AFL to make call on whether men’s and women’s seasons will go ahead
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is preparing for his players to face shortened quarters in the Round 1 clash with Carlton as the AFL continues to weigh up whether the game will proceed.
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Richmond coach Damien Hardwick is preparing for his players to face shortened quarters in the Round 1 clash with Carlton as the AFL continues to weigh up whether the game will proceed.
With a decision from league headquarters expected on Wednesday afternoon, Hardwick remained adamant he and his players wanted to get the season underway.
It comes as the Prime Minister said the AFL could make its own call on whether games should go ahead.
“That’s a decision for them to make in accordance to the rules that have been established – no gatherings of more than 500, no internal gatherings of 100 or more, and there will be other measures that will follow,” Morrison said.
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“The commissioners of the NRL and the AFL can make their decisions based on what they believe is best for their game, but they must comply obviously with all of the health guidelines that have been established,” he said.
The AFL is expected to announce its decision soon after 2pm.
Hardwick conducted his press conference via video link.
The MCG siren could be heard being tested in the background.
The dual-premiership coach was adamant his players were as well prepared as they could possibly be.
“We’ve always been thoroughly invested that the game will go ahead and our guys will be well prepared,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to it and funnily enough I think the people of Australia are looking forward to it as well.”
Richmond’s preparation has extended to meetings with players about playing in front of no spectators.
In ordinary circumstances the Tigers would have unfurled their premiership flag in front of 90,000 fans. But Hardwick said his players would create their own atmosphere, something that had been part of their success.
“We have spoken about it. We don’t hide from the fact there will be no crowd,” he said.
“Fans are very important to the way we play, but we speak with our players about creating our own atmosphere. We celebrated goals and celebrate as a team very well.
“We’re pleased with the way we have gone through it, our leadership group in Trent and Jack have been outstanding in the way they have prepared the players for that and we expect a good result.”
Hardwick said the Tigers had pushed for interchange players with the prospect of a condensed season, and more games being played in a short space of time.
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But the only rule change he was aware of was the likelihood for shortened quarters.
“We were one of the clubs with the condensing of the season were hoping to get more players on the bench but I think that has been knocked on the head,” Hardwick said.
“Quarters will be shorter, it will be 16 and half minutes plus time on we think. That’s not to say the rules won’t change along the way.
“It’s an extraordinary set of circumstances we are in but we have some really good people in charge who will make some good decisions if they need to.”
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says the Magpies are preparing to play on Friday night against Western Bulldogs.
“We haven’t been told we’re not so we’re preparing to play,” Buckley said.
“There’s a game scheduled for tomorrow night so we get to see what happens with that before we know for sure what’s happening.”
Buckley has described the days building up towards Round 1 as “a lot of grey area” as the AFL, Australia and the rest of the world grapples with the COVID-19.
“I suppose we all want to know where things are going to settle and what our responsibilities are and how are going to combat the challenge that we face at the moment.
“Our boys are footballers and our staff, we ply our trade day to day... everyone’s got a work question that they want to know that they can still provide for their families and that level of surety is not there at the moment and for us it’s no different to everyone else.”
But Buckley echoed captain Scott Pendlebury’s thoughts that playing -should it be deemed safe - could boost morale in the community.