Only one Showdown to be held this year after AFL slashes season by six games in response to coronavirus threat
The 2020 AFL season will be reduced from 23 to 17 games in response to coronavirus – with a start date still uncertain. It means Port Adelaide will host the only Showdown against Adelaide this year in Round 2.
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The AFL has slashed its season from 23 to 17 rounds and could still start as early as Thursday night, but if one player tests positive to coronavirus the entire league will be shut down.
It comes as AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan on Monday announced all state leagues, including the SANFL, have been postponed until May 31 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
A decision on whether the season starts with Carlton and Richmond playing in an empty MCG on Thursday night will be made on Tuesday along with a call on Round 7 of the AFLW season set for this weekend.
But that could all be off if a coronavirus test on Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury – who has been quarantined with cold-like symptoms that presented last week – returns positive on Tuesday.
“If a player was found to have coronavirus this weekend, ultimately that would mean the stand down of the club and for the integrity of the competition it would put a standstill to that round of football ... and I think you have a 14-day shutdown to re-set,” McLachlan said.
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A best-case scenario is the first four rounds are played as scheduled – meaning Port Adelaide would host the only Showdown with Adelaide in Round 2 – before the fixture is reconfigured to ensure every team plays each other once before finals.
Cancellation of the season could be financially crippling to the league and its clubs given its reliance on the six-year $2.508 billion broadcast rights agreement it signed in 2015.
But McLachlan is adamant the season will go ahead in some form, saying “we have 40 weeks to get a 17-week season away until the end of 2020”.
“And if we need to we will use every one of those weekends, days, whatever it is ... my point is we will do whatever we need to,” he said.
“This unprecedented community challenge requires an unprecedented response.
“I want to reinforce this message to all of our fans and members – we know what football means to everyone.
“We understand how difficult these decisions are for you, particularly given a time of uncertainty and anxiety.
“Australian rules football is resilient, it has had many challenges and despite the size of this one, it will find a way through.
“We are a game but we are not the main game, the main game is looking after the community and keeping people safe and that is the clear priority at the moment.
“The one thing we know is we will get a season away.
“The circumstances mean it will look different, but our commitment is for it to look fair.
“The reality is we don’t have all the answers, the situation is changing by the minute and we need to stay agile, but football has been around for 160 years and has been challenged and tested, but footy will find a way, we always do.
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“Our industry, the livelihoods of the players and, to be honest, our community needs it.”
Clubs are believed to be hopeful of starting the season this weekend, but McLachlan admits that could change any minute.
“There’s a broad commitment to doing it, but they know there are lots of different aspects to that and the thing changes day to day,” he said.
“In facing this unprecedented and difficult time, all of our clubs, players, broadcasters and corporate partners are determined and united.
“We are determined to be part of the whole-of-community response to slow this virus down, and in doing so help the broader community and our health systems to cope.
“We are united across our industry in making hard decisions to protect the health and livelihoods in our football family.”
Players were set to be involved in a phone hook up with the AFL Players’ Association on Monday night and have been told they – like the AFL’s top officials – may have to take a pay-cut to help the game survive this season.
The league is also investigating bringing in supplementary lists to enable clubs to select players from any state league across the country, and shortening the length of games.
AFL chairman Richard Goyder is leading a taskforce of club presidents helping to navigate they key decisions in coming weeks.
Adelaide and Port Adelaide were yet to comment on the changes on Monday night.
The SANFL remains in talks with the AFL about whether community leagues – including amateur, junior and country footy – are postponed to May 31 as well.
“This is an unprecedented global health issue which we, like many other organisations, are doing our best to come to grips with and make decisions which are in the best interests of the general public,” SANFL chief executive Jake Parkinson said.
“The ramifications across all levels of football are monumental and therefore require a united whole of football approach to ensure the financial sustainability of our clubs and the future of our national game.”
reece.homfray@news.com.au
Originally published as Only one Showdown to be held this year after AFL slashes season by six games in response to coronavirus threat