AFL 2021: GWS boss calls for AFL mandate on all fans who attend footy to be vaccinated

All fans who attend footy matches when gates reopen should be vaccinated. That’s the view of at least one AFL club chairman. VOTE

What will it take to get fans back at the footy? Picture: David Crosling

GWS chairman Tony Shepherd believes fans should be vaccinated if they wish to attend AFL games next year.

The Giants boss said the club had ramped up its own push to encourage players and officials to get the jab and should be mandatory for fans for future games.

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“I’m a firm believer in vaccinations being required for people to attend events,” he said.

“Whether that be at restaurants, bars, sporting events, hospitality or getting on planes or going overseas.

“I see it as the answer … we are certainly promoting it at the Giants.”

Shepherd, who is also heavily involved in the NSW events industry, believed the league office was about to increase messaging around vaccinations amid criticisms that AFL players and leaders hadn’t done enough to promote the cause.

“I think they have, they are ramping it up quite solidly,” he said on ABC Grandstand.

“The Giants certainly are, our players have been on advertisements for the Ministry of Health and Ministry for Sport in NSW encouraging people to get vaccinated.

“I have been out very strongly encouraging it both with my Giants and Venues NSW (chair) hats on.

“We see it as the solution to getting on with life.”

What will it take to get fans back at the footy? Picture: David Crosling

Shepherd said making vaccinations mandatory for fans needed to be “convenient”.

“You have it on your iPhone, it’s a QR code that shows proof of identity that you have had your shots,” he said.

“It has to be as simple as that … you want it to be simple and easy to use and I don’t think that is beyond the wit of modern technology to do.”

He said it could be linked to the ticketing system.

“It has to be simple and practical, I would like to see it linked to the ticketing system,” he said.

“So you don’t get a ticket until you have proven that you are vaccinated.

“We will see what the government will do in establishing something, but other countries are doing it … it’s not that hard.”

Brendon Gale wants the Tigers to lead the way in promoting the vaccination message. Picture: Alex Coppel

Tigers gather their army in fight against Covid

Richmond is encouraging its Tiger Army of more than 100,000 members to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated, with a significant “majority” of its players and staff already leading the way.

The Tigers have taken a leadership stance on Covid vaccination, with chief executive Brendon Gale saying it provides a clear pathway “back to normal” both in a football sense and for the wider community amid crippling lockdowns.

Richmond has had its fans attend only 10 matches in Melbourne over the past two years and is currently counting the financial cost of another season severely impacted by the pandemic.

Gale, who himself has had both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, said it was important the AFL and clubs used their reach and influence to encourage football fans to be vaccinated.

“This is a nasty pandemic so I think it’s in their best interests and the interest of their own health and safety to get vaccinated. The science proves that,” Gale told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“But secondly, this is a road map for getting our lives back to normal. That includes footy and the game’s just not the same without fans, without members, without attendees.

“We just can’t wait to get our fans back to the footy next year and get things back to normal.”

Richmond has held club-wide information sessions on vaccinations for players and staff and has already seen a high uptake despite its season coming to an end just two weeks ago.

Star key forward Tom Lynch and AFLW player Monique Conti have been among Tigers players to publicly announce they have received vaccinations over the past week.

While the Tigers will not mandate vaccinations, staff have been warned they may be unable to work at some venues or take interstate flights next year if they are not vaccinated.

“Some of our staff, depending on their roles and responsibilities, may not be able to perform their jobs unless they’re vaccinated if it requires them to go into venues like the MCG or they’re required to fly,” Gale said.

“These are things that need to be taken into account.

“So we just think it’s in the best interest of our staff to be vaccinated. We encourage them to do so as we are encouraging the community.

“It’s about health and wellness and safety and it’s about getting our community and our state and our country back to normal and getting back to enjoying some of the freedoms and liberties that we may have taken for granted.”

Most of St Kilda’s players and staff had their vaccinations on Friday, but the club has not made it mandatory or created a policy.

A Saints spokesman said: “We’ve done a Covid education session facilitated by the AFL, talking through the options, side effects and benefits.

“The health and safety of the community is the No.1 priority for everyone at St Kilda and we encourage everyone who is eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine to do so as soon as possible.

“We all need to play a role in keeping the community safe.”

A “significant number” of people at Hawthorn have also received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, with more booked in for the coming days.

The Hawks will follow whatever guidelines the AFL puts in place.

North Melbourne has a 92 per cent uptake of first-dose vaccinations. Picture: Getty Images

Roos lead vaccine charge as Covid player policy looms

North Melbourne’s entire football department has a remarkable 92 per cent uptake in first-dose vaccinations as it becomes clear AFL players will only be able to ply their trade after being vaccinated next year.

The AFL is still discussing vaccination policies with players, but is likely to stop short of enforcing mandatory jabs given no other major professional in the world has taken that stance.

But the reality for reluctant players is that both airline carriers Qantas and Virgin are expected to require proof of vaccination for anyone flying interstate next year.

Community requirements regarding vaccination will eventually force players to be double jabbed without the need for strict AFL rules.

The Herald Sun can reveal only weeks after the end of the home-and-away season the Roos are already on track to have almost every member of the football department fully vaccinated by early October.

More than nine in ten have had their first jabs, including AFL coach David Noble and AFLW coach Darren Crocker, with the club executive all vaccinated.

North Melbourne football boss Ben Amarfio told the Herald Sun a strong education program had seen the players and football staff flock to be vaccinated.

Only a handful of players and staff with health issues are yet to have their first dose as the club continues its education program for those not yet vaccinated.

“If you look at our football areas we have nearly 140 staff with all our mens and women’s players and football staff including permanent and casuals and of that cohort, we are at 92 per cent who have had their first dose and that 92 per cent will be (fully vaccinated) within five weeks,” Amarfio said.

“The other eight per cent includes some people with health concerns and some people who are pregnant so for those people we will continue our support and education.

“We didn’t do it to take a leadership stance, we did it because we know it’s the right thing to keep ourselves safe and healthy in the community.

Ben Amarfio (front) says the club will continue its support and education for those who haven’t been vaccinated. Picture: Mark Stewart

“It’s the only way out of our lockdowns to get vaccinated. We wanted to do our bit.”

The doses were a mix of Pfizer and AstraZeneca, with the Roos and their players having sourced them after being determined not to jump the queue earlier in the season.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said on Friday vaccine passports to attend AFL games next year are a “plausible possibility” but stopped short of a vaccination mandate for all AFL players in 2022.

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale said on Thursday a mandate would have to be “carefully considered” by the league to make a community stand.

The AFL’s working group on vaccinations has now begun an information rollout to AFL players and encouraged them strongly to become double-vaccinated when supply is available.

The Herald Sun understands a separate education seminar was conducted for indigenous players using indigenous doctors after the league worked with the National Covid Vaccine Taskforce.

Only a handful of AFL players are yet to receive the AFL’s “Covid vaccine education” program, headed by the league’s head of concussion and healthcare governance boss Rachael Elliott.

The program makes clear the health consequences of Covid and the virulence of the delta strain as well as the benefits of vaccines and the dispelling of myths around their usage.

McLachlan said on Friday it was natural the league would have to consider vaccine passports to safeguard the league when bumper crowds return.

Gillon McLachlan looks on during an AFL press conference. Picture: Getty Images

“Forget what I think, the people in industry and the government are signalling it’s a possibility. Vaccine passports to restaurants, it’s a real thing in the frame. It has to be on the table here. Either to be vaccinated or have a negative PCR test, it’s what is going on in other countries, it’s been discussed. There is no position here but clearly it has to be something as a plausible possibility.”

But McLachlan stopped short of a vaccine mandate as the league considers the potential fallout of Covid positives in the league next year.

Many NFL teams are now 100 per cent vaccinated ahead of the season opener next week with a range of restrictions and incentives for teams who have that status.

“We have got to have that conversation with the key stakeholders,” McLachlan told 3AW.

“We have run a clear education program across the industry, all clubs have had that in the player cohort, we are really strongly encouraging everyone to get vaccinated – players and coaches – and the decision on the final settings will be made by the end of the season and we don’t need to have the final position until we have supply, which we don’t at the moment.

“I think I have been pretty clear. We need to be vaccinated as a community to get out of this tough position we are in. We need to work through the process with the clubs and player union on our final setting but we are pretty strong we need to be vaccinated.”

AFL vax battle looms over player jabs

— Glenn McFarlane

The AFL Players’ Association would resist any push to make Covid vaccines compulsory for its players, saying neither they nor the AFL have any intention of making “the jab” mandatory for next season.

Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale flagged on Thursday the possibility that the AFL could take the decision “out of the hands” of the clubs and the players by making vaccinations a requirement – to send a message to the community and to make for a smoother pathway into 2022.

Patrick Dangerfield took part in a Herald Sun campaign to encourage Victorians to get vaccinated. Picture: Michael Klein

Giants skipper Stephen Coniglio did the same but will the AFL make it mandatory? Picture: Michael Klein

“It is going to have to be very carefully considered,” Gale told SEN.

“That’s where the AFL can play a role and take the decision out of our hands by mandating certain measures.

“They have the scope to do some pretty powerful things such as mandate vaccination.

“We feel a responsibility (to) lead on this matter. We need to encourage people.

“All staff being vaccinated is something we will be thinking through. In terms of how, and if, we implement that is something we are thinking about.”

But while AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh said they had encouraged its players to “get the jab” as part of a nationwide campaign to boost vaccination numbers to help safeguard the community, he stressed both the players’ union and the AFL understood this was a complex issue.

AFL PA president Paul Marsh says they are educating players about the Covid-19 vaccination.

“We have been working through this issue with the AFL,” Marsh told the Herald Sun. “Neither party is of the view that we should be mandating vaccinations.

“We understand and respect that we can’t make it compulsory for every player to be vaccinated.

“What we are doing here is going through a process of educating the players.

“Principally we would love every player to be vaccinated, but we both understand there will be legitimate reasons why players can’t or won’t.

“It is a complex issue that we will develop a policy for the industry and that work will be done over the coming period with a desire to get a policy in place before the start of the AFLW season.”

Marsh said the AFLPA had encouraged its members to “get the jab” with Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury, Richmond’s Tom Lynch and Hawthorn’s Chad Wingard choosing to do so in recent days.

Originally published as AFL 2021: GWS boss calls for AFL mandate on all fans who attend footy to be vaccinated