WRFL 2020: How Spotswood and Hoppers Crossing will tackle training
Two of the leading coaches in the Western Region Football League have explained how they will deal with AFL Victoria’s training protocols, which come into effect from today.
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Spotswood coach Anthony Eames says his club is “desperate” for the Western Region Football League season to be given the green light as suburban players prepare to resume official training from today.
While several clubs hold health and financial concerns amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus crisis, the Altona premiership mentor and VFL J.J Liston Trophy winner said the Woodsmen were keen to play.
Salary cap cuts are expected in 2020 and 2021 but clubs have expressed opposition to the possibility of playing matches without crowds, which would leave them without their usual game-day revenue, and the complexities attached to the health issue.
“I’m certainly missing Saturday afternoons and the thrill of getting a win on the board,” Eames said.
“We’re desperate to play and want to play no matter what.
“If AFL Victoria make a rule that no one gets paid like the SANFL has done, we’re playing. We’re not going to pull the pin just because of money.
“If your players are committed enough, you’d think they’ll push through and support their mates and help the footy club.”
Under AFL Victoria’s training protocols, clubs can undertake sessions in groups of 10, with two groups able to use the same oval.
Clubs are expected to abide by social distancing requirements, while tackling, bumping and marking contests are not allowed.
Each club must also appoint a COVID-19 safety officer.
The return to training announcement was met with scepticism and confusion by suburban clubs.
“Everyone wants to minimise any risk – that’s the key outcome everyone wants,” Eames said.
“If you look at the AFL, they’re allowed to tackle each other and all that stuff, but sitting on the bench they’ve got to be apart (by 1.5m). That’s ridiculous.
“I just think there’s a lot of crossover that doesn’t make sense. Some of it does and some of it doesn’t. To manage all of that at local level is going to be fairly difficult for a lot of clubs, particularly when you can only have 10 guys in one half of the ground and 10 in the other half.
“We’ve got 60 players on our list. That’s six groups, so I need three grounds, particularly with players now going back to work and uni.
“Logistically, it’s probably a bit more difficult than people realise.”
Clubs with only one ground face enormous challenges to cater for all their senior players in the initial phase.
Without staggered start times, Eames said clubs faced the potential of having to run training six times per week if they had 60 senior listed senior players to ensure each player could have two sessions.
“Even if there was no footy and we were allowed to train, I think our guys would still train,” Eames said.
“We’re super keen to get back to training at first and hopefully a decision on playing can be made fairly quickly.”
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Hoppers Crossing coach Steve Kretiuk said the protocols would not present issues for his club, which boasts two ovals.
“It’s a bit like pre-season. You tend to have that core senior group who attend every session and then you’ve got those guys who understand where they’re at and they’re just there to have a kick or just play reserves,” he said.
“We could manage 60 players quite easily. We’d just have five coaches working through different stations around the ground with their group.
“We’ve got two grounds we can utilise, so 40 can train at once. We’re lucky we’ve got two grounds and there are a lot of other clubs that don’t have that luxury. They might find it a bit more difficult.”
Kretiuk said the ability to return to training would allow players to rediscover the structure some desperately needed.
“The one thing footy does is it gives some structure to a lot of people’s lives,” he said.
“Some people have a lot of structure outside of footy with jobs and families, but most of our players are young without families.
“They work and they rely on footy to provide them with some sort of structure in their life. Without it, a lot of them get lost.”
AFL Victoria’s head of community football Stephen O’Donohue a return to play “in a safe, hygienic and controlled manner is paramount to the AFL’’.
“The safety and wellbeing of our participants is our number one priority,” he said.
“As such, our return to play strategy has been focused on ensuring we have the clear endorsement of State Government and public health officials at every phase of return.
“Each State Government is responsible for determining what level Australian football is in their state and approving when we can transition into the next stage.”
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