TASMANIA'S maiden AFLW side will have access to the daughters of local greats and will receive around $800,000 to splash on the competition's best players, after the expansion club's list rules were ratified by the AFL this week.
The expansion list concessions, which were exclusively revealed by AFL.com.au in December last year, officially passed through the AFL Commission earlier this week and were conveyed to AFLW clubs on Thursday morning.
They include the Devils being handed unfettered access to eligible father-daughter selections, if the player's dad was born in Tasmania and played a minimum of 100 AFL games across his career.
Tasmania's AFLW program will also receive a sign-on fund to attract established players worth 33 per cent of the Total Player Payment (TPP) limit in 2028, which clubs have estimated will be around $800,000.
As previously revealed in October last year, Tasmania will be able to sign up to 18 established AFLW players – including contracted players – as 'special free agents', but existing clubs will now be able to protect certain players from the Devils.
It's expected that clubs will be able to protect a standard number of six contracted players, a minimum of three and a maximum of 12 players depending on performance metrics that are still to be determined by the AFL.
Tasmania will start its first ever AFLW draft in 2027 with picks No.1, 5, 9, 14 and 23, while it will have picks No.4 and 8 – in addition to its own selections – the following year. There is not expected to be a requirement for the Devils to trade any picks.
The Devils will also have two extra list spots for their first two seasons, will be able to pre-select eligible Tasmanian Academy players through their first four seasons, and will be able to sign any previously delisted or undrafted players.
As revealed on AFL.com.au's The W Show last month, the concessions arrive after Tasmania's own AFLW list strategy was ratified at board level by the Devils, enabling the club to begin offering contracts to established women's players.
