AFL to move hundreds of players, more games to Qld due to COVID 19 threat

Queensland has entered the race to host the 2020 AFL grand final, with Annastacia Palaszczuk submitting a bid with League boss Gillon McLachlan today. It comes as it’s revealed all 10 Victorian AFL teams will be based in the Sunshine State possibly until the end of the season.

ALL 10 Victorian AFL teams will be based in the Sunshine State, potentially until the end of the season, in a massive coup for Queensland sport.

The move, foreshadowed by The Courier-Mail two weeks ago, will see Victorian teams based in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast with the majority of matches to be played in Queensland, while the State Government will have a red hot crack at securing the AFL

Grand Final.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland had put in a bid to host the grand final.

“I did actually say to (League boss Gillon McLachlan) on the phone, the fact that we’ll be hosting nearly of all the teams here ... that I did put in a bid, as you would expect me to as Premier of Queensland that if we’re hosting most of the competition here, it would be great to see if we could actually host a grand final,” she said.

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More AFL teams will move to Queensland. Photo: News Corp Australia

“We put our bid in and we’ll see how we go.

“I think he’ll (Gillon) give it due consideration.”

The Premier said Queensland had enabled the competition to continue.

Asked what the chances were of holding a grand final in Queensland, Ms Palaszczuk said it would depend on COVID-19 but the Government was willing to host it.

“We will continue to work with the AFL, I’m enthusiastic, I think Queenslanders would be enthusiastic so we’ll give it a red hot go,” she said.

“It would be worth millions to the Queensland economy.”

It is understood officials from the AFL are trying to iron out a draw which would allow teams to fly to SA and WA for games against West Coast, Fremantle, Adelaide and Port Power before returning to their Queensland hubs.

The escalating situation in regards to a coronavirus outbreak in NSW could also see the Sydney-based teams move north of the border.

It is estimated the bold plan will see the AFL spend more than $2 million a week - and up to $25 million for the season, in Queensland in a huge boost to struggling hotels and resorts.

The Queensland government will also lobby to host the Grand Final.

Even though stadiums in the AFL heartlands of Adelaide and Perth have significantly larger capacity than the Gabba, which can hold 42,000 people, there is a growing sentiment that Queensland could pull off the audacious move with greater economic and tourism benefits than hosting the game in WA or SA.

It is understood games will also be played in Tasmania and the NT, regions that have existing contracts with several AFL teams and low coronavirus-infection cases.

Hawthorn and the Kangaroos have arrangements with the Tasmanian government, while the Suns (Darwin) and Melbourne (Alice Springs) have previously committed to playing in the NT.

‘MORE FIRE IN THE BELLY FOR THE SUNS AND THE LIONS’

Announcing the move earlier, Ms Palaszczuk also confirmed that Queensland had recorded no new COVID-19 cases overnight.

“I can reveal that the AFL has approached Queensland to move more of its teams and players here to Queensland,” Ms Palaszczuk said

The Premier said she hoped that if the AFL was going to base more of its competition here, then Queensland could also host the AFL Grand Final.

She said the AFL was looking to book hundreds of hotel rooms over the next two months in a boon for the accommodation sector, but she said the health of Queenslanders would be paramount.

“It means more Queenslanders here can go and see the games,” she said.

“It’s more fire in the belly for the Suns and the Lions.

“I stress none of these measures can happen without strict quarantine protocols and the COVID management plan that has allowed the AFL season to proceed.

AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan has approached Queensland about moving more games to the Sunshine State. (AAP Image/James Ross)

“Given the choice between not having a season and having it based in Queensland I think I know what the fans would like to happen.

“It means more Queenslanders can see more games.

“And, as I told Gil (AFL CEO Gil McLachlan), if the season is based here then the Grand Final should be played here too.

“Negotiations between the NRL and the Chief Health Officer are continuing.”

Essendon is gathering the troops by considering bringing its injured players to its Gold Coast hub.

Speaking after Premier Palaszczuk’s announcement, Bombers coach John Worsfold confirmed the club was now looking at bringing the likes of injured star Jake Stringer north.

“We’re having those discussions at the moment around Paddy Ambrose who is another one back in Melbourne and some of our younger players who are unavailable to play for a number of weeks,” Worsfold said.

“We are working through what that means for all of us up here, there’s a lot of things that you have to take into account in terms of staffing in looking after those players in rehab and what they can add when they come up and join the group.

“We need to make a decision on that fairly quickly and we’ll be having those discussions over the next day or so.”

CLUBS PREFER QLD

St Kilda has handed Port Adelaide an addition to the Power’s home ground advantage in Round 8 by choosing not to stay in SA in between consecutive games at Adelaide Oval.

The Saints will take on Adelaide on Monday night and rather than stay in SA after their match against the Crows to prepare for their clash against the Power the following Saturday night they will fly back to their Noosa base.

The decision is an internal one by the Saints with nothing stopping them from staying in Adelaide in between games.

This is because they would have served two weeks in Queensland before they fly to Adelaide for the Crows game.

Port Adelaide will again fly to Queensland to play Carlton on Sunday after a daytrip to the Sunshine State to take on GWS in which the Power were up at 4.30am, on the bus to the airport at 5.30am and back in Adelaide at 10pm.

But they are set to enjoy a run of games at Adelaide Oval with the AFL now looking at cycling teams through SA for weeks at a time to continue the 2020 season.

SA Health confirmed to News Corp that teams coming to the state from Queensland will not be subject to any quarantine requirements so long as they have served the required two weeks there.

AFL fixtures boss Travis Auld said SA was now well and truly on the cards to host some clubs for a period, but said it wouldn’t necessarily be a “hub”.

“(Been having conversations with) SA in particular in recent times now that things are opening up especially through Queensland and then how that may work not just for the two SA clubs but for other clubs that are coming to play and how we take advantage of the opportunity to have one or two clubs stay for one or two weeks and play a couple of games rather than fly in and then back out,” he said on SEN SA.

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“The hub concept is really the Queensland concept where you have four to six teams here they literally park themselves in a hotel like the two SA clubs did.

“What we are seeing in WA and initially in SA is you might send one or two teams over and they play one team, then play the other and then flip over and rotate out more so of that where you would put half a dozen of your clubs into a facility there.”

Originally published as AFL to move hundreds of players, more games to Qld due to COVID 19 threat