Virtual Brownlow Medal night among Queensland options

The AFL will consider all options for a Queensland Brownlow Medal — including the drastic option of a virtual event.

2019 Brownlow Medal winner Nat Fyfe. Picture: Michael Klein

The AFL will consider all options for a Queensland Brownlow Medal — including the drastic option of a virtual event — as it safeguards its finals series from coronavirus.

The Australian understands the league’s working group will report back on options by the end of next week for an event likely to be held in the days after Round 18.

That time slot would allow the league to hold the event with the majority of its players in attendance, having just finished the home-and-away season in Queensland.

But there are biosecurity risks with holding a function for hundreds of players, given the AFL would need to guarantee a clean event that won’t expose players and partners to the risk of coronavirus.

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There are club fears around putting players who have been in strict quarantine and high-performance hubs in a venue with catering and security staff in attendance.

The league would have to be confident a waiter or security guard had no chance of passing on the virus to a group that would literally be the AFL’s best and brightest players, some about to play finals.

The AFLW best-and-fairest in April was awarded to Carlton’s Madison Prespakis after the league streamed its award on video platform because of COVID fears.

That is one option for the AFL if it cannot guarantee its biosecurity protocols would be as tight as they have over recent months.

Queensland continues to boast extremely low COVID positives, but the league’s determination to avoid risks that could derail the season will intensity on the eve of the finals.

The league would have to be confident the risk was close to zero to hold an event, which would include social distancing and a smaller group of players in attendance.

Players continue to train in small groups apart, from a single training session without contact, to ensure if one player tests positive the show can still go on.

Whether the AFL would invite wives and girlfriends who have been in quarantine hubs is another consideration, given the red carpet has become a significant part of the night.

The league would also have to consider the future of a range of awards nights, including its MVP, All Australian and Rising Star awards.

There is a possibility the league might consider holding those events in a single night, rather than spreading them out, as is custom over the four-week finals series.

Brownlow Medal winner Shane Crawford has backed the event to be held on the Gold Coast after he won the 1999 Brownlow Medal when the ceremony was held in Sydney.

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said recently the state would love to host the award, which has only moved outside of Melbourne once in its 97-year history.

“Of course I would love to see the Brownlow Medal here in the Sunshine State,” Palaszczuk said.

“Queensland would be the perfect place for the glitz and the glamour of the Brownlow and it makes sense if we’re going to be the temporary home for the AFL.