Brodie Smith and Tom Rockliff want to play this weekend – if the AFL season is deemed safe to go ahead
Adelaide and Port Adelaide stars Brodie Smith and Tom Rockliff joined The Lowdown Podcast on Monday morning for a coronavirus special. Here’s what they had to say about what’s happening at their clubs and uncertainty surrounding the league.
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Brodie Smith and Tom Rockliff want the AFL season to start this week – but only if it’s declared safe – and say it could serve as a much-needed dose of normality for a country gripped by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Crows and Power midfielders on Monday told The Advertiser’s The Lowdown Podcast of the measures put in place to protect the players at their respective clubs and how they are hopeful of playing games albeit in front of empty stadiums this weekend.
But they both stressed the overriding factor was whether the AFL determined it was safe to do so.
Not just for them but team officials and the public as teams crisscross the country.
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Ahead of an AFL Players’ Association phone hook-up later today, Rockliff revealed Power players had been told to come into Alberton in groups of 10 for training and meetings, and Smith said the Crows had been ordered to avoid large gatherings or shopping at busy times.
“There’s no doubt the club is taking all precautions at the moment and trying to limit our contact around that and on the outside world as well,” Rockliff said.
“We’ve tried to avoid contact with larger crowds over the weekend we were briefed pretty strongly on Saturday morning and it’s been a bit of time at home and golf with a couple of boys yesterday.
“As long as no one is going to be at risk it’s important we try to push on as best we can, and with people going into isolation it (footy) will give them something to do at home and pass the time quicker.
“We’ve got a players’ association meeting tonight and the most important thing through this period is the safety of everyone, not only us as players but in Australia and around the world.
“If we’re going to be safe to travel and play then we should look at options to continue to push on, if that changes in coming days and it’s not going to be safe then it’s something we have to look at.
“There’s no doubt that everyone is concerned at some level about the situation we’re in, no doubt there’ve been different things along the way but nothing as unique as this situation.
“I know this is a footy program but I think it’s a good opportunity for everyone to be kind to each other, some of the scenes you’re seeing at supermarkets, everyone needs to take a step back and be kind to each other because with so much uncertainty we can be very selfish at times as a human race but it’s time to look out for each other.”
Smith echoed Rockliff’s comments and said he was keen to play football this weekend.
“We had a solid session on Saturday and all of our meetings have been around how to keep safe and what’s the best thing to do, we have a list of do’s and don’ts and trying to keep away from busy places.
“Everything we can do to best avoid this virus because we really do still want to play footy and keep the club rolling.
“We go home and try to find something to do around the house, it’s a pretty confusing and scary world at the moment but the more we can lock ourselves up and try to calm this down the better we will be.
“We still want to be able to play footy and if one of us gets it it’s going to be really hard to do that, so we’re trying to do everything possible to keep the AFL going.
“(Tonight’s phone meeting) will be more sitting in and listening to get a feel for what the playing group and AFL is feeling, we’re really keen to play but we have to work together with the AFL and Players Association to make sure it’s going to be completely safe and we’re not putting anyone at risk – not just ourselves but the public as well, we don’t want to be passing it on to others if that’s what’s going to happen through playing footy.”
Rockliff confirmed Charlie Dixon trained on the weekend after straining his adductor in the final Marsh Series game against the Bulldogs and expects him to be available for Round 1 – if they travel to the Gold Coast at all.
“I think chartered flights would be the best option and is something we’re going to have to work through, it’s amazing to think two weeks ago we were still talking about whether the game was going to go ahead in China (mid-season) and now we’re in the situation we’re in at the moment,” he said.
“I think they’ll take every possible precaution they can to protect us within footy clubs, it’s a really interesting environment and I don’t think anyone has all the answers at the moment.
“We don’t have a great deal of information, the landscape seems to be changing every couple of hours so it’s important we’re ready to do whatever is necessary for the game and for ourselves.”
Smith had 34 disposals in Adelaide’s final Marsh Series game against Gold Coast and confirmed his move to the midfield appeared permanent for now.
“I played 100 per cent through the midfield and that has been the plan all along, hopefully I’ve done enough to keep myself in there and speaking to Micky Godden and Nicksy they liked my game and want me to stay in there,” he said.
“I really enjoyed it, I’ve always wanted to play through the midfield and haven’t been able to crack into the squad yet but the mix we had with Seedo and Rat playing minutes in there too is really working well.”
Asked about reports the AFL may look to cram as many games as possible into the early part of the season, Smith said it would be tough but he would embrace it.
“It would be very difficult, I’m not getting any younger and six-day breaks are hard enough (to recover from) and three or four days are going to be tough,” he said.
“But if that’s what we’ve got to do, that’s what we have to do, and I’m sure there will be a lot more players used in the squad if that’s the case.”