopek, both considered early picks, have instead committed their pathway to the Power via next year\u2019s draft in a key coup, provided the club can secure them with the updated bidding system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tasmania has identified a potential target. Plus new Port coach Josh Carr has admitted to his first blunder&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,53433,240684,1129,95745,1818,272918,93812,74068,1119,667,1127,163974,64029,27709,70519,272922,663,241563,272917,15700,677,250735,6082,10402,7889,272923,219798,1124,85,1122,272920,71090,272921,2801,272919,12113,272916,660,23510],"class_list":["post-551726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-brendon-gale","tag-chad-cornes","tag-charlie-curnow","tag-coach-admits","tag-david-king","tag-dean-brogan","tag-draft-prospects","tag-flag-push","tag-football-club","tag-footy-club","tag-fox-footy","tag-hawks-win","tag-home-games","tag-josh-carr","tag-kangaroos-legend","tag-lacklustre-performance","tag-luke-beveridge","tag-luke-power","tag-mounting-scrutiny","tag-next-generation-academy","tag-oceania","tag-opposition-team","tag-port-adelaide","tag-rival-coach","tag-salary-cap","tag-signings-access","tag-slim-jim-phantom","tag-south-australia","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-star-factor-players","tag-steven","tag-superstar-approach","tag-tasmania","tag-tassie-eyes-signing","tag-tom-stewart","tag-updated-bidding-system","tag-victoria","tag-zak-butters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}