AFL fixture news: All the latest on how Covid affects Round 22 and 23
The venue for Collingwood’s clash with Brisbane rests on the Queensland government, which is weighing up whether the match should go ahead.
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Collingwood is preparing to fly to Queensland to play Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday night.
The AFL has had successful talks with the Queensland Government, but is still waiting for final approval.
The Lions flew back to Queensland after beating Fremantle in Perth on Sunday and are preparing to play their final two games at The Gabba against Collingwood and West Coast.
The Magpies players and staff would be expected to go into hard quarantine on Thursday night and then fly in and out of Brisbane on Saturday.
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The AFL was still finalising details of Round 22 but expects to kickstart the weekend’s action with the crucial Greater Western Sydney-Richmond clash at Marvel Stadium on Friday night, as revealed by the Herald Sun on Sunday night.
The league has announced that the WA derby between Fremantle and the Eagles will be played at Perth Stadium on Sunday at 5.10pm.
“We look forward to supporters being able to safely attend Optus Stadium for the Derby this weekend which will no doubt add another chapter to the already-fierce rivalry between the two Western Australian clubs,” AFL Executive General Manager Clubs and Broadcasting Travis Auld said.
“We are hopeful of seeing a full house at Optus Stadium on Sunday with both teams vying for a place in the top eight.”
Hawthorn is hoping to host the Western Bulldogs in Tasmania on Saturday, but News Corp revealed on Monday that the game would be moved to the MCG if the AFL cannot establish a sterile corridor for the clubs to play in Launceston.
The league is also looking to secure clearance for Essendon to travel to Queensland for its game against Gold Coast.
North Melbourne will host Sydney at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
The Sunday games are likely to be Suns-Bombers (Metricon Stadium), Melbourne-Adelaide (MCG), Fremantle-West Coast (Perth Stadium).
EARLIER: Why a Top End game cannot be counted out
The AFL remains hopeful of staging at least one game in Darwin in the final round despite several Covid-19-related false starts this year.
It’s understood there was initial hope of a Round 22 double-header in the Top End, featuring the Melbourne-Adelaide and Gold Coast-Essendon matches.
But the Demons opted against it because their relationship is with Alice Springs rather than Darwin and they were already travelling interstate in back-to-back weeks leading in.
The Suns-Bombers clash is set to be held in Queensland on Sunday afternoon instead of Darwin, in part because of Victoria’s latest coronavirus-driven lockdown.
The AFL and Northern Territory Government negotiated a four-year deal in 2019 for Gold Coast and Melbourne to each play an annual game in Darwin and Alice Springs, respectively.
The Demons also host an AFLW match in Alice Springs each season.
That deal is believed to be worth almost $2 million per year, hence the AFL’s motivation to try to bring games to the Territory as the financial losses stack up.
The agreement goes beyond just playing matches in the NT and includes a commitment for increased player and development opportunities for local footballers.
Neither of those two clubs has a Round 23 home game, but the AFL remains in negotiations with the NT Government about potentially playing at least one match that weekend in Darwin.
Those negotiations are not believed to centre on any particular club at this early stage.
The AFL announced early last month the Suns and Demons would play at TIO Stadium in Round 19 on July 24, having already relocated two games scheduled for the NT, because of the pandemic.
Those other matches were Melbourne-Brisbane (Alice Springs) and Gold Coast-Hawthorn (Darwin).
But the Demons-Suns clash was firstly pushed back a week, then switched from Darwin to Gold Coast’s Metricon Stadium, before the Covid outbreak in south-east Queensland saw it played at Marvel Stadium.
Suns chief executive Mark Evans has consistently stated how important the NT partnership was to his club.
They would be open to playing in Darwin as the away team, but that depends on Round 23 opponent Sydney’s willingness to travel there rather than stay in Victoria.
“We still want to play a game in Darwin this season and are working with the AFL to explore every option,” Evans said previously.
“All parties involved remain hopeful of playing there in the second half of the season.”
EARLIER: AFL in talks to deliver shock Vic crowd return
Victorian footy fans could make a shock return this weekend with the AFL secretly confident it will be allowed to throw open the turnstiles in the wake of Melbourne’s sixth lockdown.
High-level talks for Geelong’s game against St Kilda to be declared open to the public are advancing in what would shape as a major boost for the competition on the eve of September.
Regional Victoria was released from lockdown on Monday night in a political decision which delivered unexpected hope that country-based Cats members would be granted entry for the Round 22 clash against the Saints, which is likely to be played on Saturday night but has not yet been assigned a timeslot.
Victoria’s contact tracers have isolated the latest outbreak to metropolitan Melbourne in a breakthrough which could ultimately strengthen the Cats’ premiership chances.
The Cats’ annual longshot request to play their home finals at GMHBA Stadium would be greatly enhanced if they could safely host crowds down the highway in their final two home-and-away games, particularly if Melbourne remains ridden by the virus.
The Geelong region has not detected a case for several weeks and coach Chris Scott’s decade-long plea for home finals would be hard to ignore if his town was a safe haven.
A decision on whether to welcome footy fans back at Kardinia Park this week is likely to be made by Wednesday.
“If it is safe to do it then we would,” Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday.
“But I think it’s best if we all acknowledge there’s an outbreak in Melbourne at the moment.
“It’s not in regional Victoria. But we don’t want to do anything that might send it to regional Victoria.”
“Whether there’s a crowd at GMHBA Stadium is not necessarily at the top of my list. Apologies to Cats fans, we will get to that.”
In Round 14, the Cats were allowed a crowd of 7000 (25 per cent capacity) while the MCG and Marvel Stadium remained closed to the public.
Attendees had to prove they resided in the Barwon region, which covered Geelong, Surf Coast, Colac, Queenscliff and Golden Plains local government areas.
Capacity at GMHBA Stadium was doubled to 50 per cent two weeks later before yet another outbreak gripped Victoria.
The AFL was unable to lock in the Round 22 fixture on Monday, with borders remaining problematic for clubs looking to leave Victoria.
News Corp revealed on Monday that Hawthorn will host Western Bulldogs at the MCG on Saturday afternoon if the AFL cannot establish a sterile corridor for the clubs to play in Launceston.
The league is also looking to secure clearance for Essendon and Collingwood to travel to Queensland for their games against Gold Coast and Brisbane Lions respectively.
North Melbourne will host Sydney at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
The Sunday games are likely to be Suns-Bombers (Metricon Stadium), Melbourne-Adelaide (MCG), Fremantle-West Coast (Perth Stadium).
South Australian premier Steven Marshall gave every indication that Carlton veteran Marc Murphy would be celebrating his 300th game at a packed Adelaide Oval against Port Adelaide.
“We have been able to bring players through in sterile corridors and ... we showed we could have a crowd,” Marshall said on Monday.
“I hope the numbers at the football can continue to increase.
“There are people who say we can’t have football right now, but when the football is on, that creates jobs, at the Oval, in the city after the match.”
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