Mark Ricciuto reveals where the Crows and Power will find footballers to cover mass Covid absences
Adelaide’s Mark Ricciuto has weighed into how a supplementary list could work for clubs hit by Covid as South Australia looms as a trouble spot for the league to navigate.
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Adelaide football director Mark Ricciuto expects the AFL will introduce a supplementary list so clubs hit by Covid can recruit players from state leagues.
The Crows cancelled Friday’s internal trial after 16 players were ruled out due to either having coronavirus, being close contacts or sidelined with injury.
It is understood there was no escalation in the numbers on Thursday.
Adelaide’s practice match against Brisbane on the Gold Coast next week is still going ahead and the Crows expect about 30 players to be available.
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But the scrapping of the intra-club game has brought into sharp focus what the AFL might do this year to navigate Covid absences.
Ricciuto, a Crows board member, said the AFL was “putting together a supplementary list (for clubs)”.
“So if you are like the Crows now and your list is exposed fully you can grab them (extra players) from the SANFL, you can grab them from anywhere outside the AFL,” Ricciuto said on Triple M.
“That’s what will happen.”
Ricciuto said clubs would be told to “exhaust” their 45-man list first.
“The AFL has a mantra to keep playing ... they don’t want to be postponing games,” he said.
“If you have a lot of injuries and a lot of Covid, which can happen with injuries you can have 16 or so injuries and then have 16 or 18 cases of Covid.
“What will be happening, I’m led to believe that there will be a supplementary list where you can go out into lower grades, probably the SANFL unfortunately which I don’t think is right and pick players to top it up.
“It is going to be interesting, it’s going to be a weird year. Hopefully it doesn’t happen.”
Adelaide, which has also had coaches caught up in the latest outbreak, has found accommodation in regional SA so players can isolate in larger areas, including with home gyms.
SA looms as a difficult situation for the league to navigate if it introduces supplementary lists for the Crows and Port Adelaide.
Sources believe the most likely situation will be that clubs will have to use their state-listed players, who aren’t on their AFL list, as top-up players.
But SANFL rules limit who the Crows and Port can have in their state-league squads.
While Victorian clubs are able to add ex-AFL players to their VFL lists, Adelaide and the Power can only contract footballers who have not played at the top level for the past 12 months.
Another possibility might be using the clubs’ Next Generation Academy zones.
This would give the Crows access to players from Glenelg, North Adelaide, Sturt and Central District and the Power to Norwood, South Adelaide, Woodville-West Torrens and West Adelaide.
The two clubs are also at a disadvantage compared to their interstate rivals with South Australia’s close contact definitions far stricter.
While in Victoria the time frame for close contacts is four hours and people just have to return a negative PCR test to leave isolation, in SA it is 15 minutes and a seven-day quarantine.
Port Adelaide will host its internal trial at Alberton on Friday.
The AFL said it was yet to reach a position on supplementary lists.
The SANFL said it did not have clarity on the situation.
Ex-Power star open to Covid comeback
- Matt Turner
A former Port Adelaide star has backed the idea of state-league footballers covering mass coronavirus absences in the AFL, saying SANFL players will view it as a huge opportunity.
The AFL has discussed creating a pool of second-tier talent to help Covid-hit clubs fill sides this year and ex-Power vice-captain Hamish Hartlett will put his hand up if it goes ahead.
Hartlett, who played 193 games for the Power, returned to his junior team West Adelaide after being delisted in September.
The 31-year-old said a Covid replacement pool would provide another avenue for state-league players to realise their AFL dreams, which was good for the game.
“I’d say it would be unlikely for anyone to really require top-up players but who knows what can happen, Covid spreads very, very quickly,” Hartlett told News Corp.
“Anyone that considers themselves good enough to play at AFL level should be going in with a really open mind this season because as we’ve seen in other competitions in various other sports, opportunities can arise from nowhere, so you need to be prepared for that.
“The reality is there’s a lot of guys running around the SANFL who grew up with the dream of wanting to play AFL football.
“That’s not going to be a reality for everyone to be able to do that but if there’s a glimmer of hope that’s a chance of happening, I think any SANFL player would jump at that opportunity.
“My main focus at the moment is keeping fit, staying fit and playing good football with West Adelaide, but with the right preparation under my belt to be able to perform at AFL level should that call come.
“Clearly there’d be some logistics to work through from the lower levels with the AFL about how they’re likely going to be compensated or with other players.”
Hartlett believed each SANFL club had at least two or three players capable of filling holes on AFL lists.
“They’re not going to go out and play in the midfield and dominate – I don’t think anyone’s expecting that to happen,” he said.
“But it might mean being thrown in a back pocket or forward pocket, or on a wing and getting to play a pretty basic and general role.”
Hartlett, who had an injury-hampered 2021, would relish another AFL chance.
But he said seeing young players receive an opportunity out of the blue was more exciting.
“Having stepped out of the (AFL) system for a pretty short period of time, you kind of understand how good it is and enjoyable it is to be involved and how privileged you are to play in those types of games,” he said.
Hartlett said having five or six players plucked mid-year to join an AFL pool would be a good look for the SANFL.
“Is it fair on the clubs individually? Probably not,” he said.
“But on the same token, I think clubs would be super encouraging of their players to get that opportunity.
“It’s something (SANFL) clubs, even now, will have to start wrapping their heads around.”
Hartlett said building squad depth would help state-league clubs handle losing quality players during the minor round.
Even if a top-up pool was not introduced, state-league stars like Hartlett could be recruited in the mid-season rookie draft.
“I’ll try to play good footy at the start of the year and we’ll see where things go from there,” he said.
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Jon Ralph
Gold Coast is on track to have all of its male players boosted with a third Covid vaccine shot by Round 1 as the league’s rules around top-up players begin to take shape.
Clubs now expect to play their early rounds in Perth with the same fly-in, fly-out protocols that saw Carlton and Collingwood’s AFLW teams confined to hotels and training grounds after using a chartered flight to arrive in Western Australia this weekend.
And just over four weeks before the AFL season starts, clubs expect to be given permission to nominate a list of up to 10-12 state league or VFL players to play senior football in case of a Covid-19 crisis.
The players would be officially linked to their AFL team, with most clubs having their own VFL side or an alignment such as Melbourne and the Casey Demons.
Gold Coast chief executive Mark Evans told the Herald Sun up to 80 of the club’s players and staff were now boosted, with clubs believing they will need to have a third vaccine shot before players can enter WA.
The Suns take on West Coast on Sunday March 20 in Round 1 and will be the first men’s team to fly into Perth under premier Mark McGowan’s ongoing restrictions.
Carlton and Collingwood AFLW teams had PCR tests in Melbourne before flying out, one while in Perth, had daily rapid tests and were not allowed to move between hotel rooms but had a common gym, common room and dining facility in their own hotels.
“We have certainly recommended it to our players and staff with the likelihood you won’t be able to get into WA without a booster,” Suns boss Evans said of the boosters.
“It has brought a bit of a tension to it for us given we play them in Round 1. We are strongly encouraging it.
“It’s never easy to predict and so you should always be aware of every possible outcome but seeing the women’s teams play there successfully this weekend would indicate we are on target to be in Perth in Round 1.”
Like many AFL teams more than half of the Suns men’s program has had Covid-19, which should provide some immunity for a matter of months.
Clubs are expected to have to nominate state league players who might be able to play an AFL game if their existing list is wiped out with Covid.
But given clubs have lists of 44 they believe any ring-ins would only be required in the case of a positional need such as a club losing all three ruckmen to Covid for a specific round.
Evans said as many as 30 Gold Coast men’s players had already endured the omicron strain.
AFL clubs are cautiously optimistic that they can again return to full crowds for the majority of the season given few current limitations.
“We had quite few in the men’s program have Covid in the first part of January, certainly half of the group and possibly more than two thirds,” Evans said.
“And our women’s programs had Covid early in the season so we had one of the games delayed so right now things seem to be at a manageable level.
“I think there is strong demand from everyone to get on with life as best as normal can be, so as long as we continue to operate safely around stadiums I am sure we will be fine.
“There are no restrictions on crowds other than being vaccinated to be in the venue and ensuring social distancing but no other restrictions at this stage.”
The Suns are almost certain to take on a West Coast side without key tall Jack Darling given his reluctance to be vaccinated but have their own personnel issues with star forward Ben King out with a torn ACL.
As the Herald Sun reported on Saturday, the Suns are confident he will remain with the club on a two-season deal which would give him time to build something special without committing to a long-term contract.
Coach Stuart Dew will now have to build a new forward line that includes tall targets Levi Casboult, Sam Day, Mabior Chol and Josh Corbett as well as emerging talls Jack Lukosius and Mac Andrew.
How SANFL rules could limit Crows, Power in top-up search
The SANFL is prepared to work with Port Adelaide and Adelaide this year in the event their playing squads are wiped out by injuries and a Covid-19 outbreak.
But the state league is yet to commit to a plan for AFL clubs to use its competition to access top-up players for the coming season.
The AFL has told clubs that they must endeavour to field 23 players each week of the 2022 season.
SANFL general manager football Matt Duldig told News Corp they were talking to the AFL over this possibility this approach could require state league players stepping up.
“We understand the AFL are working through a number of contingency plans should Adelaide and Port Adelaide’s AFL teams be impacted by COVID-19 this season but are waiting on further details from the AFL,” he said.
“However, we understand the plan to access state league players for the AFL is a possibility and, therefore, will continue to work closely with the AFL, AFL clubs and SANFL clubs to find a solution to these potential challenges which, importantly, protects the strength and integrity of our competition.”
Preliminary discussions have started and the talks are set to continue over the next few weeks with the South Australian situation set to be a tricky one for the AFL.
Club sources believe the most likely situation will be that clubs have to use their state-listed players, who aren’t on their AFL list, as top-up players in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak.
But SANFL rules limit who the Crows and Port can have in their state league programs, compared to their interstate rivals.
While Victorian clubs are able to add an ex-AFL player to their VFL lists, Adelaide and Port Adelaide can only contract a delisted AFL player that has not played AFL or state league football for the past 12 months.
This used to be 24 months before the rule was relaxed late last year.
Players who have played at least 10 years for either Adelaide or Port Adelaide can be added to the SANFL lists at each club.
Port Adelaide has Cam Sutcliffe, 29, and John Butcher, 30, as the only players in the Magpies program who have played AFL football – Luke Surman was on Hawthorn’s list.
Former Carlton and Crows player Matthew Wright has played for Adelaide’s SANFL side.
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