GWS Giants star Tom Green says it would be hard to turn down a Canberra homecoming, should the nation’s capital be given the AFL’s 20th license some time in the future.
Canberra, along with Darwin and a third team in Western Australia, has been mooted as a potential destination for the league to expand into when it inevitably looks to bring the competition back to an even number of teams after the formation of Tasmania.
When the Tassie Devils come into the AFL in the next five years, it will be a landmark day for the code, but it will also present the problem of the league requiring a bye for at least one team each week.
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For that reason, few expect the AFL to settle with 19 teams permanently.
Which poses the obvious question: where to next?’
If the answer to that question is Canberra — as is very possible — and ACT-raised Giants star Green were still playing, he would have a tough decision on his hands.
“I’d be so tempted, I really would, but… I don’t know, because what if they do get a license in the future and then I’ve just said I can’t go!?” Green said on the Dyl and Friends podcast.
“I do love Sydney, I absolutely love it, and where I live, very fortunately in Tamarama, is beautiful — it is absolutely amazing, being that close to the beach. Being close to Bondi, it’s just an unbelievable spot.
“But it’d be tough to say no; I miss my mates a lot, so having them around, having mum and dad and my brothers around — I’d be close (to going). It’d be close.
“I’ll cross this bridge when we get to it.
“We’ll let them get that license and then we’ll start thinking about it.”
Many have doubted whether Canberra would be fit to house the competition’s 20th side, given the population and interest levels, among a number of other factors.
But Green, the centrepiece of the Giants’ current and future success, says “it would work well”.
“I’m the biggest Canberra advocate there is — someone has to be,” he said.
“I absolutely love going home to Canberra; so much so, that once this podcast is done, I’m actually driving home for a few days.
“Just to see mum and my brothers and my mates for a couple days, then I’m coming back.”
Green was born in Townsville, but moved between Toowoomba, Darwin, Melbourne and Tamworth as a kid before settling in Canberra at age 11.