Damien Hardwick ready for hubs but Richmond star Jack Riewoldt unsure
Dual-premiership coach Damien Hardwick believes his Tigers are prepared to do anything to get the AFL season started again.
Dual-premiership coach Damien Hardwick believes his Tigers are prepared to do anything to get the AFL season started again despite at least one Richmond star expressing his reservations recently about the prospect of teams playing in hubs.
As some states begin easing their COVID-19 restrictions, the coach of the reigning premiers is ready for a move to an interstate hub if that is what is required for the competition to resume. “I think we just want to get the game up and going and we’re prepared to do anything,” Hardwick said.
“This is just me speaking. We haven’t had real conversations with our players, as such, because a lot will depend on the AFLPA and their decision-making.”
AFL fixtures boss Travis Auld said last week that the league was planning to provide greater detail to players regarding the use of hubs. Head office is still modelling exactly where, when and how the start of the season will occur, with a decision now expected to be made on May 11.
Just as with the decision to play the opening round of the season with the threat posed by coronavirus hovering large, with 12 per cent of footballers expressing some angst in an AFLPA survey, not every footballer is at ease with the prospect of relocating to a hub. And one is a star player in Hardwick’s side.
Richmond’s three-time Coleman medallist Jack Riewoldt said last week that relocating interstate for up to six weeks would create difficulties for some players, particularly those with families.
“To be honest, I’m still really up in the air about it,” Riewoldt told Fox Footy. “Some days I think I’d really struggle (to be) away from my family. And then I think the AFL will come to some sort of agreement, as well, with guys like me and people in my situation. It is going to be an interesting one.”
In a further positive for the AFL, the gradual easing of restrictions in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory indicates government officials are increasingly confident the worst of COVID-19 could have passed. The hopes of Queensland hosting a hub is stronger after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk declared some restrictions would be eased from May 2.
There are fewer than 100 active cases in the state and from this Saturday the majority of residents will be able to go for a decent drive, though they must remain within 50km of their home.
Some national parks will also be able to reopen, while shopping for non-essential items such as clothes will also be allowed.
This, effectively, comes nine days before the AFL is due to outline its starting date.
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan also announced a “cautious relaxing” of conditions that includes allowing indoor and outdoor non-work gatherings of up to 10 people.
The easing of restrictions comes as states continue to sell the virtues of hosting hubs for the league, an exercise that will cost the AFL a significant amount for accommodation and related travel costs. But it will also ensure revenue begins flowing again from broadcasters, which would be a critical step forward for football.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan outlined a range of procedures to clubs in a memo sent late Friday, including a plan to establish an Olympic Village-style quarantine model.
The league’s preference is for accommodation to be based at a resort such as a golf club or a winery to allow free movement with minimal contact with the public. Players would need to isolate further before travelling and be tested before being allowed to board a chartered flight, and then undertake regular tests while living in the hubs.
But loosening the restrictions on the number of people allowed to gather together will be of assistance when it comes to enabling football clubs to be able to train.
While the AFL is expected to recommend a preparation window of three weeks before matches, Hardwick feels players could be ready to resume with only a fortnight of training.
“As long as everyone’s off the same start point, I think we’ll be OK,” Hardwick told ABC’s Offsiders. “I can’t see us going into a three or four-week training block to start the season. I think the players would need two weeks, maybe, and then get the game up and going.”
The Richmond coach said the most difficult problem for players during the shutdown was the uncertainty regarding a starting date for the season.
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