Players could stand down over AFL’s proposed 20-week hub plan, warns Port Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff
Port Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff has warned there will potentially be players who don’t go into the proposed isolation hubs to restart the AFL season.
AFL
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Port Adelaide veteran Tom Rockliff has warned that some players could stand down from football this season if the AFL pushes ahead with its controversial 20-week quarantine hub plan.
“I think there will be players that won’t go into those hubs,’’ Rockliff told The Advertiser as it emerged that South Australia was in danger of not hosting any more AFL games this year.
“I’d like to think I’d play but for numerous reasons players won’t feel comfortable going into that environment, whether it be a lack of family support or having dependants, including parents, rely on them.
“The players want to play and are prepared to roll with the punches a fair bit to get the season underway again but with the hub scenarios that are being put to us I think there will potentially be players that don’t go into them.’’
In a key, worst-case scenario put to the players in a survey by the AFL Players Association on Tuesday night, there would be two hub phases across the remainder of the season as the league tries to restart a competition that has been postponed since round one because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first would be an eight-week hub split into three weeks of training and five weeks of playing seven rounds.
This is understood to involve the eight non-Victorian teams being placed in southeast Queensland or Western Australia and the 10 Victorian sides in Melbourne.
Under the plan, players would then be allowed one week home with families before all clubs were moved to Victoria for 12 weeks to complete the remaining nine rounds and finals.
It is believed clubs would be asked to take 32 players, plus coaches and officials, into the hubs.
The AFL is set to publicly confirm its plan to complete the season, which has been on hold since round one, on May 11, with an expected start date in June.
Emerging young Crows leader Tom Doedee echoed Rockliff’s comments, saying some players might not make themselves available to play if they were asked to spend 20 weeks in quarantine hubs while also fearing such a dramatic move could lead to mental health problems.
“While it would be ideal to have our whole team there, there’s a chance that might not happen,’’ he said.
“To not have someone there would be disappointing but if it was because they wanted to look after their family or they’ve got three kids and they don’t want to put that burden on their partner, then that would be completely understandable and we would support that decision.
“It would be a pretty big ask to stay away from your family for that long (20 weeks) if they can’t be brought into the quarantine hubs.
“The family and mental health side of it is a real issue.’’
Rockliff, 30, said leaving family members behind for so long would be the major sticking point in the AFLPA’s negotiations with the AFL.
The Victorian-born Rockliff is engaged to Sharna, who is from Queensland, and the couple have a two-year-old son, Jack.
“It’s the biggest sticking point to everything,’’ the former Brisbane Lions captain said.
“All the players are willing to go into hubs but a lot want them to be more flexible so you can see family members more often.
“That needs to be taken into consideration and seriously looked at because the way it’s proposed at the moment it’s a long period of time to be away from your family, particularly for guys who have young kids or children on the way.
“From my family’s point of view, we’ve got a young child in Jack, Sharna is a nurse and is working three days a week and we’ve got no family here, so working through that would be very challenging.’’
New Crows captain Rory Sloane said it would be tough for him to leave his wife Belinda and seven-month-old son Sonny at home to join an interstate hub.
Both Rockliff and Doedee think the time spent at hubs should be shortened.
Rockliff rejected criticism from former Australian tennis player Sam Groth and former Australian Test cricketer Dean Jones that AFL players were being soft in their approach.
“Tennis players sign up for being on the road for a long time and cricketers often get to have their families with them on their travels, so this is different,’’ he said.
“We understand we are in a unique situation this year and one we will probably never be in again but we’ve still got find the right solutions for everyone’’
Rockliff also said SA should not be overlooked as a quarantine hub, describing it as “the ideal place’’ to host games.
“Because the cases of coronavirus here are at a bare minimum now, Adelaide Oval can handle a lot of traffic and the State League venues have outstanding surfaces,’’ he said.
Originally published as Players could stand down over AFL’s proposed 20-week hub plan, warns Port Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff