1938 TANFL season

1938 TANFL season
Teams	4
Premiers	North Hobart 12th premiership
Minor premiers	North Hobart
Leading goalkicker	T. Richardson (North Hobart − 70 goals)
←  1937 1939  →

The 1938 TANFL season was the 57th season of the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in southern Tasmania.

North Hobart won the TANFL premiership for the 12th time, defeating Lefroy by 12 points in the final.

Ladder

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	D	Pts	Qualification
1	North Hobart (P)	15	11	4	0	52	Finals series
2	Lefroy	15	9	6	0	44
3	Cananore	15	7	8	0	32
4	New Town	15	3	12	0	16

Source: ^[1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) percentage; 3) number of points for.
(P) Premiers

Finals

From 1929 until 1941, the TANFL home-and-away season featured three rounds played for 4 premiership points per win, and two rounds played for 6 premiership points per win. A three-team system with challenge was then played, with the initial 1–3 positions based on premiership points, and the right of challenge going only to the team with the strictly best home-and-away season win-loss record. ^[2]

Semi-final

	Semi-final
Saturday, 24 September	Lefroy 17.17 (119)	def.	Cananore 15.19 (109)	North Hobart Oval (crowd: 6,000)	[3]

Grand final

	1938 TANFL grand final
Saturday, 1 October	North Hobart	def.	Lefroy	North Hobart Oval (crowd: 7,319)	[4]
	5.4 (34) 9.7 (61) 12.10 (82) 13.15 (93)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.3 (15) 7.6 (48) 7.12 (54) 11.15 (81)
T. Richardson 4, L. Smith 2, Tyler 2, Pratt 2, F. Smith, Lucas, Jones		Goals	McCarthy 3, Rae 2, Gould 2, Zschech, Badenach, Butler, Rogers
		Reports	Lee, for striking L. Smith
Had Lefroy won, North Hobart (which had the best win-loss record) would have been entitled under the challenge rule to a rematch the following Saturday to decide the premiership.

Awards

• Len Pye (North Hobart) won the George Watt memorial medal as the TANFL's best and fairest player. ^[4]
• T. Richardson (North Hobart) was the TANFL's leading goalkicker, finishing the home-and-away season with 70 goals. ^[1]
• North Hobart was defeated in the Tasmanian State Premiership by Launceston (NTFA) on 8 October at York Park. Launceston 16.9 (105) defeated North Hobart 5.9 (39). ^[5]

References

1. "League roster ends". The Mercury. Hobart, TAS. 19 September 1938. p. 13.
2. "TASMANIAN LEAGUE". The Mercury. 26 March 1929. p. 12. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
3. "Sensational recovery". The Mercury. 26 September 1938. p. 12.
4. "North premiers of 1938". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas. 3 October 1938. p. 12.
5. "Launceston retains state title". The Mercury. Hobart, TAS. 10 September 1938. p. 14.