Eddie McGuire tips 10,000 fans at AFL season reboot as hopes build

Eddie McGuire’s tantalising prediction that 10,000 spectators could return to the footy this season has not been ruled out by the state’s chief health officer. It comes as fans eagerly await the season reboot beginning tonight.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has forecast the prospect of 10,000 fans ­attending AFL matches in Victoria from next month.

And Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton has not ruled out the tantalising proposal.

Asked about the suggestion of holding off fans returning so greater numbers can attend, Prof Sutton said no decision had been made.

“If it’s a case of deferring the opening, but opening at a point where we can be very confident that 10,000 people can gather together … that’s not out of the question in the next couple of months,” he said.

“But we have to see how numbers go.”   

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It comes as Victoria recorded eight new COVID-19 cases overnight, including a protester who attended Saturday’s anti-racism rally that attracted thousands of people in Melbourne CBD.

While the MCG stands will be without fans for tonight’s Richmond-Collingwood 2020 season reboot, McGuire yesterday revealed the state government was investigating ways to safely allow fans back in significant numbers from July.

Victorian sports minister Martin Pakula told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell he didn’t anticipate crowds at an AFL match for the next month.

“It’s not something I am anticipating right now,” he said.

Josh Caddy of the Tigers kicks in front of empty stands ahead of Richmond’s clash against Collingwood. Picture: Michael Klein

Mr Pakula said it would be more worthwhile having crowds of 10,000 and 20,000 attend the footy, than a couple of hundred.

“That means fans actually get a chance to go to the footy rather than just corporates and you’ll get a bit of atmosphere on the ground,” he said.

“I think having spoken to the MCG and the AFL … there’s not a huge amount of utility having 500 people at the footy.”

Mr Pakula said discussions would be had in the coming days about letting fans into the ground when the next round of restrictions eased on June 22.

“It’s probably more likely there will be a larger number of people let in at a later date, rather than dribs and drabs,” he said.

“There’s no doubt to open a stadium is a significant cost.”

The news comes as South Australia granted permission for 2000 club members and 240 corporate clients to attend Saturday night’s Showdown between Adelaide and Port Adelaide.

Sydney and Greater Western Sydney will also host 350 fans and corporates at their respective clashes with Essendon and North Melbourne on Sunday.

But Prof Sutton said this was possible because South Australia had seen fewer cases and effectively ended community transmissions, giving it greater freedom to lift restrictions.

“We will take a very cautious and stepwise approach as we always have,” he said.

McGuire told the Herald Sun the prevailing mood from Spring Street was to not bring back fans “in dribs and drabs”, but wait a few extra weeks to ensure there was no spike in coronavirus cases before “going big straight away” when it was deemed safe.

“My position has always been to sacrifice early on (in order) to get the big result rather than to nibble away at the cheese,” McGuire said.

“You are better off saying, ‘OK, let’s wait until the right time and then we go bang’.”

McGuire said his understanding from the State Government was “rather than have 1000 people, let’s go 10,000 people — get the members back in decent numbers and do it properly. I reckon that’s somewhere around July.”

He stressed no date had been discussed for the reintroduction of crowds in Victoria, saying it wasn’t for him to put a timeline on it.

But he thought it might be possible within four weeks, saying Collingwood’s preference was to have its members get “first crack”.

Eddie McGuire. Picture: AAP

The AFL’s four-week fixture block runs through until Round 5, with the next bracket of rounds due to be announced in the coming weeks.

The first game in Victoria in Round 5 is the Collingwood-Essendon MCG clash on Friday, July 3.

That could be seen as an ideal kick-off for some fans to return given the popularity of both clubs and the fact the traditional Anzac Day clash could not be played due to the COVID-19 shutdown.

McGuire didn’t attend Collingwood’s Round 1 clash with Western Bulldogs, giving up his ticket to allow club premiership hero Gavin Brown to watch his son Tyler make his AFL debut.

He hadn’t planned on going on Thursday night, but changed his mind after the AFL altered its protocols on Tuesday to allow a small number of club presidents, board members and chief executives to attend the venue but not the rooms.

He may even hold a Collingwood board meeting at the game if it can be arranged.

Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett and Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon have declined invitations to attend their clubs’ games this week.

Australian Medical Association president Tony Bartone told the Herald Sun said any premature return could have serious consequences and urged stakeholders to be patient and work with health authorities to make sure there wasn’t “undue pressure”.

“States like South Australia are at a different point in the trajectory than Victoria so we wouldn’t want to emulate them prematurely,” he said.

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Originally published as Eddie McGuire tips 10,000 fans at AFL season reboot as hopes build