Coronavirus: AFL gets back on road at last to big dance

In four weeks’ time, the wish of every AFL fan in the land will be granted, with the season to resume on June 11.

Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury, wearing the famous Michael Jordan singlet, gets in some training at Elsternwick Park in Melbourne. Picture: AAP

Kicking around the training paddock­ in Michael Jordan’s famous­ No 23 red singlet isn’t a bad way to spend an afternoon.

But for Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury, the black-and-white striped jersey of the Magpies is what he really wants on his back.

In four weeks’ time, his wish — and the wish of every AFL fan in the land — will be granted, with the season to resume on June 11.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan made the announcement in the middle of Melbourne’s Marvel­ Stadium on Friday, declaring the time had come for the nation­’s footballers to again pull on their boots. Clubs will begin full-time training on Monday.

The return of live sport, McLachlan said, might just help Aust­ralia get back to normal. “Today is a significant step in getting footy back for everyone — our fans, our clubs, our players, coaches, offic­ials and staff, our broadcast and our corporate partners, and all who love the game,” he said.

The stress of the past eight weeks on McLachlan and the league’s footballers has been substantial, as they faced the very real possibility that season 2020 could be cancelled. Teams were forbidden to practise as full squads throughout the shutdown period, leaving players to find innovative ways to train solo at home, or resorting to kick-to-kick in the park with one other teammate — at an appropriate distance, of course.

Fans, too, have been aching for a live footy fix for almost two months, with ratings figures suggest­ing that most sporting diehards — and it seems Pendlebury is among them — have relied on the blockbuster Michael Jordan ­documentary series The Last Dance to get them through.

McLachlan was among league officials who conceded on Friday that they had feared there might not be a return at all this season as the coronavirus crisis flared. The concern has not yet passed, with the league at pains to ensure players follow guidelines stricter than those for the general community over the coming months. Players’ homes will be “risk-assessed” to determine whether they are likely to be exposed to COVID-19, and each player and official will be tested twice a week, with the results known before they engage in contact training.

Strict border restrictions will force Port Adelaide and the Adelaide Crows, along with West Coast and Fremantle, to relocate to isolated hubs — at exclusive golf resorts — on the Gold Coast for at least a month. The AFL will pay for families to attend the hubs.

AFL Players Association president Paul Marsh said the AFL’s concession regarding families was critical to an agreement being reached for the SA and WA clubs. But he noted some players with partners who worked as teachers or nurses, for example, faced a more difficult challenge than others.

In recent weeks, McLachlan and the skeleton staff left at the AFL negotiated with state and federal governments and health departments in a bid to get the season started before it reached the point of no return.

But with the major hurdles now seemingly overcome, the bottom line is that footy is back.

The NRL returns on May 28.