Nick Riewoldt 'nervous' as Devils face extinction before even entering the AFL
Tasmanian football legend Nick Riewoldt is "nervous" his dream of having an AFL team in the state will die before it is reached.
The AFL has already approved the league's 19th licence and the Devils are scheduled to enter the competition in 2028.
But their existence hinges on the construction of a new stadium in Hobart.
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As of Friday, construction was yet to start on the proposed 23,000-seat venue at Macquarie Point.
It is forecast to be completed ahead of the 2029 AFL season and so the Devils already have plans in place to play their home games at other venues in 2028.
Nick Riewoldt, and Matthew Richardson showing off Tasmania's jersey. Getty
But if the construction of the new stadium is delayed further, or kiboshed altogether, the AFL will take the licence away from the new franchise.
A report in The Age this week says club presidents want to vote again on Tasmania's licence if the stadium build gets delayed.
Riewoldt - who played 336 games for St Kilda but grew up in Hobart - has been a leading supporter of the southernmost state getting its own AFL team.
But even he is now questioning whether it will happen.
"My bombshell is around Tassie... I don't think that's going to go as smoothly as people think," he told Triple M's Mick in the Morning.
"I don't know, I'm nervous about it.
"I'm invested emotionally and I'm just nervous about where it's at.
"There seems to be a lot of noise, lot of negativity.
"We need this stadium locked in, approved... we should be turning soil right now."
With winter temperatures plunging to unbearable lows in Tasmania, Riewoldt says the stadium "has to" have a roof on it "as part of the contract".
The only current AFL stadium with a roof on it is Marvel Stadium.
