ALASTAIR Clarkson's gap year from coaching has led him to the NFL and NBA as he attempts to firm up Tasmania's bid to be accepted into the AFL.
The four-time Hawthorn premiership coach is in the United States, trying to learn as much from four-time Super Bowl champions Green Bay as possible.
Clarkson believes there are many similarities to the Packers' journey and what Tasmania is wanting to achieve in grabbing the AFL's 19th licence.
Green Bay's population is a little more than 100,000 but they have managed to be one of the NFL's most successful franchises.
Clarkson has also spent time with NBA powerhouse Golden State, building a tight friendship with Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
"I was really fortunate before Christmas to spend about three months in the Warriors program and then I've got another three or four weeks here (at the Packers) now," Clarkson told SEN.
"The reason I'm up in Green Bay now is we're continuing on consolidating our work for Tasmania and doing some more research into what we can do to put a pitch forward to the AFL so that the 19th team is a good option for the competition.
"In terms of Tasmania and the model we're trying to put to the AFL, in terms of the ownership and the equity model, then Green Bay is such a good club to research.
"Their whole culture and community and the way they play is so similar to the culture of Tasmania, there's so much to learn over here."
Clarkson, who joined the Tasmanian AFL taskforce after his messy exit from the Hawks last year, believes Peter Gutwein's surprise recent resignation as the state's premier will not negatively impact the quest.
Gutwein had been a vocal voice in pushing Tasmania's case and had announced plans for a new state-of-the art 27,000-seat stadium in Hobart's CBD should a club be accepted into the AFL.
"We're just getting on with the job and the only thing that's going to stop us is the AFL Commission in July or August knocking us back, but until then we're going to do everything we possibly can to put a pitch to the AFL that's going to be pretty hard to refuse," Clarkson said.