Brisbane Lions captain Dayne Zorko urges AFL to exhaust every avenue before placing players in hubs
The uncertainty and confusion over when footy will return and in what form have been a rollercoaster for players, says Melbourne’s Tom McDonald, as one AFL captain urged the AFL to exhaust every option before sending players to hubs.
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AFL Players’ Association delegate Tom McDonald says the uncertainty over resumption plans for the AFL season has been taking an emotional toll on players.
And Hawthorn’s Jarman Impey agreed the situation had been confusing, but said players had an “obligation” to take extra steps to help get footy back.
McDonald said the waiting for a return date for the postponed season and the go-ahead for group training had been a rollercoaster for the playing group.
“I know it’s probably a first-world problem, but it plays with the emotions of players a lot having good news one minute and then the next day a government announcement changes everything and you feel like it’s never going to happen again,” the Melbourne forward said.
“That’s probably been one of the challenges. It’s a rollercoaster of living it through the public eye as well.
“At the start of it, I said I would just take it if they said we were coming back in September. I would have rather had that than the guessing game to have some certainty over when we would play.
“I have probably got more information than most being a part of the players’ association, but even so you are just hanging out for more information and I understand it’s really hard to get it and to get anything that’s actually accurate and can stay true for more than a day. It seems like everything changes.”
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But McDonald backed the players to be ready to return to games with as little as two weeks’ training under their belts when the season gets the green light.
“To be honest, if they said we could play next weekend, I would just say yes, I wouldn’t really care,” McDonald said.
“I think most guys, other than ones who are coming off a bit of an injury, two weeks would be enough for most teams, I reckon. It might not be the best product straight away, but you are not going to get Grand Final-level performances in the first week anyway.”
On the comeback trail from a knee reconstruction and itching to return to training, Impey said the waiting game had been frustrating but players had to adapt.
“It is a bit confusing. I think it is all a bit confusing to the whole country, pretty much,” Impey said.
“But I think we just have to adapt. We have got good people in place and we have obviously got doctors at our club that are getting information daily, hourly.
“We are just waiting each day. Each day we get more information.”
Players face testing twice a week when training and competition resumes and will be forced to quarantine in their homes with little social contact as part of strict return-to-play protocols in an effort to keep the game virus-free.
“You take the good with the bad and, personally, I don’t think that is too much of a price to pay,” McDonald said.
“It won’t be forever.”
Impey said it was important for players to do what they had to do to get football back, even if that meant following stricter rules than the rest of society.
“We are really eager to get back on the playing field and I believe we can help contribute to this iso-period if us footballers are out playing and giving the fans, supporters and sponsors what they want,” Impey said. “We have a bit of an obligation to help what is going on in our country. We miss our football and so does the nation.”
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ZORKO: HUBS MUST BE AFL’S LAST RESORT
Brisbane Lions captain Dayne Zorko has urged the AFL to exhaust every avenue before placing players in hubs.
South Australian health chiefs on Wednesday night rejected a request to give Adelaide and Port Adelaide players special quarantine exemptions to fly in and out of the state for matches.
They are set to join West Coast and Fremantle in relocating to the eastern seaboard to allow the season to restart.
Zorko, a father of one, said playing out of hubs will be a big challenge for many players across the league.
“It’s going to be difficult on families, but if that’s what it takes I’m sure all the players will buy into that,” Zorko said.
“But I’d love to see every resource exhausted first before first before we go straight to hubs.
“Because for players from interstate clubs, and I think I can speak for nearly all of them when I say this, the pressure it puts on families when we have to go away every second week for three days at a time is huge.
“So, to be away for an extended amount of time, which potentially could happen, will be extremely difficult for parents.”
Zorko said being based in a hub would also prove a big dilemma for players who are about to become fathers.
“For us at the club, we’ve got four players expecting babies in the next month and a half, so it would be extremely difficult for those guys,” he said.
“They may have to make a decision between whether they see the birth of their first born child or play a game of footy.
“I certainly know which one I would be choosing, and it would definitely be the baby.”
The Lions skipper said the players remained no closer to knowing what a rebooted 2020 season will look like.
“We haven’t been given too much information as I think the AFL just wants to make sure they have everything in hand to make the right decision,” he said.
“We’re hopeful next week we’ll be able to head into the club and get some form of training away, whether it’s in groups of eight or pairs or whatever it may be.”
Dayne Zorko – My Story – in the Sunday Herald Sun