Gillon McLachlan calls on fans to enjoy the next 20 days of footy, plus Round 9-12 survival guide
Players are set to be reunited with their families in Queensland but before they get to see one another, they’ll have very strict rules to adhere to as AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan reveals why the fixture was really crammed.
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Wednesday night’s opening bounce marks a special occasion in the history of the AFL.
For the first time our competition will see games played every day for the next 20 days – something that’s never been done before.
It’s rare for any professional sport in this country and it will be a very different way for our fans to consume the footy – the traditional round of football played over the weekend replaced with 33 games across the 20 days.
No matter what day of the week, footy will be available each and every night. It is both a sprint and marathon for all involved.
It will deliver a very different experience for our players, coaches, umpires and staff from the 18 clubs and the AFL who are spread across the three states where the games are being held.
Rather than a normal training week with big mid-week sessions, teams will be focused more on playing and recovering, with teams experiencing shorter four- or five-day breaks between matches.
The 2020 AFL Premiership season is like no other and a challenge that we have never seen before but my firm belief is the team that wins this year will have won a premiership that will stand out like few others – one that has been won off the back of resilience, grit and the ability to adapt in the face of adversity.
We decided on these 20 days of football for a number of key reasons.
Firstly, the feedback from clubs and players was that while they were in hubs they may as well play as many games as they can and reduce the time away.
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Secondly, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a factor across the community, we do not know what lies ahead, so this stretch allows us to bank games while we have the opportunity and get us closer to the end of the season.
Thirdly, it has allowed us to create an innovative product for our supporters and members who have been so committed to their clubs.
The majority of fans haven’t been able to access matches, but the broadcast ratings have skyrocketed, with games up 20 per cent on 2019, with significant growth across Queensland and NSW.
Matches are available nationally across our broadcast partners the Seven Network, Foxtel, the AFL app with thanks to Telstra and Kayo.
But we also know the reason we are doing it is because the challenge we are facing – and the whole community is facing – is the one caused by this unprecedented pandemic which has resulted in us moving 10 teams out of Victoria, setting up hubs in Queensland, NSW and Western Australia, and ensuring every move we make is in step with government and the relevant health authorities.
It has to be because – like every organisation in this country – our highest priority is to keep the community safe and stop the spread of COVID-19.
It is why we have worked with the state governments to develop protocols for players, umpires, officials and staff – and now their families.
Those protocols are rigorous and strict and apply to all players, officials and staff who have moved into the hubs in Queensland and those visiting Western Australia and South Australia to play matches across the next 20 days.
Those protocols have also been agreed by the Victorian club family members who have moved to Queensland and those who are travelling there on Thursday.
Never before have we brought so many of the football family – the entire football family including wives, partners and children – together in the same place at the same time.
A massive logistical exercise where all up we will be moving about 1500 players, staff, umpires, officials and family members.
It is a massive privilege for the governments to allow that many people into the state and while we are very grateful for the support, particularly the Queensland Government, we also know with that privilege comes a massive responsibility from all involved.
This is a disease that only respects discipline.
We all have to remain disciplined, modify our behaviours and manage our expectations to ensure we play our part.
All the family members departing Victoria on Thursday will see them Covid-tested before they leave and then tested three times during their 14 days of quarantine.
During that time, they will also have to wear a mask in the hotel and maintain social distance.
We have a huge responsibility to protect the communities in which we play.
Everyone has a role and is committed to it, from players, coaches, staff and families — we are committed because allowing us to play this season not only provides joy to millions of footy fans, but protects the thousands of jobs that the football industry provides across the country.
Enjoy the next 20 days, I for one cannot wait for it to get started
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AFL ROUND 9-12 SURVIVAL GUIDE
– Chris Cavanagh, Lauren Wood, Liz Walsh
1. Who is favourite to emerge from 33 games across 20 days in front?
West Coast, St Kilda and Greater Western Sydney loom as the potential big winners. The Eagles don’t have to leave Perth, have a bye and at least six-day breaks between each game during this period.
Only one of their three opponents – Geelong – is in the top-eight. While St Kilda has three games in 10 days, they have a healthy list, don’t have to leave Queensland and face only one top-six opponent in the Cats.
The Giants’ injury list is ever shrinking and, while they have to make a trip to Perth, they also get a bye and faces no top-six opponents in a period that could launch their season.
2. Which clubs face the biggest challenges?
Collingwood, Geelong, Richmond and North Melbourne. The Magpies and Cats both have four games in 14 days as well as a trip back to Queensland from Perth to navigate.
The Kangaroos have by far the longest injury list in the league and have to play three games in nine days between Rounds 9 and 11, while the Tigers face both top-two sides Port Adelaide and Brisbane as part of four games in 16 days, still without a host of injured stars.
3. Should teams rest stars?
Man management will be a key element to the 20-day football frenzy. As teams face the prospect of navigating back-to-back four-day breaks, just how they elect to approach certain matches and player load. As Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley recently highlighted, some clubs — including his own — could be forced to rest up to 10 players per game in an effort to “break it up”.
“I think we’ll respect the competition as best we possibly can as coaches, we’ll pick our best teams as often as we can but there will be some constraints that are unusual and that we’ll have to manage,” he said.
It has raised some concerns surrounding integrity and “fairness” given differences in breaks, for example, but Giants coach Leon Cameron said any such ideas had to be dismissed.
“The game’s still the game, there’s goals and points at each end,” he said earlier this month.
“We’ll get the season away and there’ll be a finals series and, at the end of the day, the best team will win the grand final.”
4. How do you manage injuries?
As Collingwood star Taylor Adams joked with the Magpies fitness boss last week, they’ll “earn their keep”. Clubs are already playing cautious with key players, as was seen with Magpies captain Scott Pendlebury on Sunday who will now miss a number of weeks with a quad strain.
Fitness staff — already under the pump and at some clubs, stretched given stand-downs — are also contending with a range of variables in managing their players, including differences in training grounds.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire flagged the firmness of the Pies’ training ground with Pendlebury’s injury, while Bomber Orazio Fantasia will miss Sunday’s clash with Adelaide with a calf strain.
“Like a lot of us, we’re finely tuned with how we train and we sort of need that continuity of grounds, as well,” he said.
“For me, I trained at three different grounds last week, so I’ll have to look into a bit of that.”
5. How do clubs manage mental fatigue or homesickness?
Footballers inside the AFL’s hubs are embracing the privilege of being able to play football while keeping in contact with their loved one back home, as strategies for warding off homesickness.
On Tuesday, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick and Geelong midfielder Mitch Duncan held press conferences only hours apart, but both referenced the privilege of being able to play footy during challenging times.
Hardwick said: “We’ve got to understand we are incredibly fortunate to be playing the great game we love, the queensland Government have been fantastic to open their borders, and the people hack home are in lockdown so we’re happy to put our hands up and give them … up to three hours of delight, hopefully, by watching us play.”
Duncan said “it’s a privilege for anyone to still be involved in the AFL”.
Port Adelaide is using specialist connection-building company, The Resilience Project, to help its players build positive mental health strategies, while St Kilda’s players are working heavily on the mental side of their game, including deep breathing exercises at breaks.
6. Where are the Tassie games going to be played?
The AFL is yet to make a decision on where the round 11 game scheduled for Tasmania’s Blundstone Arena will be played.
North Melbourne was set to play Melbourne on Sunday, August 9, but the game was thrown into chaos over the weekend, when Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein announced he would not reopen his state’s borders with Queensland until August 14 at the earliest.
With both the Kangaroos and Demons based in Queensland, they are shut-out of Tasmania.
The premier’s decision also means the round 12 game between North Melbourne and Brisbane on Saturday, August 15 – also slated for Blundstone Arena – is in doubt.
A spokesman for the AFL said no decision on moving the Tasmanian games had yet been made.
7. Who plays who after Round 12?
ADELAIDE
ROUNDS 9-12
North Melbourne
Melbourne
Collingwood
Western Bulldogs
Still to play: Carlton, Geelong GWS, Hawthorn, Richmond
BRISBANE
ROUNDS 9-12
Essendon
Richmond
Western Bulldogs
North Melbourne
Still to play: Carlton, Collingwood, Gold Coast, St Kilda, Sydney
CARLTON
ROUNDS 9-12
Hawthorn
Bye
West Coast
Fremantle
Still to play: Adelaide, Brisbane, Collingwood, Gold Coast, GWS, Sydney
COLLINGWOOD
ROUNDS 9-12
Fremantle
Sydney
Adelaide
Melbourne
Still to play: Brisbane, Carlton, Gold Coast, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide
ESSENDON
ROUNDS 9-12
Brisbane
GWS
Gold Coast
St Kilda
Still to play: Geelong, Hawthorn, Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Richmond, West Coast
FREMANTLE
ROUNDS 9-12
Collingwood
Bye
Hawthorn
Carlton
Still to play: GWS, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Richmond, Sydney, Western Bulldogs
GEELONG
ROUNDS 9-12
West Coast
North Melbourne
St Kilda
Port Adelaide
Still to play: Adelaide, Essendon, Richmond, Sydney, Western Bulldogs
GOLD COAST
ROUNDS 9-12
GWS
St Kilda
Essendon
Richmond
Still to play: Brisbane, Carlton, Collingwood, Hawthorn, North Melbourne
GWS
ROUNDS 9-12
GC
Essendon
Bye
Sydney
Still to play: Adelaide, Carlton, Fremantle, Melbourne, St Kilda, West Coast
HAWTHORN
ROUNDS 9-12
Carlton
Bye
Fremantle
West Coast
Still to play: Adelaide, Essendon, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs
MELBOURNE
ROUNDS 9-12
Port Adelaide
Adelaide
North Melbourne
Collingwood
Still to play: Essendon, Fremantle, GWS, St Kilda, Sydney, Western Bulldogs
NORTH MELBOURNE
ROUNDS 9-12
Adelaide
Geelong
Melbourne
Brisbane
Still to play: Collingwood, Fremantle, Gold Coast, Port Adelaide, West Coast
PORT ADELAIDE
ROUNDS 9-12
Melbourne
Western Bulldogs
Richmond
Geelong
Still to play: Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, North Melbourne, Sydney
RICHMOND
ROUNDS 9-12
Western Bulldogs
Brisbane
Port Adelaide
Gold Coast
Still to play: Adelaide, Essendon, Fremantle, Geelong, West Coast
ST KILDA
ROUNDS 9-12
Sydney
Gold Coast
Geelong
Essendon
Still to play: Brisbane, GWS, Hawthorn, Melbourne, West Coast
SYDNEY
ROUNDS 9-12
St Kilda
Collingwood
Bye
GWS
Still to play: Brisbane, Carlton, Fremantle, Geelong, Melbourne, Port Adelaide
WEST COAST
ROUNDS 9-12
Geelong
Bye
Carlton
Hawthorn
Still to play: Essendon, GWS, North Melbourne, Richmond, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs
WESTERN BULLDOGS
ROUNDS 9-12
Richmond
Port Adelaide
Brisbane
Adelaide
Still to play: Fremantle, Geelong, Hawthorn, Melbourne, West Coast
Originally published as Gillon McLachlan calls on fans to enjoy the next 20 days of footy, plus Round 9-12 survival guide