Tassie Devils' warning to other AFL teams as club plots stealth free agency signings

The Tassie Devils have a warning for the 18 existing AFL teams, saying rivals won't see them coming as they pinch players for their inaugural list.

The AFL's latest expansion side joins the competition in 2028 and will spend this year contacting rival players, gauging interest and potentially coming to agreement with player managers in secret.

Tassie will be able to sign one uncontracted player per club as effectively free agents across 2027 and 2028, which will have a huge flow-on impact on the trade landscape.

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The Devils also have access to $5 million in sign-on bonuses outside of the salary cap, which they can spread around the players as an additional layer of temptation.

They have already been linked with GWS star Tom Green, who is out of contract in 2027, and Collingwood forward Beau McCreery, who has reportedly been offered $1 million per season by Tassie.

Devils list boss Todd Patterson said the club was already in contact with potential players and had offers in front of them.

"We're into it, we're active ... we're in the market and there's offers sitting in front of players for them to consider," Patterson told WIN News Tasmania.

"Clearly there's no massive rush for them to decide, but the feedback has been positive on them so far and hopefully we can have a few locked away in the background sooner rather than later."

Some other stars out of contract in 2027 include Adelaide forward Izak Rankine, Brisbane key forward Logan Morris, Hawthorn forward Jack Ginnivan, North Melbourne midfielder Finn O'Sullivan, St Kilda gun Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and Sydney midfielder Chad Warner.

Patterson was coy on who they could potentially have offers in front of, but said they certainly had a presence on the market given their scope to target all 18 teams.

"Enough (offers out there) to say we're definitely active and having a presence," he said.

"It's up to us to be able to project (the improvement) of some of these guys and not just the ones obvious to the eye. We've got to pick the ones that fit us and grow with the team and be part of our first premiership team.

"The player's (existing) club will be unlikely to know (when we've signed someone) and the marketplace definitely won't know and the player is free to go about their business and we'll keep planning the other chess pieces around them."

Patterson admitted their focus is on players who are out of contract across 2027 and 2028.

With their significant draft hand and sign-on bonuses, they could go after superstars like Nick Daicos and Sam Darcy who are contracted long-term, but they don't want to give up their draft picks as they map out their inaugural list.

"They're not going to trade the best players. It's all well and good for the player to want to leave potentially and for us to want to have them, but there's another party that will have to sign off on that and we would have to give up significant draft capital, which puts a fair amount of risk in the sustainable build of the list," he said.

There has been concern about Tasmania's ability to lure players, potentially in the wake of the reported seven-figure offer in front of McCreery.

Essendon champion Tim Watson has expressed his worry for the state's ability to retain and attract start players in particular.

However, Patterson said they are currently having no issues on that front.

"If anything it's been quite the opposite. We're seeing a lot of people are really intrigued by the way the state is growing and are excited about the opportunities down here. It's not something we're wrestling with at the moment," Patterson said.

The Devils do have a team together in 2026, with their VFL list up and going and sitting third on the ladder after four games.

They have put together a strong VFL squad, with the carrot of two guaranteed AFL list spots available come 2028.

Players they've signed include former Sydney players Robbie Fox and Caleb Mitchell, former West Coast player Hugh Dixon and former Essendon midfielder Jye Menzie.

"The most pleasing aspect is that even though there's a couple of golden tickets on the line, everyone's just playing as a team and that's allowing us to consider more than just the two spots we've guaranteed," Patterson said.

"If we were to list players today, there could be four, maybe even five.

"We think there's some clear candidates, but there's also a really strong chasing pack. We want to give everyone the most amount of time possible and we want to produce the most amount of players possible.

"Hopefully there's five, six, seven - we won't put a limit on it."

The Devils suffered their first ever defeat on Anzac Day, going down to Carlton's VFL side.