Tasmania Devils unveil squad plans for inaugural VFL campaign
As the Devils prepare for their first VFL and VFLW pre-season, the club has revealed the number of players who will make up the initial squad. Plus, the rules for their final list.
Tasmania Devils will start their VFL preseason next month with expanded men’s and women’s squads before cutting them to regulation size in January.
The men will start preseason with up to 80 players and the women with about 60-65.
The squads will consist of local players, home grown talent returning from interstate, targeted recruits and a handful of players who impressed at last week’s VFL trials.
A VFL spokesman said final lists do not have to be lodged until several weeks before the start of the season, which started on March 21 this year.
Clubs are allowed 30 players on their VFL lists, with an additional 14 development players.
Under their first-year concession, the Devils are allowed a list of 30, with 20 extra players on their development list, for a total of 50.
Tasmania Football Club’s head of the VFL program, Aaron Pidgeon, said a buzz had been building around the Devils VFL entry in 2026.
“It’s really exciting – we have been almost overwhelmed with the amount of interest in the program,” he said.
“That has been a positive thing and it will set us up really well over the next couple of years.”
Devils pre-season starts on November 3, the day before the Macquarie Point Stadium debate kicks off in Parliament. The 23,000-seat roofed multi-purpose venue is a prerequisite for the Devils AFL club to officially secure its licence.
“We are still finalising exactly where our training venues will be,” Pidgeon said.
The club has already signed Jye Menzie, Robbie Fox, and Jack Callinan for the VFL team, and Sarah Skinner and Candice Belbin for the VFLW.
With 2025 state academy players exempt, the club held try-outs last week to see if there was other talent that deserve consideration.
List manager Todd Patterson and recruiter Derek Hine were impressed with what they saw.
“We initially set it up to be about Tasmanian talent but left the door open – the fact that [interstate] people took that opportunity was exciting and probably shows how invested people are in the long-term future of the club,” Pidgeon said.
“In the women’s space, we had athletes travel from as far as Queensland to come to the trials – flying down that morning and flying out the next morning.
“It was a huge commitment, so that was exciting.”
The trials hopefuls are now under consideration.
“We did uncover a few unpolished diamonds,” Pidgeon said.
“We are still working through that at the moment in terms of who will go through to that initial squad.
“There is the likelihood there will be one or two players out of each of those regions.
“We were pleasantly surprised with the talent in all three regions and by the time we finalise the squad there will be one or two players from each of those regions who will find their way onto the initial training squad.”
A VFL spokesman said final lists do not have to be lodged until several weeks before the start of the season, which started on March 21 this year.
Clubs are allowed 30 players on their VFL lists, with an additional 14 development players.
Under their first-year concession, the Devils are allowed a list of 30, with 20 extra players on their development list, for a total of 50.
Originally published as Tasmania Devils unveil squad plans for inaugural VFL campaign
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