{"id":815472,"date":"2026-07-22T00:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/815472\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T00:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:46:15","slug":"afl-2026-tasmania-dealt-15-million-blow-as-north-melbourne-star-rejects-their-advances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/815472\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Tasmania dealt $15 million blow as North Melbourne star rejects their advances"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tasmania have been dealt a fresh blow after Finn O\u2019Sullivan rejected their blockbuster offer.<\/p>\n

It had been a positive week for the Devils following the announcement of Ken Hinkley as their inaugural coach.<\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

He has big ambitions for the new expansion club but the reality of the challenge they are undertaking might be beginning to set in.<\/p>\n

Hinkley is keeping the door open to sign a number of big stars, but O\u2019Sullivan has already rejected their advances, according to Channel 9.<\/p>\n

It is claimed Tasmania offered O\u2019Sullivan, who has made just 36 AFL appearances, a $15 million eight-year deal.<\/p>\n

But the 20-year-old reportedly showed no interest, and did not even meet with the Devils.<\/p>\n

It is a blow for Tasmania who are understood to have offered Richmond star Sam Lalor a similar deal.<\/p>\n

The new side appear keen to cast their net wide with Hinkley aiming big.<\/p>\n

Tasmania, whose inaugural season will be in 2028, are targeting players who are out of contract at the end of next year, including Hawthorn\u2019s Jack Ginnivan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both loved being in Tassie together, we had a celebration down there last year,\u201d Hickley told Channel 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cGini and I are tight, there\u2019s no doubt about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone that\u2019s uncontracted is on the radar. Gini, if you can text me that would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hinkley made a similar tongue-in-cheek comment when asked about some of the AFL\u2019s biggest stars, including Zak Butters.<\/p>\n

\"Outspoken<\/p>\n

Jokingly asked about Zak Butters, Hinkley cheekily said: \u201cNo, I haven\u2019t told Zak to wait his decision out a year, but, if you\u2019re listening Zak, maybe put your decision off for a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can aim for the top; we can aim for as big as we can,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t not try; we\u2019ll go after everything that\u2019s possible, and we\u2019ll make sure we give it a great shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019ll be knock-backs, there\u2019ll be turn-downs, but there\u2019ll be some \u2018yes\u2019s, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll get.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we won\u2019t put any limits on who we\u2019re going after, we\u2019ll just go after the right people \u2026 they have to be the right people; not just people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as Tasmania dealt $15 million blow as North Melbourne star rejects their advances<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tasmania have been dealt a fresh blow after Finn O\u2019Sullivan rejected their blockbuster offer. It had been a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":815473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[386057,390818,390821,32601,390824,390814,378883,380230,390819,390810,376490,390830,390813,390827,376925,638,390838,64,63,55,639,390817,390805,390834,390823,38326,41407,390831,3895,385681,377159,328804,1127,390807,390826,6854,390809,385679,383904,390822,54318,382485,390825,390835,62756,377208,7484,45755,390839,155207,179049,390816,390840,267025,38633,7820,279653,390828,81330,85,2801,325792,390808,379302,385670,378926,320297,390833,385675,378193,215379,390815,390837,377832,390836,390811,377466,390812,390820,390832,390803,390802,390829,377211,390804,23510,390806],"class_list":["post-815472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-biggest-stars","tag-s-jack-ginnivan","tag-15-million-blow","tag-32601","tag-a-15-million-eight-year-deal-but","tag-a-15-million-offer","tag-a-blow","tag-a-celebration","tag-a-fresh-blow","tag-a-great-shot","tag-a-number","tag-a-positive-week","tag-a-similar-deal-the-new-side","tag-a-similar-tongue-in-cheek-comment","tag-a-year","tag-afl","tag-any-limits","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-big-ambitions","tag-big-stars","tag-big-tasmania","tag-bombshell","tag-break","tag-channel-7","tag-channel-9-it","tag-contract","tag-every-match","tag-every-round","tag-finn-osullivan","tag-fox-footy","tag-gini","tag-gini-and-i","tag-hawthorn","tag-hickley","tag-hinkley","tag-his-decision","tag-in-hinkley","tag-inaugural-season","tag-just-1-he","tag-just-36-afl-appearances","tag-just-people","tag-kayo","tag-kayo-sports-new","tag-ken-hinkley","tag-last-year","tag-less-than-40-games","tag-next-year","tag-no-interest","tag-north-melbourne-star","tag-one-20-year-old","tag-osullivan","tag-play","tag-players","tag-reality-hits","tag-richmond-star-sam-lalor","tag-rumours","tag-sports","tag-tasmania","tag-tassie","tag-the-20-year-old","tag-the-afl","tag-the-afl-premiership-season-live","tag-the-announcement","tag-the-challenge","tag-the-devils-it","tag-the-devils","tag-the-door","tag-the-end","tag-the-new-expansion-club","tag-the-radar","tag-the-reality","tag-the-right-people","tag-the-seemingly-innocuous-comments-jokingly","tag-the-top","tag-their-advances","tag-their-blockbuster-offer","tag-their-inaugural-coach-watch","tag-their-net","tag-turn-downs","tag-your-decision","tag-your-first-month","tag-zak","tag-zak-butters","tag-zak-butters-mitch-brown"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815472","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=815472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=815472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=815472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=815472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}