Marshall wary of interstate AFL teams after new clusters
South Australia is not likely to welcome any visiting AFL teams after a season re-start with the government and health officials wary of new interstate coronavirus clusters.
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South Australia is unlikely to welcome in AFL teams during the early part of a rebooted season while interstate COVID-19 infection rates remain high, Premier Steven Marshall says.
As SA enjoyed its 14th consecutive day of zero cases – and Melbourne was struggling with an ongoing outbreak at a meatworks – Mr Marshall supported a fly-in, fly-out model for the Crows and Power.
He said if the “current infection rates continued I think we would be very unlikely to welcome players from interstate into Adelaide”.
“Obviously we are trying to predict what the infection level around Australia will be in four, six and eight weeks time, and that is extremely difficult to do,” Mr Marshall said.
He said the health of players and the wider community would need to take precedence over home ground advantage.
“And therefore it makes it much more likely that in the early rounds of the season that our games from South Australia would be away games.
“Or we would be operating out of a hub.
“My personal preference is for us to be essentially operating in a modified fly-in, fly-out model with South Australian teams based here and flying out for games.”
Mr Marshall told The Advertiser that SA would continue to listen to health advice and adjust its measures accordingly.
“I have been in touch with (AFL boss) Gill McLachlan today to let him know South Australia’s chief medical officer Nicola Spurrier … is now doing a final look at the various models that have been proposed … and will reply to him directly,” Mr Marshall said.
Amid chatter about a hub model being used to reboot the AFL season, Mr Marshall asked during national Cabinet for a risk assessment between two models – a hub or a fly-in, fly-out home and away season – to be undertaken.
Mr Marshall’s apprehension about flying in interstate clubs was echoed by West Australian Premier Mark McGowan, who told reporters in Perth that his state would not “compromise on our hard borders just to meet the needs of football”.
Victoria has recorded 34 new virus infections in the past two days, meaning it still has about 100 active cases across the state.
Crows chief executive Andrew Fagan said last night the club would be guided by health advice.
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“Our wish will always be to play games under a traditional home and away format, which includes hosting opposition teams at Adelaide Oval, and in a perfect world with our members and fans in attendance to cheer us on,” he said. “However, in these unprecedented times, we will always heed the advice and direction of medical experts and acknowledge that we must put the health and wellbeing of the community first and foremost.
“With this in mind, our club is open minded and willing to be flexible to ensure the return of football as soon as possible.”
Port Adelaide chief executive officer Keith Thomas said, first and foremost, the most important element was to protect the health and safety of players, coaches, staff and the broader community.
“Every decision made has to be through the lens of protecting the community,” he said.
“Secondly, we would embrace any opportunity to restart the competition and take part in games.
“We want to play and our players are ready to go, but we must respect the laws of the land. We will support any way the AFL can get the competition up and running again.
“We know we need to be agile and flexible in our approach to this.
“Hopefully any inequalities in the competition are for the short term to ensure the integrity of the season.
“Our players love nothing more than playing at Adelaide Oval.”
— with Andrew Capel and Matt Turner