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1992 TFL Statewide League season

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1992 TFL Statewide League season
Teams
PremiersNorth Hobart
Minor premiersNorth Launceston
3rd minor premiership
Attendance
Matches played96
Total attendance135,396 (1,410 per match)
← 1991
1993 →

The 1992 TFL Statewide League premiership season was an Australian rules football competition staged across Tasmania over eighteen (18) roster rounds and six (6) finals series matches between 4 April and 19 September 1992.

This was the seventh season of statewide football competition and The League was known as the Cascade-Boags Statewide League under a dual commercial naming-rights sponsorship agreement with both Cascade Brewery in Hobart and Boag's Brewery in Launceston.

Participating Clubs

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1992 TFL Statewide League Club Coaches

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St Luke's Cup (Reserves) Grand Final

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  • Glenorchy 11.14 (80) v Nth Hobart 9.11 (65)

Statewide League Colts (Under-19's) Grand Final

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  • Glenorchy 10.9 (69) v Nth Launceston 8.9 (57)

Leading Goalkickers: TFL Statewide League

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  • Byron Howard Jnr (Nth Hobart) – 92
  • Keith Robinson (Hobart) – 86
  • Shane Fell (Glenorchy) – 61
  • Brad Pearce (Sth Launceston) – 57

Medal Winners

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  • Jason Gibson (Nth Launceston) – William Leitch Medal
  • Darryn Perry (North Hobart) – Darrel Baldock Medal (Best player in TFL Grand Final)
  • John Rainbird (New Norfolk) – George Watt Medal (Reserves)
  • Alan Bond (Hobart) – V.A Geard Medal (Under-19's)
  • Craig Grace (Glenorchy) – D.R Plaister Medal (Under-17's)
  • Michael Winter (Hobart) – Weller Arnold Medal (Best player in Intrastate Match)

Intrastate Matches

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Area of Origin Match (Saturday, 13 June 1992)

1992 TFL Club Home Attendance Figures

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  • Nth Hobart: 14,135 for 9 matches at 1,570
  • Hobart: 13,847 for 9 matches at 1,538
  • New Norfolk: 12,783 for 9 matches at 1,420
  • Devonport: 12,249 for 9 matches at 1,361
  • Nth Launceston: 12,149 for 9 matches at 1,349
  • Clarence: 11,584 for 9 matches at 1,287
  • Glenorchy: 11,027 for 9 matches at 1,225
  • Sandy Bay: 8,224 for 9 matches at 913
  • Sth Launceston: 7,769 for 9 matches at 863
  • Burnie Hawks: 7,021 for 9 matches at 780

Season Summary

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1992 would prove to be a disastrous season for the Tasmanian Football League as the effects of the economic recession began to bite the competition hard.

A number of member clubs would face serious financial ruin, with Glenorchy announcing an increasing debt of $350,000 which had been the result of gross mis-management and some embezzlement at the club, North Hobart would announce that they were also in dire financial trouble which was related to the blowout in costs of building their NHFC Social Club building in 1991.

Sandy Bay announced that they were also on the brink of financial oblivion and needed an immediate injection of more than $70,000 in the middle of the season in order to continue participation for the rest of the season, as a "Save The Bay" foundation was formed and special charity matches were staged by the club in order to raise urgent funds.

Clarence president Roger Curtis announced in May that "Clarence Football Club's financial position is worse than all the other clubs", this was related to the costs of the building of their Petchey Street clubrooms in 1983 which had come back to haunt them.

In August, Burnie Hawks instigated merger talks with cross-town rival, NTFL club Burnie Tigers as the economic crisis had disastrous effects on the city of Burnie itself with the city's biggest employer, Associated Pulp Paper Manufacturing (APPM) shedding jobs amid violent demonstrations on the city's port, the Hawks now faced a debt of more than $200,000 as crowds nosedived sharply.

By July, General Manager of the TFL Barry Breen instigated crisis talks at Youngtown with delegates, sponsors and advisers of all TFL clubs involved in discussions.

Crowds were to drop sharply during the season, despite fifteen fewer roster games from the previous season, crowds fell by 33,703 from 1991, the finals series saw crowds fall by 8,330 from the previous season.

The TFL were unhappy with ABC-Television's decision to telecast full matches live against the gate, the first match to be broadcast in full live across Tasmania was on 27 June 1992 when Clarence upset North Launceston at York Park for the Robins first loss of the season, in front a dismal attendance of just 1,049.

By 1 August, the effects of live broadcasting was beginning to be problematic for the TFL, the Round 15 roster of that day, in windy conditions, was the first time in the history of Statewide football that no fixture attracted a crowd of more than 1,000 patrons during a roster round, the previous time a TFL roster round failed to draw more than 1,000 patrons to any match was on 12 May 1945.

Amid all the doom and gloom, the season commenced in hot conditions on 4 April, with temperatures reaching 31 °C in both Hobart and Launceston and 35 °C at Boyer where New Norfolk and Clarence staged a magnificent spectacle which ended in a draw.

North Launceston, North Hobart and Hobart would be the season's premiership favourites and as it progressed, that's how it would turn out.

North Launceston started the season in magnificent touch by winning their first ten matches, including one match dubbed as "Match of the Season" against Hobart at North Hobart Oval on 7 June in front of almost 3,000 fans, where both sides put on an enthralling contest featuring seventeen goals in the second quarter which saw Hobart race out to a strong lead before the Robins hit back strongly in the second half to win by 44-points.

The Robins lost only two matches for the season (to Clarence and North Hobart) and were firm favourites to take their first flag since their 1983 NTFA triumph.

North Hobart were equally as strong, the Demons under Mark Yeates won ten out of their final eleven matches going into the finals, their one loss being a shock 62-point loss to a much improved South Launceston at Youngtown on 15 August, but this proved to be a mere blip on the radar as the season went on.

Hobart also started the season in top form, Mark Browning's Tigers won eight out their first nine matches (their only loss being a last kick of the match defeat to Clarence on 9 May) and after an awesome first-half display against North Launceston on 7 June, the Tigers stopped to a walk and eventually were overrun by a powerful Robins' team.

By mid-season the Tigers were to be decimated by a long injury list and despite managing to scrape out a number of unimpressive victories late in the season, the Tigers appeared to be well behind the two North's in the title race.

Both Clarence and Devonport had up and down seasons but despite lacking the talent of the top teams, both were able to hit form at the right time to take a finals spot, the Roos going into the finals in the better form of the two.

Outside the finals, South Launceston, despite being very inconsistent were able to produce their best season of football since 1987, ultimately their very poor percentage would cost them any chance at finals action, but there was great optimism for the future of the Bulldogs after several years of discussions on whether the club should remain a TFL member.

Peter Chisnall's New Norfolk would prove to be a great disappointment, the Eagles and Chisnall's honeymoon period appeared to be over with Chisnall increasingly frustrated at his team's performances and eventually announcing his resignation at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, the bottom three consisted of three clubs that were perilously close to financial ruin, Burnie Hawks, Sandy Bay and Glenorchy, the Magpies sitting on the bottom of the ladder for the first time since 1963.

Finals action commenced on 29 August in what was to be a cold and wet finals series.

North Hobart and Hobart faced off in the Qualifying Final on Saturday, 29 August with the Demons handing Hobart a football lesson, despite keeping in touch for most of the first half, the Tigers were to go goal-less from late in the second quarter until Geoff Keogh booted Hobart's only goal for the second half right on the final siren, meanwhile the super-confident Demons would boot 11.1 in the final quarter to run out 97-point victors.

On Sunday, 30 August, an out of form Devonport were to host Clarence at a rain-sodden Devonport Oval in the Elimination Final, with the Roos proving too good on the day to win by 22-points.

The following Saturday, an epic Second Semi Final at York Park saw North Launceston and North Hobart fight out a thrilling contest.

The two sides had been in red-hot form all season and in the first half, the Demons raced out to a 22-point lead, in the third quarter the Robins roared back into contention and eventually hit the front late in the third quarter with their fans in full voice behind them, the Robins still lead the match deep into time-on in the final quarter until North Hobart's Warren Walker managed to snap a match winning goal with moments to go and take the match by 3-points, stunning the home crowd into complete silence and booking themselves a spot in the Grand Final for the second year in succession.

Hobart were able to put the previous week's dismal display behind them and hit form the following day in the First Semi Final and run away from Clarence to record a solid 37-point win and book themselves a place in the Preliminary Final against clear favourites' North Launceston.

The Preliminary Final at North Hobart Oval on 12 September would go down as one of the worst days ever seen in finals football in Hobart since the infamous 1960 Grand Final and the equally infamous 1957 Second Semi Final.

North Launceston had picked a side of tall players to come down and tackle a Hobart side which lacked height, only to see torrents of rain fall early in the morning and through the Under-19 and Reserves fixtures which rendered the ground in deplorable condition.

Temperatures plummeted to below 4 °C for much of the senior match as sleet, light snow, wind and occasional heavy periods of rain hit North Hobart Oval, the ground itself resembled a lake with virtually the entire surface with the exception of the terraced wing being a quagmire.

A crowd of only 1,853 (the lowest TFL Preliminary Final crowd ever recorded to that stage) braved the freezing conditions to see Hobart boot only five goals for the match, four of them resulting from free-kicks to destroy the Robins premiership hopes and send them out in straight-sets.

The TFL, outraged at the paltry attendance at the match and with ABC-Television for televising the whole game live, ordered the broadcaster to not televise the Grand Final live on 19 September.

The big match saw North Hobart, the hottest favourites in two decades to win the premiership facing Hobart in fine conditions in a repeat of their 1989 Grand Final.

After a tight match for much of the first-half, it was Hobart who were attacking strongly in the early part of the third quarter, the crowd of just under 12,000 were anticipating a possible upset, but the Demons soon sprang to life and produced an inspiring burst of football late in the third quarter to jump out to a 15-point lead at three-quarter time.

The Demons were able to control the play for much of the final quarter as Hobart had run out of steam and North Hobart went on to take the premiership by 35-points, with the by now retired Captain-Coach Mark Yeates announcing his retirement as coach of North Hobart only seconds after the siren.

Yeates had been a sales representative with the Schweppes soft drink company in North Hobart in his two-year term at the Demons, but had accepted a more lucrative employment offer interstate for the following year.

Meanwhile, for Hobart, this match was to mark the end of the Tigers as a power in State football, in October 1992 Captain-Coach Mark Browning also resigned as coach of the club and after a chaotic situation in regard to appointing a senior coach the following season, the Tigers found themselves with a young, struggling squad for several years and were to find themselves in deep financial trouble which would see them have to leave the TFL just five seasons later in a battle to even stay alive.

1992 TFL Statewide League Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W L D PF PA PP Pts
1 North Launceston 18 16 2 0 2102 1289 163.1 64
2 North Hobart 18 15 3 0 2320 1515 153.1 60
3 Hobart 18 12 5 1 2053 1744 117.7 50
4 Clarence 18 10 6 2 1909 1562 122.2 44
5 Devonport 18 10 8 0 1664 1538 108.2 40
6 South Launceston 18 8 10 0 1662 2082 79.8 32
7 New Norfolk 18 7 10 1 1868 1850 101.0 30
8 Burnie Hawks 18 4 14 0 1568 2118 74.0 18[a]
9 Sandy Bay 18 3 15 0 1341 2001 67.0 12
10 Glenorchy 18 3 15 0 1371 2159 63.5 12
Source: [citation needed]
Notes:
  1. ^ 2 bonus points?

Round 1

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(Saturday, 4 April & Sunday, 5 April 1992)

Round 2

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(Saturday, 11 April 1992)

Round 3

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(Saturday, 18 April & Monday 20 April 1992)

Round 4

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(Saturday, 25 April 1992)

Round 5

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(Saturday, 2 May & Saturday, 9 May 1992)

Round 6

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(Saturday, 16 May 1992)

Round 7

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(Saturday, 23 May 1992)

Round 8

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(Saturday, 30 May 1992)

Round 9

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(Saturday, 6 June. Sunday, 7 June & Monday, 8 June 1992)

Round 10

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(Saturday, 20 June 1992)

Round 11

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(Saturday, 27 June 1992)

Round 12

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(Saturday, 4 July & Sunday 5 July 1992)

Round 13

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(Saturday, 11 July & Saturday, 18 July 1992)

  • Nth Hobart 22.8 (140) v Nth Launceston 11.7 (73) - Att: 1,575 at York Park (11 July)
  • Sth Launceston 15.24 (114) v Hobart 14.12 (96) - Att: 937 at North Hobart Oval (18 July)
  • Devonport 18.12 (120) v Sandy Bay 13.7 (85) - Att: 540 at Queenborough Oval (18 July)
  • New Norfolk 25.14 (164) v Glenorchy 5.7 (37) - Att: 1,481 at Boyer Oval (18 July)
  • Clarence 17.19 (121) v Burnie Hawks 10.6 (66) - Att: 604 at West Park Oval (18 July)

Round 14

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(Saturday, 25 July & Sunday, 26 July 1992)

Round 15

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(Saturday, 1 August 1992)

Round 16

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(Saturday, 8 August 1992)

Round 17

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(Saturday, 15 August 1992)

Round 18

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(Saturday, 22 August 1992)

Qualifying Final

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(Saturday, 29 August 1992)

  • Nth Hobart: 6.3 (39) | 10.4 (64) | 12.11 (83) | 23.12 (150)
  • Hobart: 3.2 (20) | 6.4 (40) | 6.8 (44) | 7.11 (53)
  • Attendance: 3,088 at North Hobart Oval

Elimination Final

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(Sunday, 30 August 1992)

  • Clarence: 3.1 (19) | 6.3 (39) | 8.8 (56) | 9.10 (64)
  • Devonport: 2.2 (14) | 3.3 (21) | 5.5 (35) | 6.6 (42)
  • Attendance: 1,672 at Devonport Oval

Second Semi Final

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(Saturday, 5 September 1992)

  • Nth Hobart: 5.2 (32) | 9.5 (59) | 11.7 (73) | 15.10 (100)
  • Nth Launceston: 2.5 (17) | 5.7 (37) | 12.12 (84) | 14.13 (97)
  • Attendance: 3,196 at York Park

First Semi Final

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(Sunday, 6 September 1992)

  • Hobart: 4.6 (30) | 9.10 (64) | 13.16 (94) | 18.21 (129)
  • Clarence: 5.2 (32) | 7.4 (46) | 12.5 (77) | 14.8 (92)
  • Attendance: 2,832 at North Hobart Oval

Preliminary Final

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(Saturday, 12 September 1992)

  • Hobart: 0.1 (1) | 3.2 (20) | 4.3 (27) | 5.5 (35)
  • Nth Launceston: 2.1 (13) | 2.2 (14) | 2.3 (15) | 3.5 (23)
  • Attendance: 1,853 at North Hobart Oval

Grand Final

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(Saturday, 19 September 1992) - (ABC-TV highlights: 1992 TFL Grand Final)

  • Nth Hobart: 4.3 (27) | 8.6 (54) | 12.8 (80) | 16.12 (108)
  • Hobart: 3.7 (25) | 6.8 (44) | 9.11 (65) | 10.13 (73)
  • Attendance: 11,967 at North Hobart Oval

Source: All scores and statistics courtesy of the Hobart Mercury, Launceston Examiner and North West Advocate publications.

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