AFL to learn lessons from 2020 ahead of challenges next year

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan praised retiring star Gary Ablett while also discussing what the game might look like in 2021 and beyond.

Geelong’s Gary Ablett is farewelled after the AFL grand final as he heads to retirement

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has lavished praise on retiring Geelong great Gary Ablett after the dual-Brownlow Medallist played his final game in Saturday’s AFL grand final.

While there doubt surrounds the 2021 season given the ongoing threat of coronavirus, McLachlan said there was certainty on at least one front.

As much as the game will miss Ablett, who was farewelled by both Richmond and Geelong at the end of a dramatic decider, McLachlan has confidence in the ability of the next generation of stars.

“I think history says we always worry about losing out champions and it is always unfounded. You want the greats to play forever, but they can’t,” he told The Australian.

“Matt Rowell had nine Brownlow votes after four rounds this year. I feel the elite talent coming through is as prepared or just as good as it has ever been and we have got a great pathway.

“I look at the talent coming through and I feel we will be talking about a Matt Rowell or a Connor Rozee in the same way as we are an Ablett or a Dangerfield in 12 to 15 years.”

After a year where much of the season was held in hubs, the AFL is well aware of the potential for 2021 to be just as daunting as this year.

McLachlan said the competition had learnt a significant amount about what was possible for clubs and players to cope with regarding scheduling and travel.

In the past, the AFL has been reluctant to introduce a floating fixture, though in recent years it has used the method for the final round.

He said consideration would now be given as to whether the competition needed to outline its season almost five months prior to the opening bounce, as it has done in recent years.

“We are in conversations with our clubs about, ‘Do we have to have a fixture rolled out for all 22 or 23 rounds in October?’” he said.

“Do we have to have West Coast playing away, home, away, home? Is there a better way? Can we be more flexible? More open to finding a better way? Beyond Covid and hubs, I think that conversation needs to happen.

“I reckon this year, what we have done surprised ourselves about how we can play our shots a bit later and, maybe, therefore get better results, and we will pick that up with the clubs.”

McLachlan last week said “the uncertainty of Covid hangs over next year”.

It was a point Richmond president Peggy O’Neal, who watched the Tigers triumph from Melbourne, agrees with.

“It hopefully won’t be as complex (but) I think next year will be very tough,” she said.

Richmond’s three-time premiership captain Trent Cotchin was among players who had reservations about the hubs this year and at one stage contemplated leaving the Tigers base in Queensland.

He is mindful that clubs might need to spend time on the road together again in 2021 but said there was much to play out in regards to how that would work.

“There have been a few conversations. This year was unique and challenging in regards to protocols and so forth,” he said.

“But I think it is one of those things that would have to be discussed and worked out as to exactly how it looks.”

McLachlan will take a few days off this week to refresh before returning to work.

The AFL is still to outline specifics surrounding salary caps and list sizes.

Negotiations with the AFL Players Association regarding a new collective bargaining agreement are also set to be challenging.

“We don’t have a lot of time and we have a lot to do for next year, but everyone needs to take a break and everyone needs to find the time to get refreshed and to feel good to be able to go again,” he said.

“I will work hard to make sure that everyone is looking in the mirror and working out the time they need to take and I will do that as well.”