AFL news: Call for AFL to scrap exhaustive Covid-testing requirements
Covid testing fatigue has set in for AFL players, with clubs pushing the league to adopt a voluntary regime moving forward. Here is what it would look like.
AFL News
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Clubs are pushing the league to adopt a voluntary Covid-19 testing regime due to growing fatigue across the playing and coaching ranks.
Instead, there is a push for clubs to adopt a voluntary rapid testing program where players and staff only test when they are feeling unwell, have cold and flu symptoms and on match day, similar to many other workplaces around the country.
One senior club official proposed a model where players were required to test “Only on match day and on Monday, after they had been visiting friends and family across the weekend.”
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Privately, clubs have said it has become harder to maintain the highest standards in the football department bubbles including mask etiquette.
The call to lessen testing regulations would fall in-line with American sports where the NBA abolished regular testing for vaccinated players in September.
The NFL followed suit in December and changed protocols so that only unvaccinated players and those reporting symptoms had to be tested.
Masks are no longer mandated in most indoor settings in Victoria from 11.59pm on Friday night, aside from those working in hospitality, retail and the court system, as well as inside hospitals and grade 3-6 students in the classroom.
But AFL players are still required to produce a negative test result from home first every day they are required to enter the club.
The results and photos are downloaded on the VaXXVault app.
Players are also being urged to minimise their movements in higher-risk social settings or indoor public spaces and social distance in indoor environments at the clubs such as the gym.
However club officials have noted growing frustrations around some of these measures when players are also required to participate in full contact training, often on the same days they have been urged to social distance.
Club chiefs have continued to push the agenda with AFL figures, however league chiefs are determined to follow all Government requirements around elite sport.
The new season kicks off in less than three weeks when premier Melbourne takes on Western Bulldogs in a blockbuster season-opener on Wednesday March 16 at the MCG.
Clubs contacted by News Corp on Thursday said they had roughly half of their squads already test positive to COVID-19 over summer
‘Rag tag’ solution to keep AFL season afloat
—Jon Ralph
AFL clubs will be told they will play on regardless of the number of Covid cases ravaging their lists under new protocols set to be announced by the league in coming days.
The Herald Sun understands the new rules to be announced by the AFL will make clear to clubs it is their responsibility to have enough players fit and available every week.
AFLW teams are able to postpone games if they did not have 16 fit and available players from their playing list but there will be no minimum number of players accessible in the home-and-away season which would allow a club to ask for a delayed game.
If a club was decimated by injury and had only a handful of fit players the league would force them to play with a rag-tag bunch of top-ups.
The hard-line stance comes as the league makes clear to clubs it is the personal responsibility of players to avoid situations that could put them at risk of Covid.
While the league will not ban players from attending nightclubs or pubs it will be the responsibility of clubs to safeguard their lists by instilling protocols that ensure they have 23 players each week.
As revealed last week, the league will allow clubs to have a list of 20 top-up players which could be sourced from state leagues linked to clubs.
The rationale is to put in place a set of consistent, non-negotiable rules which will ensure there is no grey area about when games might be postponed.
Clubs will travel with expanded touring parties to interstate games to safeguard against the spread of omicron, which could otherwise see them short of players if many test positive on rapid tests on the morning of games.
But the league’s view is that a significant outbreak that would see a team with 10 players testing positive on game day would only occur if players did not wear masks and practice safe Covid measures.
Clubs which have not had vast exposure to Covid worry not about a widespread outbreak in any given week that sees them fielding an uncompetitive side.
Instead they fear losing six first-choice players in three or four consecutive weeks as the virus spreads through a club, which could put paid to their finals chances with a winless month.
But the league is absolutely determined to forge ahead with a play-on attitude after two years of fixture chaos, postponed games and costly interstate hubs.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley said last week he did not believe the Power would need to use many top-up players this season.
But a recent outbreak that meant Adelaide could not field teams for an intra-club game because of injury and Covid has highlighted the precarious position of teams.
Players like ex-Cats defender Lachie Henderson, playing QAFL in Queensland, would be in demand as plug-and-play types who could fill in for an AFL team at a pinch.
The league is yet to rule on whether players must be linked to state leagues or can be added to top-up lists as previously listed players.
The likes of former Adelaide and Carlton midfielder Bryce Gibbs, who won a Magarey Medal last year in the SANFL, would be obvious candidates for top-up lists.
The league will work through WA premier Mark McGowan’s demand for all people flying into Perth to be triple-vaccinated, with the uptake of booster shots high among AFL players.
Already Gold Coast, which takes on West Coast in Round 1, is well on track to have its squad boosted and eligible to fly into Perth.
10-DAY FOOTY EXTRAVAGANZA REVEALED
Scott Gullan
A 10-day festival to get Victorian fans back to the footy has been unveiled by the AFL.
As part of the lead-in to next month’s blockbuster AFL opening round, the league has scheduled six AFLW games over three days at Victorian venues.
Fans all over the state will get the chance to see the best of the best in the men’s and women’s game beginning on Friday March 11.
Given it is also the AFLW’s final home and away round, the intrigue over who finishes in the final six will captivate supporters with games scheduled for Geelong, Ballarat and three of football’s traditional venues — Victoria Park, Arden St and Moorabbin.
After two years of Covid-interrupted seasons, the AFL is desperate to give as many supporters and members a chance to see their favourite teams.
They have already announced there will be 100 per cent capacity at all stadiums in Victoria for the opening of the AFL season which kicks off at the MCG on Wednesday March 16 with the grand final rematch between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.
In a smorgasbord of hometown action for Victorians, all 10 AFL teams based in the state will play in Melbourne in the opening round.
Doing the same in Round 10 of the women’s competition is a brilliant move with Geelong kicking off the festival against the GWS Giants at GMHBA Stadium on Friday March 11.
There will be three big games on Saturday featuring Collingwood-Richmond at Victoria Park, the Kangaroos-West Coast at Arden St followed by Melbourne taking on Carlton at Casey Fields.
That will be the first time the competition’s most exciting player Tayla Harris, the hero of Melbourne’s thrilling victory over Brisbane on Monday night, has come up against her former team.
Then on Sunday St Kilda hosts flag contender Adelaide with the Western Bulldogs taking on reigning premiers Brisbane at Mars Stadium in Ballarat.
General Manager Women’s Football Nicole Livingstone said the thrilling finish to the AFLW season would provide fans with an exciting opportunity.
“The Festival of Footy in Victoria will see a celebration for all footy fans and we look forward to cheering on AFLW and AFL teams across the 10-day period,” Livingstone said.
Over 200,000 fans are expected to trek to the MCG over the opening three days of Round 1 of the AFL season with the Melbourne-Western Bulldogs clash followed by the traditional Thursday night Richmond-Carlton match-up.
Collingwood’s first game under new coach Craig McCrae will take place at the mecca of football on the Friday night against St Kilda.
Geelong and Essendon will clash on Saturday afternoon in another mouth-watering MCG match-up with Hawthorn champion Sam Mitchell making his debut in the coaches’ box at the ground on Sunday against North Melbourne.
Cut-price family footy tickets have also been introduced by the AFL in a bid to get fans back in the stands. Families of two adults and two children will now get into the footy for $50 with a new family pass, a saving of $14 from 2021.
And to celebrate the final round of the AFLW season, the league has written to all Victorian community clubs with an offer of two free tickets to share with club volunteers or members so they can attend the Round 10 Melbourne-based games.
AFL warns clubs over umpire abuse
The AFL has launched a crackdown on umpire abuse in a bid to stop whistleblowers walking away from the sport at all levels of the game.
The league released a statement on Tuesday identifying a shortfall of 6000 umpires at community football level.
In a bid to arrest the slide, the league has written to AFL clubs outlining a series of penalties and sanctions that will be imposed against players, officials and clubs if umpires are abused.
AFL executive general manager Andrew Dillon said the league had identified a number of instances of umpire abuse during the 2021 season and it had “no place” in the game.
“It is incumbent on us to set the right example at the elite level so we can encourage and retain umpires across the country to best support the rapidly growing player participation base,” Dillon said.
The AFL statement said a field umpire shall award a free kick against a player or official who:
(a) uses abusive, insulting, threatening or obscene language towards an umpire;
(b) behaves in an abusive, insulting, threatening or obscene manner towards an umpire;
(c) intentionally, unreasonably or carelessly makes contact with an umpire;
(d) disputes a decision of an umpire;
(e) fails to follow the instruction of an umpire; or
(f) intentionally or carelessly engages in conduct which affects, interferes with or prevents an Umpire from performing their duties.
The AFL said clubs would be penalised under a points system if a player or official subject to AFL rules made public comments about an umpire or their decisions.
Clubs would also be sanctioned if people subject to AFL regulations approached, talked to or intimidated an umpire before, during or after a match.
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Originally published as AFL news: Call for AFL to scrap exhaustive Covid-testing requirements
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