The AFL is set to agree to fly umpires into South Australia if Showdown is scheduled at Adelaide Oval in Round 2
SA Premier Steven Marshall is optimistic Adelaide Oval will host Showdown 48 in Round 2, saying his government and the AFL are close to solving the interstate umpire dilemma that threatened to derail the match.
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Premier Steven Marshall says he is confident Adelaide will host a Showdown in Round 2 as the State Government and AFL close in on an agreement that paves the way for the clash to stay in South Australia.
The first block of fixtures for a resumed 2020 AFL season is set to be revealed early next week after a potential hitch was overcome during talks between the government and the league on Friday.
While a clash between Adelaide and Port Adelaide, likely to be a Power home game, at Adelaide Oval as part of Round 2 was made possible by the decision to give the two AFL clubs training exemptions this week, it did hit a new obstacle.
SA does not have the amount of required field umpires to officiate the game, nor the television crew to broadcast it.
But the AFL and government are closing in on an compromise to overcome this.
The AFL is prepared to fly in the required umpires to Adelaide and have them undergo the required 14-day isolation period.
The State Government has offered to provide the broadcast crew with a quarantine exemption that will allow them to drive into SA and leave their base at the Pullman Hotel in the CBD to cover the game.
Mr Marshall said the exemption to the broadcast crew would be under “strict conditions”.
“I think we are getting closer and closer to a local showdown in South Australia,” he said.
“The ball is in the court of the AFL, so they will make a decision on that.
“We think it is a good deal, I’m hopeful we can have a showdown here in South Australia.”
The AFL was still working through the scenario on Friday night.
The use of SANFL field umpires for the match was quickly ruled out by the AFL.
Adelaide assistant coach Michael Godden said SANFL umpires could be good enough.
“I have no doubt, they do the job every week in the SANFL,” he said.
“There are plenty of appropriate people, but the AFL has its staff and we understand that is the way it is meant to be.”
Inaugural Crows coach and Advertiser columnist Graham Cornes said on Twitter it was “ridiculous” that SANFL umpires could not be considered.
The “snag”, as Mr Marshall described it, was only identified on Thursday.
If the Showdown can be scheduled for Round 2 and is played in Adelaide, then it would delay the need for the Crows and Power to enter a Gold Coast hub by at least a week.
Jonas happy to delay Showdown if needed
Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas said the Showdown could be played later in the year when pubs will have re-opened to help the struggling hospitality industry.
“It would be great to spend an extra week in Adelaide, but at the same time while our hotel industry is still pretty well shut down it might be an opportunity later in the season to really build some buzz around the city when the hotels are open,” he said.
“We can make it a really big event around Adelaide and hopefully get the hotel industry firing again.”
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The hitch is another development in what has been a rollercoaster couple of weeks for the clubs.
Jonas said it was sometimes difficult to keep up with the constant changes and there was no point in worrying about it “because we’ve been dealing in hypotheticals for about two months now, and if you are going to be riding the highs and lows you are going to be pretty mentally exhausted”.
Because of this, Adelaide hopes the State Government could yet relax travel restrictions required to fly-in and fly-out for AFL matches – after allowing the two SA clubs to stay in the state for contact training.
“The AFL were representing the views of the clubs. The two clubs got together and thought it would be a good idea to see if there were any circumstances under which we could have contact training,” said Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan.
“We are happy with the decision they (government) made and will continue to work with the AFL and Port Adelaide on subsequent decisions that need to be made.
“The AFL will continue to lead those discussions.
“We will need to showcase adherence to protocols.”
Fagan said anything could happen between now and the season’s resumption.
“I think what we are seeing here is things are moving really quickly over the last few weeks and hard to guess into the future,” he said.
“It is certainly welcome news we were able to gain the exemption to do contract training here and bring the Showdown back here as well.”
Fagan returned fire on a critical Melbourne-based narrative which inferred the Marshall Government’s surprise, initial refusal of fly-in, fly-out approval was connected to Adelaide’s Barossa isolation breach this month.
“Victorians will always talk about South Australians and we will let them do that,” said Fagan of the breach that saw 16 Crows receive a one-match suspended ban and assistant coach Ben Hart sidelined for six weeks by the AFL.
“Ultimately, the facts should drive the story and I think the chief health officer made it clear the decisions made about requiring a hub had nothing to do with that incident whatsoever.
“The AFL recognised it was an inadvertent, accidental mishap that wasn’t meant to gain any advantage whatsoever.
“We are in that game where there is plenty of opinion and we welcome it.”
Fagan expects AFL boss Gillon McLachlan to release revised 2020 AFL fixtures for games in empty stadiums as soon as Friday.
The worst scenario would mean Crows players and families in a month-long lockdown at the Mercure Golf Resort on the Gold Coast if travel restrictions aren’t lifted.
“With a bit of luck, hopefully we can base ourselves here for the rest of the competition,” said Fagan.
“I am hopeful the AFL in the next day or so will release the fixture of the first four or five rounds and hopeful that starts with a Showdown here and has us maybe only a month on the Gold Coast playing West Coast, Fremantle, Gold Coast and Brisbane.”