Tasmania Devils part ways with inaugural VFL captain Robbie Fox

The Tasmania Devils have parted ways with Robbie Fox, their inaugural VFL captain, after one season. The club will not offer him a new VFL contract for 2027. He stays on the books in a different role.

The VFL is the state league one step below the AFL, and the Devils were Tasmania's first side in it this year. Fox was the player they picked to lead that group.

Fox is from Burnie, on the state's north-west coast. He played 105 games for the Sydney Swans, including in the 2022 and 2024 AFL Grand Finals. Sydney delisted him, meaning it removed him from its list of contracted players, at the end of 2025 after an injury-hit season. He then moved south to the Devils.

His first year in Tasmania was also disrupted by injury. He missed the club's historic first game, and vice-captain Jye Menzie led the side that day. Fox returned in Round 16 against the Gold Coast Suns and finished with 13 games for the season. The Devils finished in the top four and earned a home semi-final.

The club's decision followed an incident at a Hobart pub. ABC News reported that about two weeks before 27 October, Fox was removed from the Granada Tavern in Hobart's northern suburbs after becoming drunk and disorderly. The report says he was abusive towards staff and a bottle was thrown.

Devils VFL boss Aaron Pidgeon said the club's expectations on player behaviour and meeting its standards were part of the decision not to offer Fox a new deal. The club has not said more about the matter.

Fox still works for the Devils as strategic projects and impact lead, a non-playing role. For a player who came to Tasmania after a difficult exit from the Swans, the club's first VFL season ends with him off the field and out of the captaincy.