FOR years, Tasmania has provided football some of its most exciting talents.

Ian Stewart, Royce Hart and Darrel Baldock are just some of the big names to come out of the Apple Isle but all had to leave home to fulfil their dream.

Grant Birchall isn’t quite on the same level as those legends of the game but he does have the rare privilege of combining an AFL career with the chance to play in his home state.

Birchall has played 11 of his 66 AFL matches at Aurora Stadium and with another three to come this year he admits he enjoys playing in Tasmania.

“I always like to perform in front of friends and family. I’ve played a lot of footy down there and there’s always a bit of motivation to do well,” Birchall said.

“I really enjoy playing there. We’ve got a pretty good record down there, as well.”

Birchall says the Tasmanian football public always gives tremendous support to the Hawks but he is not holding his breath waiting for his home state to have an AFL team of its own.

“It would be fantastic but it doesn’t seem likely to happen for a fair while yet,” he said.

“It would take a fair bit of work to get one. There’s been some great AFL players come out of Tassie and it would be great to see them have a side but I don’t think it will happen in the next few years.”

The 21-year-old has developed a reputation as a durable, reliable part of the Hawthorn side since debuting in 2006.

He has played his last 61 matches in a row – the longest current streak of any Hawthorn player.

The streak looked like coming to an end after he pulled a hamstring in the NAB Cup game against Carlton but he was still able to line up against Geelong three weeks later.

He says the injury was a blessing in disguise.

“I guess it was a good opportunity to freshen up. I haven’t missed many sessions and I wanted to go in there and find some form,” he said.

“I was pretty confident I’d come up before round one. That’s the way it panned out. I suppose if there’s any time for an injury it wasn’t a bad time.”

While Birchall does not have the profile of some his more celebrated teammates, his no-nonsense approach to football did earn him a spot in journalist Mike Sheahan’s top 50 players list.

He says the nomination did not go unnoticed by his teammates.

“I got a few pranks and copped a bit from the boys. It’s good to get a bit of recognition, particularly from Mike who has been around for a while,” he said.

“I guess it’s only his opinion but it was nice to see. It came as a bit of a surprise.”

Far from struggling with the newfound spotlight, Birchall had a spectacular start to the season with 29 possessions. He says he enjoyed the extra responsibility in the absence of his fellow defenders.

“With Croady (Trent Croad) and Stephen Gilham not being down there you have to step up a bit and take more of a leadership role,” he said.

“Particularly with a couple of the younger boys down there you have to stand up and play some good footy and be more of a leader. It’s something I’ve tried to improve on.”