AFL could front-load 2020 fixture to prepare for coronavirus impact
The AFL has briefed clubs on a radical plan to change the 2020 fixture in a bid to salvage a full season. Rule changes are also on the cards as the league prepares for the coronavirus threat.
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Clubs could be forced to play as many as five games in three weeks before the COVID-19 disaster forces a total shutdown period as the AFL looks to protect its $2.5 billion broadcast agreement.
The radical plan was discussed as the AFL staged separate phone conferences with chief executives and presidents today.
Clubs were told they would be able to sign top-up players to help navigate the exhausting period.
Drastic rule changes to limit fatigue – such as unwinding the cap on interchange rotations and allowing more than four players on the bench – were also considered.
Matches could also be shortened with league powerbrokers prioritising ensuring all 198 home-and-away games plus finals get played at some stage.
The small turnaround between games would see AFL venues across the country host midweek games which will be played in front of no spectators.
The AFL has two bye rounds to play with, plus the possibility of playing into October, which has been canvassed with the MCC.
It was made clear on Saturday that every option was on the table, and nothing had been set in stone.
With fears of a severe disruption when the virus pandemic is expected to peak in April-May, the league is keen to bank as many games as possible at the start of the season.
Clubs were told they will need to be “extremely flexible” with their squads and understand it is inevitable there will be a postponement of games at some stage this year.
The option of a mini-draft where affected clubs could recruit supplementary players has been canvassed, with the WAFL aware it could possibly lose players as a result.
Essendon had to call on 10 “top-up” players just prior to the start of the 2016 season after 12 of its senior-listed footballers were suspended for a year due to doping bans.
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Thursday night’s Richmond-Carlton blockbuster – which would normally draw a crowd of almost 90,000 fans – will take place before an empty MCG stadium.
That will lead to an extraordinary contrast for one-game flag hero Marlion Pickett.
Pickett played in front of a Grand Final crowd of 100,014 last September but will have no fans cheering him on in his second game.
The latest developments come as North Melbourne’s Jamie Macmillan was placed in isolation last week as a precautionary measure because his wife’s boss was showing symptoms of the infection.
But when Olivia Macmillan’s colleague’s coronavirus test came back negative, the defender was permitted to return to Arden St.
A player from a different Melbourne club also tested negative to COVID-19 last week.
Champion Data staff are likely to start working from home tomorrow while the AFL has shut down its Docklands headquarters from the public.
Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale said a range of options were being canvassed, but said no one knew what would happen when peak infections hit Australia within the next month.
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“The peak infection rate is forecast to hit around April-May,” Gale said on radio.
“How long (will we be playing in front of empty stadiums) for? We don’t know. We have not had that indication from the AFL.”
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Originally published as AFL could front-load 2020 fixture to prepare for coronavirus impact