Hubs may be needed: Dangerfield

President of the AFL Players Association says the AFL may have to use hubs in order to get the season underway.

Patrick Dangerfield has relaxed his resistance to player hubs to resurrect the AFL season Picture: AAP

Geelong champion Patrick Dangerfield believes an abridged AFL season could be completed in less than three months later this year.

The AFL Players Association president also softened his stance on the merits of using hubs as the league closes in on announcing key dates for its resumption.

The Brownlow medallist was a key figure in negotiations with the AFL over the initial pay cuts his playing peers were prepared to accept during the season suspension.

A father to son George, the Cat had expressed concerns which are shared by other players with families about the prospect of being isolated interstate at a hub for a stanza of matches.

While AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan expressed hope this week the 17-match season could be played on a more regular basis, Dangerfield now accepts hubs may initially be needed.

“The longer you look at where we are nationally in terms of trying to combat the virus, I think it becomes more of an option to start the season,” he told SEN.

“I don’t see us flying week to week, state to state. I don’t think that is going to be possible, so I think we are going to have to open our eyes to that possibility that there are certain hubs around.”

Dangerfield said players needed to consider the full economic impact associated with completing the 2020 season in some form.

“We have to be open to it as the jobs of so many rely upon it and that’s not just the players,” he said.

“As more information comes to light, I think it is not as scary a proposition as what first initial reactions were.”

The AFL is considering holding games on a rapid-fire basis in order to make the most of windows that are free of the coronavirus once the season resumes.

The Geelong midfielder says that it would be possible to fit a 17-game season into a window of less than three months with quarters reduced to 16 minutes and with it a lesser physical toll on players.

An initial date of May 4 was pencilled in for footballers to return to training.

But Victoria will remain in a state of emergency until the later part of May at least and the state’s chief health officer Brett Sutton said the league needed to adopt a national strategy regarding the crisis.

It is unlikely the AFL will allow clubs based in states where restrictions are eased earlier the advantage of training together ahead of their opponents.