The North Melbourne Football Club is delighted to announce it has secured a landmark deal to play home games in Hobart from 2012.

The Kangaroos will host two games a year at Bellerive Oval over three years.

“This is a great day for the North Melbourne Football Club, the city of Hobart and the AFL,” North Melbourne Chairman James Brayshaw said.

“The deal has been a long time coming and the people of Hobart fought very hard to get what they deserve - live AFL football in their backyard.

“The people of Hobart love their football as much as anyone and the North Melbourne Football Club is confident this will be the start of a long and mutually beneficial partnership.”

The club acknowledges the work undertaken by local businesses, the Hobart City Council, AFL Tasmania, Cricket Tasmania, the AFL and the state government which raised the money needed to fund two games a season.

“The social and economic benefits of this deal will be enormous for Hobart and the North Melbourne Football Club and we simply cannot wait to get down here and play,” Brayshaw added.

“We will be actively encouraging our supporters on the mainland to travel to Hobart to visit this beautiful city, meet its amazing people and support the mighty Kangaroos in 2012 and beyond.

“Bellerive will be an amazing venue for AFL games and Brad Scott and the players will be aiming to create a real home ground advantage when they play here.”