AFL 2022: Covid plans may see VFL players called in at last-minute
Postponement of games is not an option in 2022, with clubs to implement plans to avoid mass infections and to source replacements at short notice.
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The AFL has told clubs they will be forced to play games this year even if their entire forward line has been decimated given the league’s mantra to forge ahead through Covid.
Clubs have been told the possible postponement of men’s games will occur only in the most extraordinary of circumstances that saw an entire team hit by Covid.
The AFL’s football team are spending the week consulting with clubs about the rocky path ahead for the men’s season starting on March 16.
Clubs are keen for clarity on how they will find extra players should Covid wipe out a chunk of their playing list as well as a blanket AFL rule on quarantine given some states require 14 days of isolation and others only seven.
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But they have been told they will need to shoulder most of the responsibility for the availability of their players to ensure they remain largely free of Covid.
If a club’s best six forwards or entire back six were laid low by Covid but they had 23 available fit players - including VFL top-ups - they would still be forced to play that round.
It means clubs will have to put processes in place to ensure large swathes of players do not come down with Covid at the one time.
One proposal discussed by clubs this week is to link AFL clubs to VFL affiliates for the purposes of top-up players who might be elevated into the AFL at short notice.
VFL clubs would also have a NAB League affiliate that would allow 19-year-old top-age players to replace VFL players who had been elevated into the AFL.
But while the league is insisting clubs must find ways to top up their lists so games are not cancelled, the AFLW season has illustrated the challenge ahead.
On multiple occasions Omicron has spread through an entire list and meant teams did not have the minimum 16 available players.
Victorian clubs playing in Melbourne with lists above 40 should be able to field 23 players even if they have to call on their VFL top-ups.
But even clubs carrying extra reserves while they travel interstate are likely to be hit with Covid scares that force a large number of players to be sidelined.
If West Coast flew to Melbourne to play a Victorian team on Thursday for a Saturday clash and multiple players were exposed to Covid on Friday night the close contact rules might preclude the Eagles from playing.
The league is thrashing out how many players will travel in an interstate party on charter flights to ensure teams mostly have cover for Covid issues.
Former Geelong Falcons talent manager Mick Turner said the league was smart to create a pool of VFL players who could be linked to clubs and step up at a time of need.
But while many players have made the step up from state league he said being elevated at a moment’s notice had its issues.
“They aren’t as professional as AFL players so they wouldn’t be as well prepared physically and mentally as their teammates. They wouldn’t know the team plan the AFL club follows and practices every day. And they don’t know the staff and players at an AFL club as well as AFL club players. But if Covid hits an AFL club, a pool of players must be available and in Victoria the VFL is the best option,” he said.
“It would be a challenge for 19 year-olds who are late maturers to step up to VFL level but in saying that we have guys like Luke Delaney who played with St Klida and North Melbourne and Mason Wood come in as late bloomers. A NAB League player is going to school or uni so it’s a good jump but overall it’s a great opportunity for state league players to showcase their skills.”
PRACTICE MATCH FIXTURE UNVEILED AS FOOTY GOES REGIONAL
A charter flight of Carlton and Collingwood AFLW footballers to Perth’s wild west this weekend will be the AFL’s test case if West Australia’s hard borders are still up by Round 1 of the men’s season.
The league on Monday announced a revamped practice match schedule for the men’s pre-season after West Coast was unable to play Adelaide as initially fixtured by the league.
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West Coast and Fremantle will now play in a February 25 official practice match and are also scheduled to play on March 6 in an AAMI Series clash.
The league is confident it has contingency plans if WA premier Mark McGowan retains the current hard borders by mid-March that will allow it to march ahead with the season.
he league is yet to finalise its Round 6 AFLW schedule with the Pies scheduled to play the Eagles in Melbourne but the AFL is pondering allowing West Coast to head home to host a WA contest.
Collingwood and Carlton’s AFLW teams would be the first AFL teams to fly into Perth this season by using the fly-in fly-out mode that mens’ teams could replicate.
At this stage the Blues (set to take on Fremantle) and Collingwood (fixtured against West Coast) would fly out on Friday together from Melbourne.
The teams would be restricted to their hotel floors and will undertake a PCR test this week and then daily rapid tests during their travel to Perth.
They would then fly back together on the chartered flight, with Collingwood’s clash a chance to be moved from Saturday to Sunday.
Under that scenario one team would wait for the other before flying back on the same flight.
Fremantle AFLW players returned from their clash against North Melbourne in Hobart to go into quarantine in Perth this week ahead of their AFLW clash.
If the league was to host games in Perth in the early rounds of the season both Fremantle and West Coast would need to quarantine if they were to play home and away.
But it would negate the need for a lengthy hub on the eastern seaboard.
The AFL revealed on Monday the round of official men’s practice matches leading into the single AAMI Series game would all be televised on Kayo Sports.
The practice matches will be played in regional venues including Albury’s Lavington Oval and Morwell, with Essendon taking on the Western Bulldogs at the Hangar on February 23.
Clubs were keen to have only two full practice games leading into Round 1, with Carlton taking on St Kilda at Ikon Park, Collingwood playing Hawthorn at Morwell and Geelong hosting Richmond at GMHBA Stadium.
Crowd cap off? Prepare to pack the MCG in Round 1
Only a dramatic setback with the omicron strain of Covid would see the Victorian state government installing crowd limits for Melbourne’s massive weekend of games.
It means up to 80,000 fans will flood the MCG as Melbourne unfurls its premiership flag in front of its Demons faithful against the Western Bulldogs on Wednesday, March 2.
A crowd of up to 90,000 should be in attendance the following night for Richmond-Carlton, with Geelong taking on Essendon on Saturday afternoon at the MCG and Hawthorn hosting North Melbourne on Sunday.
There could be between 250,000-300,000 fans at those games alone, with St Kilda hosting Collingwood in the Friday night slot at Marvel Stadium.
The Victorian state government’s decision to initially restrict crowds to 50 per cent at the Australian Open tennis _ relaxed to 80 per cent for the last weekend of finals _ was brought about by the summer wave of omicron cases but also the length of time people spent at Melbourne Park.
With rules requiring people to spend four hours together to be categorised as close contacts many tennis fans were at Melbourne Park for up to eight hours, which influenced restrictions.
But the Victorian government and MCC expect there will be no limit on Round 1 crowds given the shorter time span of attendance and welter of safety provisions put in place to protect fans.
The AFL will be guided only by the Victorian government but chief executive Gillon McLachlan will be desperate to get crowds back to full size as the league seeks to return to code to as close as normality as possible.
Fox said yesterday the MCG would await a decision on crowds but was anticipating bumper early crowds across the first week given the league’s stacked Round 1 fixture.
“We are really confident about our plans leading into a really positive season for the AFL. It’s hard to remember a bigger set of games for Round 1 at the MCG so it’s going to be huge,” he said.
“The Melbourne fans are desperate to see their premiership heroes live for the unfurling of the flag so we can’t wait for it to happen at the MCG on the first night of the season.”
A Wednesday night start to the season is unique but given the contest is a Grand Final rematch the MCC hopes it will draw 80,000 fans or even more.
Official talks to rubberstamp the crowd sizes will take place closer to Round 1, with the Victorian health department to monitor the impact of kids returning to classrooms on case numbers.
Clubs which have absorbed a financial battering in the past two seasons could again return to profitability if fans return to football in their droves this year.
Venues and the AFL believe after two years with Victorian fans barely able to attend games live there is a huge appetite to attend games if uncertainty over omicron eases.
Health authorities are already predicting a rise in case numbers across winter but the league is hopeful all border restrictions will be dropped in time for Round 1.
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Originally published as AFL 2022: Covid plans may see VFL players called in at last-minute
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