AFL players, bosses head to Queensland on last plane out of Melbourne before finals
Melbourne Airport resembled a ghost town as the last AFL plane left Victoria bound for Queensland on Monday. Here’s which key AFL figures were on the flight and how they reacted to footy’s exodus north.
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The last plane out of Melbourne’s wheels lifted just after 5pm on Tuesday as the AFL’s final exodus from Victoria to the sunshine state became virtually complete.
Three flights bound for the Gold Coast left Tullamarine on Monday in ordered scenes amid a Melbourne Airport that more resembled a ghost town.
The league flights, chartered with Virgin Australia, were three of just four domestic flights to leave Terminal 3 on Tuesday, with precious cargo including the premiership cup, Brownlow medal, Brownlow votes and Norm Smith medal also on board.
More than 400 masked passengers checked-in, as league chief executive Gillon McLachlan and his family, AFL Players Association boss Paul Marsh and a raft of AFL executives joined players including Geelong superstar Gary Ablett and families of players and staff members jetting north.
All passengers had to be dropped off at the airport having undergone COVID-19 tests in recent days, and had their temperatures checked on entry, with 14 days of mandatory quarantine to begin on landing in Queensland.
McLachlan had earlier been part of an AFL commission meeting to determine the location for this year’s Grand Final, which is expected to be announced on Tuesday as Queensland.
And it was an emotional experience for Collingwood president
Eddie McGuire, who said “his heart breaks” to be departing the traditional home of the premiership decider.
“I’ve really felt a bit emotional today, about the fact that today we’ll probably find out that the Grand Final officially is not going to be in Melbourne for the first time ever,” he said.
“It was hard enough when it went to Waverley in 1991, far less going to where it ends up.
“It’s quite emotional today because the people of Melbourne and Victoria have just been such a major part of football always, and we’re sort of doing it on location this time.
“I really feel for everybody, so we’ll go up as a footy community and try and put the best show on we can.”
👻🛫 | These were the eerie scenes at Melbourne Airport on Monday as the AFL's last plane out of Victoria headed north.
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Ablett flew on the 3pm edition of the league’s journeys, with wife Jordan and 19-month-old son Levi also making the trip.
Former Cat and Ablett’s training partner Andrew Mackie proved a handy extra set of hands at the luggage check-in as a large contingent of Cats families made their way to the gate, with the three-time premiership former player to assist Ablett in training while in quarantine.
Premiership Tiger Shane Edwards and Saints midfielder Dan Hannebery will also train while in the transition hub.
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Saints assistant coach Jarryd Roughead flew north with wife Sarah, daughter Pippa and new born son Will, while a number of families including the family of Cats assistant Corey Enright face two weeks in quarantine before they are reunited with their loved ones.
McGuire – whose St Kilda counterpart Andrew Bassat was also on the flight - said it would be a busy time as he juggles his roles as Pies president and also radio and broadcast commitments from inside the hub.
And he joked that it could provide an opportunity to bail up a few influential ears in the flesh.
“The good thing is, we’ve been Zooming for the last period of time – our eyes are starting to cross,” he laughed.
“We’ll get Gill in a headlock up here over a few issues, I’m sure. I think we’ve got a few meetings already planned with the commissioners and the various presidents.
“But it’s a good opportunity to get up here. I’m in a different situation – I’ll be doing my radio show and all the football shows and Fox Footy and everything else. There’s a lot of work to be done. So from that point of view, it’ll be productive.
“But from a footy point of view, getting everybody up there together, it’s been really hard being president ‘by remote’.
“We’re getting closer to it.”
In other hub news, Richmond boss Brendan Gale and Damian Hardwick have revealed discussions they had with Tigers’ captain Trent Cotchin about potentially leaving the Queensland hub in the wake of wife Brooke’s COVID-19 protocol breach.
Geelong speedster Nakia Cockatoo’s immediate playing future is in doubt, the young Cat contemplating leaving the hub to be with his pregnant partner, while quarantined Tiger Shane Edwards has grand plans once he can get back out on the park.
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Geelong superstar Gary Ablett will on Tuesday travel to Queensland and has one eye on the ultimate prize.
Ablett, 36, left the Cats’ hub after Round 7 to support his family, particularly young son Levi – who suffers from a rare degenerative disease — and wife Jordan, who lost her mother Trudy to cancer earlier this month.
He has declared that he will be “ready to go” once his mandatory 14-day quarantine ends in a fortnight and is hunting a premiership in what he has said will be his final season.
“I’m feeling really good and have got no doubt that once I get out of that quarantine hub, I’ll be ready to go,” Ablett said on Monday.
“As nice as it’s been being back and with family, I’m really looking forward to getting up there with Jordan and Levi and getting our two weeks done in quarantine and then joining the boys and hopefully being able to get out there and play some really good football and ultimately have a crack at winning that premiership.”
The 36-year-old has been training alongside former teammate and three-time premiership ex-Cat Andrew Mackie while he has been back in Victoria, with Mackie to also travel into the quarantine hub on Tuesday.
Around 400 league officials, club staff, families and media will travel to the Gold Coast on three separate flights from Tullamarine on Tuesday afternoon.
Ablett said he had been buoyed by what the team had achieved since he departed in July, having won five of its last six games.
“It’s obviously difficult training by yourself, but Mack’s been at 95 per cent of the sessions and it’s just good to have someone out there that has experienced that success and knows what needs to be done out on the football field and what it takes to get my body right,” he said.
“The boys have been playing really good football and the biggest improvement in our game is the way that we’re taking the game on … we’re not raking silly risks, but at the same time, we are getting the ball inside forward 50 a lot faster, and giving our forwards a chance one-on-one.
“Just their hardness around the ball, as well.
“I thought our pressure’s been really good and we’ve had so many guys that have just come in and played their role, especially the young guys … which shows the depth of our team.”
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