HAWTHORN utility Grant Birchall gave his two front teeth for Tasmania, the AFL club's president Jeff Kennett said on Monday when thanking the state for its major sponsorship of the Hawks.

The Tasmanian-born Birchall is with a Hawks group on its way to Launceston to meet the rest of the team after a lightning tour of Hobart with the AFL premiership cup.

The state government is the Hawks' major sponsor, with a five-year $15 million deal to play four games per season in Launceston until 2011.

Kennett told Premier David Bartlett on Monday in Hobart that his club is grateful for the state's support and takes seriously its obligation to promote Tasmania as a tourist destination.

So seriously, he joked, that Birchall gave his two front teeth for the cause.

"He gave his two teeth for Tasmania," Kennett told Bartlett.

"There's not many people you can say that about."

Birchall lost half of his two front teeth in a clash during Saturday's upset grand final win over Geelong.

"They're gone," he told reporters when asked about his injured fangs.

"I have to get them replaced this week but it's all been worth it."

Birchall said carrying the AFL premiership cup in his home state was a dream come true.

"It's obviously very special and being a Tasmanian it makes me really proud," he said.

Birchall, Hawthorn captain Sam Mitchell, Norm Smith medallist Luke Hodge and coach Alastair Clarkson were swamped by scores of well-wishers in Hobart's Elizabeth Mall.

The Hawks group will travel by helicopter to Launceston.

In Launceston, the front-page of The Examiner newspaper on Monday carries the banner headline: Welcome home mighty Hawks.

The rest of the Hawthorn team will join the advance party in Launceston later on Monday to present the cup to fans at Aurora Stadium.

On Sunday at Glenferrie Oval, where 20,000 Hawthorn fans greeted their heroes and the 2008 Toyota AFL premiership Cup, Hawthorn chief executive Ian Robson said one in four Tasmanian children involved in the AFL's Auskick program in the Apple Isle now followed the club.

"That's a futures play for us," he said.

"There can be no more further commitment (than) for us to take the cup down there and really look to celebrate with the Tasmanian people.

"We've said we respect their right to pursue a team, that's something the AFL Commission will take control of, so what we worry about is what we can control."

The Tasmanian government is still pushing for a stand-alone team in the AFL, and is eyeing off the franchise the league wants to place in western Sydney in the 2011 and 2012 expansion.

This continues to work against Hawthorn's push for support in the state, and the club already has a $3 million-a-season deal with Tasmania to play four games per season in Launceston until 2011.

"It's important for a whole bunch of reasons, not least of which, we've got a fantastic bedrock of support down there," Robson said of the trip.

"We've always said the relationship with Tasmania was more than just a sponsorship, it was a genuine partnership."