Coronavirus: ref blows time on a day out at the footy

At 7.45pm on Sunday, referee Ashley Klein blew the whistle to signal the end of an NRL game and the sporting world as we knew it came to an end.

Referee Ashley Klein blows the whistle during an NRL game. Picture: Getty Images

At 7.45pm on Sunday, referee Ashley Klein blew the whistle to signal the end of the NRL clash between St George Illawarra and Wests Tigers and the sporting world as we knew it came to an end.

Going to the footy, for the first time in living memory, is no longer an option. With coronavirus cutting a swath through the sporting landscape, the Dragons v Tigers game at WIN Stadium in Wollongong was the last elite sporting contest played in front of a crowd in Australia for the foreseeable future.

Some sports have simply suspended their competitions. Others will continue, for the time being, but behind closed doors.

The AFL season will begin on Thursday night when Richmond and Carlton – a match-up that would normally attract a crowd of 90,000 – clash in an empty MCG.

NRL round 2 games will be played in empty stadiums, but suspension of the competition has not been ruled out. Super Rugby has been suspended and might not return, the final round of cricket’s Sheffield Shield has been cancelled and the A-League is in doubt.

For a sports-mad nation such as Australia, the ramifications of the lockdown are significant. We have been robbed of one of our favourite pastimes. Perhaps more importantly, sporting codes and clubs, deprived of gate-takings, sponsorship and broadcast income, face a financial hit they might not recover from.

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys reflected the seriousness of the situation on Sunday when he was asked if the game was in jeopardy.

“That’s a possibility – or a game as we know it now,” V’landys said. “I think there will always be a game but the game as we know it now is in jeopardy. And that’s not just our sport, that is all sports.”

“It is certainly one of the greatest challenges for us to stay viable in the history of the game.”

Although the NRL’s round 2 games will be played, the situation after that is in doubt, particularly as the worst-affected team, the New Zealand Warriors, have reportedly only agreed to stay in Australia for a week. New Zealand border restrictions, which require anyone arriving in the country to self-isolate for 14 days, mean that if they go home they won’t be coming back.

V’landys, who has appealed for federal government support for the game, agreed suspension was not out of the question.

“This situation is fluid – it is changing by the hour,” he said. “All decisions we make will have the safety of the players as paramount. In this regard we are leaving every option available on the table.

“Because it is changing so quickly we would be silly to go in one direction.”

The AFL’s innovative approach is to cram in extra games in the early weeks of the season, in the belief the coronavirus peak is potentially still months away.

AFL football boss Steve Hocking will meet with coaches and football bosses on Monday morning to discuss plans for clubs to play as many as five games in the next three weeks. This would put matches in the bank if a suspension of the competition were necessary later in the season.

Super Rugby was suspended after the Brumbies scored a 47-14 victory over the hapless Waratahs in front of a sparse crowd in Canberra on Sunday afternoon. With teams based across five countries, officials had no other option but to postpone the competition after New Zealand and Australia announced travel restrictions. Officials are believed to be working on a plan for Australian teams to play a series of derbies.

Meanwhile, Rugby Australia’s Sydney headquarters was shut down on Sunday after two members of the Australian Sevens program were tested for coronavirus. The pair had attended the RA high-performance centre before experiencing symptoms on the weekend.

With six rounds to go until the finals, the A-League will attempt to complete its season behind closed doors – particularly now that Wellington Phoenix have agreed to base themselves in Australia for the duration.

Wellington are expected to fly to Australia today and go into 14 days self-isolation before an intense run of games in empty stadiums.

The domestic cricket season could be over with Cricket Australia cancelling the final round of the Sheffield Shield. A decision about whether the Shield decider on March 27 goes ahead is yet to be made.

The ODI series between Australia and New Zealand was abandoned after the first game on Friday so the Black Caps could rush home.

The weekend’s Australian Formula One Grand Prix was cancelled on Friday after a McLaren team member tested positive.

And the Sydney Kings and the Perth Wildcats played out game three of the NBL’s five-game grand final series in an empty Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney’s West.