Port Adelaide footy boss Chris Davies says ‘we’re not in a slave trade business’ as both SA clubs say they won’t force players into hubs

The AFL’s not a slave trade business, Port says, as it and the Crows maintain they won’t force their players into quarantine hubs in order to start the AFL season.

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Port Adelaide says the AFL isn’t a “slave trade business’’ and declared players won’t be forced into quarantine hubs against their will.

“We would give our players a choice,’’ general manager of football Chris Davies said as the league inches closer to a restart.

“Our position is clear. If a player came to me or Ken (coach Ken Hinkley) with legitimate concerns about going into a hub then we would listen to those.

“We would expect that the player has thought about the position they are going to take before any sort of assessment as to why they wouldn’t want to go.

“But at the same time we’re not in a slave trade business, this is something for the players to make a decision on.

“They have responsibilities outside of footy but at the same time they’ve also got responsibilities to the footy club, so we would make sure the players’ concerns, if they could be addressed, were.

“If they couldn’t be then they would be staying at home, it’s as simple as that. We certainly wouldn’t be forcing it down the throat of any of our players.’’

The AFL – poised to announce its fixture plans on May 11 after the season was put on hold after round one because of the COVID-19 pandemic – has moved to ease players’ serious concerns about the possibility of a 20-week quarantine hub being used to complete the season.

Crows captain Rory Sloane with wife Belinda and son Sonny. Picture: SARAH REED.

But it is possible smaller, five-week hubs – possibly in Victoria and either Queensland or Western Australia – could be implemented to restart the season before reverting to the fly in, fly out model that clubs used in round one.

Power veteran Tom Rockliff suggested some AFL players could boycott the season if they were asked to leave their families behind for an extended period.

Davies said Port would have empathy for them.

“We are in unprecedented times and if a player had circumstances which suggested going into a hub isn’t going to be right for them, whether they have a partner at home who is nearing childbirth or issues with the health of family members, those types of things, there would be some compassion and situations that are going to be looked at in an extraordinary way,’’ he said.

Crows captain Rory Sloane and star defender Daniel Talia have expressed their concern about leaving their wives and young children behind if they were forced into a quarantine hub and head of football Adam Kelly suggested Adelaide would also take a sympathetic view to extreme cases.

“We will work through that situation with a player, we’re fully aware that being away from home would conflict with their responsibilities as fathers, as husbands and there could be other circumstances within our players’ lives where they think it’s going to be hard for them to be in a hub,’’ Kelly told ABC SA Grandstand.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it because at the moment we haven’t been presented with a return to play model.

“But as a club our priority is our people, their wellbeing and ensuring we’ve got all the support for them and their decision making.’’

The Crows and Power have asked their interstate-based players to return to Adelaide by Monday so they can spend 14 days in quarantine before returning to training in preparation for the season reboot.