The SANFL are still waiting to be briefed by the AFL on South Australia being a potential ‘quarantine hub’

Premier Steven Marshall has said he’s not interested in lifting restrictions in South Australia until the pandemic situation improves, yet the AFL has its eyes on the state as a potential quarantine hub.

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The SANFL are yet to be briefed by the AFL on the potential of South Australia becoming a “quarantine hub” to get the season resumed.

And Premier Steven Marshall said he is not interested in lifting restrictions in the state at all until the pandemic situation in SA significantly improves.

The state has been touted as a potential option for the controversial potential plan by the AFL, in which a group of teams would be flown to a city or town that has low COVID-19 infection rates to play a bunch of games to get away some of the 144 remaining matches of 2020.

Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and northern Queensland have also been mentioned as possible locations.

Adelaide Oval is the only ground in SA that has broadcast quality lighting for twilight and evening games but other matches could be played at SANFL grounds.

But SANFL chief executive Jake Parkinson said the league had yet to be approached by the national body over the potential.

“We have yet to be engaged by the AFL on the concept of a quarantine hub or the impact on State Leagues of any future changes to the AFL model possibly being considered,” he said.

Mr Marshall also said now was not the time to relax strict border restrictions.

SANFL’s Jake Parkinson. Picture: AAP Image/David Mariuz.

“I am not in the slightest bit interested in talking about lifting restrictions in South Australia,” he said.

“To be quite honest my team (Port Adelaide) is top of the ladder and I think we might call the season off right about now.”

As well as quarantine hubs, the AFL has also flagged a “vertical movement model” between the league and state leagues – especially if clubs no longer can field reserve sides because of list cuts.

There are fears for the future of the SANFL’s most successful club the Port Adelaide Magpies, while the Crows continuing to field a side in the competition is also under a cloud.

Parkinson said it was still too soon to say whether the two AFL club’s second sides would continue in the SANFL.

“Importantly, Steve Hocking continues to publicly recognise the importance of state leagues in the future, a message the AFL has consistently conveyed to SANFL in any of our discussions, even well before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

“With regards to the future of the two AFL clubs in the SANFL competition, there cannot be any planning or decisions at this point as we still don’t know what season 2020 looks like at present, let alone beyond this.”

Originally published as The SANFL are still waiting to be briefed by the AFL on South Australia being a potential ‘quarantine hub’