News the AFL season will begin and AFLW continue was a welcome break from two weeks of uncertainty and anxiety
News that the AFL season will start and AFLW season continue this week was a welcome dose of normality after two weeks of uncertainty and angst, writes Reece Homfray.
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So footy is the one constant in our lives after all.
For a sports obsessed nation and a football obsessed state, the AFL’s decision to start its men’s season and continue its women’s with government and medical backing in the face of the coronavirus pandemic was a sign of normality that people have been craving.
Despite the government’s best efforts at reassurance, some in the community are terrified of what is unfolding and rightly so.
Some are too scared to leave the house and others are panic buying, but nearly all to some degree are concerned.
Concerned about contracting the virus, passing it on, losing their jobs or whether they can simply buy food when they go to the supermarket.
Wednesday night’s announcement by the AFL that it would at least attempt to play in times of such uncertainty and anxiety was to footy fans like the warm hug we all needed.
Because until that point, our lives had been changing so dramatically it had been difficult to pinpoint not when but if they would ever be the same again.
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The coronavirus crisis crept up on Australia – and the AFL – like a tsunami.
Starting a long way from home, it gained momentum silently but with frightening speed as it moved towards us blissfully unaware of the devastation it was about to wreak.
As the virus spread like wildfire from its epicentre in Wuhan, China, we carried on here in Adelaide, like normal.
It was only 16 days ago we were debating whether the Port Adelaide and St Kilda game in Shanghai would go ahead.
And when that was called off, we weren’t worried about the rest of the season.
We were worried about whether Charlie Dixon’s adductor strain was something more sinister at the Power or whether the Crows should be concerned by their 0-2 pre-season.
Even when it was declared a global pandemic it was like in some ways we would be immune.
It couldn’t reach us ... would it?
And even when it did it felt like it wouldn’t disrupt our lives.
Not us, we’ve got a footy season to start, SuperCoach teams to fill, tipping comps to win.
When the reality that the AFL season would be impacted finally dawned on us, some were mortified by the suggestion that AFL games could be played without crowds in empty stadiums.
It was seen as a worst-case scenario.
But testament to the speed with which COVID-19 has been spreading, those same people who were horrified by the thought of empty stadiums were suddenly cheering for them 24 hours later when they realised the situation was far more serious and there could be no games at all.
And so began a week-long debate over whether football should or would go ahead in the face of the world’s biggest crisis since World War II.
Footy was off, it was on, it was off, it was shortened to 17 rounds, we’d see bigger squads, shorter games, three-day breaks and a grand final just before Christmas.
But as the situation developed and the government effectively closed the nation’s borders on Wednesday morning, many feared the game was gone and we wouldn’t see it return for a long time.
And then finally came the announcement at 7.17pm on Wednesday night that it was on.
Like the tsunami that was the crisis which started out of sight but then consumed every second of our thoughts, the marathon six-hour AFL Commission meeting behind closed doors built up to an incredible crescendo when chief executive Gill McLachlan eventually emerged to utter the words that Richmond and Carlton would play at the MCG on Thursday night.
This was a tsunami that did not spread fear, but a smile.
Who knows how long that smile will last.
As McLachlan said, there are no guarantees how long before a player contracts COVID-19 and we are off again.
But even if just for one hour last night, the football family across the country could take comfort in knowing the national game was going ahead then it is a welcome change to the two weeks of angst they’ve just endured.
Like the lyrics of Greg Champion’s popular song ‘That’s the Thing About Football’ goes:
“Footy’s on footy’s here again, back to greet me like an old friend.”
And hasn’t everyone needed one of those this past week.
reece.homfray@news.com.au
Originally published as News the AFL season will begin and AFLW continue was a welcome break from two weeks of uncertainty and anxiety