Gillon McLachlan ‘optimistic’ of AFL restart, no start date nominated
AFL chief Gillon McLachlan says ‘things are going the right way’ but is yet to declare when play will resume.
The AFL is increasingly confident its season will not be scuttled should a footballer test positive to coronavirus once play resumes in the middle of the year.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said health advice showed there was no longer a need to employ a strict 30-day shutdown should a footballer fall ill with COVID-19.
Such a scenario was viewed as a potential hurdle to the AFL’s hopes of completing an abridged 17-round season in 2020 given fears of widespread infection across Australia.
The AFL initially said play would be halted for a fortnight if a positive test occurred but the longer timeframe was introduced as concerns grew over the crisis.
“The 30 days applied when we didn’t have the protocols and the resilience measures that we have now and will certainly have in place with our players,” McLachlan said.
Aside from regular physical distancing measures, clubs had already adopted practices that saw squads split into smaller groups leading into the sole round played to date in a bid to reduce the risk of spreading the virus through a team.
McLachlan is now optimistic of a trouble-free run when the season restarts but, unlike the NRL, the AFL is yet to fix a firm start date. While the NRL has declared its hopes of resuming on May 28, the AFL will wait until later this month, as initially planned, to announce a resumption date.
The league has pencilled in a return to training in May with a view to resuming the season in June, although a July restart seems more likely based on recent commentary from club executives. “I want to be clear that there is a lot of work being done to return to play,” McLachlan said.
“Today we have a level of optimism that things are going the right way but I obviously have that asterisk (given the crisis).”
McLachlan confirmed the prospect of the competition resuming via hubs based in different cities is a possibility, though he would prefer it to progress on a more traditional basis.
As Prime Minister Scott Morrison flagged the potential easing of some restrictions next month, the AFL remains mindful of the nuances of border guidelines for different states.
It is possible hubs could be deployed in Western Australia and Victoria, initially, to allow the competition to resume. Tasmania has been cited as another potential hub but is dealing with an outbreak in the state’s northwest that has closed two hospitals.
AFL Players Association chief executive Paul Marsh is not convinced about using hubs, with a number of footballers expressing reservations, while Giants chief executive Tony Shepherd likened the threat to the problems that have occurred on cruise ships.
“Having a whole lot of people together, there is obviously a risk (that) if someone gets it, they all get it,” Marsh told SEN. “So how can we be certain that anyone that is interacting with players within the hubs, how can we be certain that no one in there has got it and is therefore passing it on?”
The league is yet to formulate its proposal to the AFLPA but McLachlan said it was incumbent on the league to consider every option. “I think it’s challenging when players don’t have a level of information,” he said.
“We’re aware of players’ mental health and part of that is having access to families and that connection with communities.
“We’ll have to continue to work with all the stakeholders to get their buy in. I understand the reservations of some in the absence of information.”
McLachlan acknowledged the crisis would also have a significant impact on the AFL in 2021 and 2022 but said measures related to those seasons will not be finalised for some months. He effectively ruled out extending fixtures in those years after AFL legend Kevin Sheedy floated the prospect of playing up to 29 rounds in a season in a bid to boost revenue.
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