Fox Footy Jury: Mark Maclure, Cameron Mooney and David King discuss the AFL’s suspension and what’s next

With the AFL season now suspended, what should players do now? And how quickly could the competition put a show back on once it is declared safe to do so? Three Fox Footy experts have their say.

With the AFL season now suspended, what should players do now? And how quickly could the competition put a show back on once it is declared safe to do so? Three Fox Footy experts have their say.

How much notice would clubs need to reboot the season?

Mark Maclure: A month. It wouldn’t be more than that. All the players are really fit now. I reckon a month is plenty but they would have to complete a training program in the meantime. They would have to do a couple of hours a day to keep themselves up and going, but not much.

Cam Mooney: You’re going to need two to three weeks, minimum. If everything goes to plan and we’re talking about stating back May 31, does that mean players can get back to the club two or three weeks prior to that? Or do they get back to the club on May 31 and then start a two or three week body of training to get their bodies ready for AFL football? It’s a real uncertainty on that.

David King: The players will be ready to go again. They’ll be jumping out of their skins. You give them seven days’ notice and they’ll be ready. What we have learnt in watching these under-18 players transition into AFL footy over the last five years is they’ll be ready to roll when they come in. They’re educated, they’re physically ready. They’re a different specimen to what we had 10 years ago.

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David King believes AFL players will be ready to play almost right away. Picture: Michael Klein

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How would you advise an AFL player to occupy their time over the next month?

MM: I think the players should seriously now go and do some work experience. Ask someone at the club if you can get some work experience in a field. If you wanted to be in the media, don’t tell me you can’t do that online. You could go to a building site and be a labourer. Go work on a farm. Ask them what you can do for them. If you’re not occupied, you’ll get in trouble.

CM: I’m assuming we’re allowed out of the house to go for a run. I would say to them look at it as an eight-week program and go and bust your ass. If you’ve got to go to a park or go to a footy ground by yourself, do it. Take weights home from the footy club if you could. Use these eight weeks to really keep on top of it as much as you can from a fitness and conditioning point of view because when we do come back, you’ve only got a short period of the season to make sure you’re playing finals.

DK: I think the first thing they should do is make sure the health and safety of their family is sorted and do whatever they can to make sure that people around them are well looked after so they can actually concentrate on their footy. It’s no point having these guys not worry about those around them. Once that’s done it’s basically about maintenance. Their bodies are already conditioned to a point of being ready to play. So maintain the body and don’t get distracted from what will be a premiership won by what teams do during this break.

Hawthorn players visited Buchan to assist locals rebuilding after bushfires. Picture: Matt McLeish.

Originally published as Fox Footy Jury: Mark Maclure, Cameron Mooney and David King discuss the AFL’s suspension and what’s next