LUKE Hodge reckons there might be a part of Tasmania he has yet to visit in 13 seasons with the Hawks as a player, but it would take some time with a map to make sure.

The day after beating North Melbourne by 65 points in a NAB Challenge clash at Aurora Stadium, Hawthorn kicked off its 2014 Australia Post AFL Community Camp in Launceston on Saturday afternoon with the players spread across the length and breadth of the state that has become the club's second home.

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The Hawks skipper was in the Brisbane Street Mall, the main shopping strip of the Northern Tasmanian city as part of a promotion with Guide Dogs Tasmania. There he looked more at ease with the pups than teammate Sam Mitchell, who told those who turned up to meet the players that he was more of a cats (not the Geelong variety) than a dogs man.

But it was all part of selling the message that the Hawks love being in Tasmania. A cancer foundation fund-raiser and a spot of fly-fishing were also on the agenda for Hodge for the next two days before returning home on Monday night.

"When we first came here you would see jumpers from so many teams," he told AFL.com.au. "Now you come down, there are Hawthorn jumpers everywhere and people recognise the Hawthorn brand."

"I think we have covered every centimetre of it. But that's the point. The Tasmanian people back us and they support us.

"There is a fantastic relationship between the Tasmanian people, the Tasmanian Government and the Hawthorn Football Club."

But the relationship is at a delicate stage. Tasmanians go the polls in three weeks for a state election and the relationship between the state which is Hawthorn's major sponsor is again under the microscope.

It has been a succession of Labor governments that have forged the partnership with Hawthorn since the first game at York Park, now Aurora Stadium in 2001. But there remains a push within football circles that the ideal arrangement for Tasmania should be to have one club play eight games a year in the state rather than the four played by the Hawks in Launceston and the two by North Melbourne in Hobart each year.

This is the preferred outcome of the AFL and AFL Tasmania and it remains unclear what a change of government would mean for the Hawks.

Hawthorn chief executive Stuart Fox told the Launceston Examiner earlier this week that the club would wait for the election outcome but then hoped to begin discussions to extend the deal, which expires at the end of 2016.

"There is no way we are going to walk away from the deal unless other factors which are totally out of our control force us to,” he said. "There is no doubt the AFL may have different interests, however, they have not declared that to us yet.

"We're obviously sensitive that an election is approaching and don't want football used in a political sense, but the reality is we've got three full years to run on the contract and talks with the government would probably commence later this year.

"Our work in Tasmania, playing games, maintaining a high level of community engagement, plus the strong economic benefits to the state put us in good stead for a positive response when it comes time to talk contract," Fox said.

Hawthorn has won 29 of 40 games played at Aurora Stadium including 14 of their past 15.  The club has about 8000 members from the state.