Premier hints Crows and Power will get modified quarantine requirements to depart and return to SA for AFL matches but Nicola Spurrier says issue is complex
Steven Marshall has said South Australia will be “happy to back” the AFL season resumption – if the league can show the government and SA Health how the Power and Crows would be kept safe.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Ben Hart banned by AFL for Barossa training breach
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
South Australia Premier Steven Marshall says if the AFL can show his government and SA Health how they would keep Crows and Power players safe when travelling interstate for games – and how any potential spread of COVID-19 can be limited – then “we are happy to back” the season resuming.
The state’s chief medical officer Professor Nicola Spurrier has asked for more information from the AFL about its new protocols for a resumed 2020 season ahead of a transition committee meeting this afternoon.
The AFL is taking the lead on the negotiations with SA Health and the State Government for Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide players to fly out and back into the state for matches and then be subject to modified quarantine requirements on their return.
This is one of numerous discussions the AFL is having with State Governments and their health bodies across the nation on Wednesday as the revealing of its road map to returning to play is pushed back to Thursday at the earliest.
Port Adelaide is confident it and the Crows will get the required exemptions.
Marshall, who is a proponent of the fly out and back in model, said he wanted to work with the AFL.
“We’ve got to put the wellbeing and safety of South Australians first, but we are going to sit down with the AFL and we are going to work out what the quarantine arrangements will be for our South Australian players if they are to fly out, play their game and then come back to South Australia,” he said.
“Now this is not an easy task, there is a lot of complexity in that but we are prepared to sit down, and if it works out for South Australia then we are happy to back it.”
Marshall said one issue to work out was enforcing the modified quarantine arrangements for the players.
“We need to do some work with the two clubs as to what are the quarantine arrangements for the players when they get back,” he said.
“If they go interstate and they are potentially going to come into contact with this disease so if they come back how do we make sure they don’t spread this infection to other people.
“If that can be satisfied I think there is the potential for us to have a modified quarantine but there is still a lot of work to be gone through.”
Earlier Prof Spurrier said she was weighing up a request for the 14-day quarantine period to be modified for Crows and Power players – so they could fly out of and back into the state for games.
“We have a way of looking at the various requests of organisations, but it is generally individuals asking for exemptions from quarantines when they enter our state,” she said on ABC radio.
“So we have a way of doing that and that’s what we will be doing with the AFL.
“For us it is a relatively high risk and that is at this point in time, but going forward we don’t know how Victoria is going to look with their numbers.
“What we will need from the AFL is details about when they are intending to start their matches, what their fixtures look like and the like.
“We were sent some updated protocols last night and my intention today is to look at those.”
On Wednesday morning Koch said it looked like the SA Government would tick off on separate fly in, fly out protocols for the Crows and Power.
Professor Spurrier’s comments follow an email from her deputy, Dr Chris Lease, on Tuesday afternoon, saying SA would be “maintaining quarantine requirements for all AFL players” to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in the state.
This all but confirmed there would be no interstate teams visiting Adelaide when the season restarts but Dr Lease also says the Crows and Port players will also have to abide by the rules.
“In practice, this would mean that our local teams would need to quarantine on return to South Australia from interstate,” he said.
Furthermore, Port Adelaide general manager of football Chris Davies said he was hopeful an agreement would be struck up shortly.
“I’m still really confident that will be the case when the season starts that if we had to play a game in Melbourne or Sydney or Queensland for that matter that we would be able to fly back into South Australia as long as there were some rules put around what we did when we fly back into the state,” Davies said.
But SA Premier Steven Marshall, who has been a proponent of the fly-in, fly-out model to restart the season, said this was still being looked at and the State Government and the two clubs could come to an agreement on a modified form of the quarantine requirements.
“We are having to sit down with a large number of industries to look at how they are going to respond to COVID-19 and the risks to the members of their organisation and this is no different,” he said.
“We’re sitting down with the AFL and the two clubs to discuss how we can create an environment where we can keep the place safe and there is no risk of transmission in South Australia if one of our AFL players was affected.”
This would enable the Crows and Power players to fly out to games in another state, spend as little time as possible there, play the game and then fly back.
Mr Marshall earlier told state parliament on Tuesday a deal for the players to not have to follow as strict quarantine protocols as currently in place would be worked out to get the season under way.
“They wouldn’t be spending a huge amount of time there, we want to minimise the possibility for them to contract the disease, and then we work out what sort of modified agreed position (there is) in regards to a form of quarantine when they come back in that would minimise the chance of transmission,” he told Question Time.
“A lot of this is going to be dictated by when the season starts, and also what the level of infection is in other jurisdictions.”
An AFL spokeswoman said an announcement on its return to play was expected this week.
“We are working closely with respective state governments, relevant medical authorities and the 18 clubs on finalising the medical and return to play protocols,” she said.
Players at Victorian clubs will still have to train in pairs as their Crows and Power counterparts remain in self-quarantine.
While Victorian premier Daniel Andrews approved AFL training from Wednesday, the league will continue to enforce its strict national rules until there is uniformity across the country.
As part the Victorian Government’s announcement professional teams are now permitted to train together, with full contact, under a special state government exemption.
But the training facility must be exclusive to that team.
A revamped footy fixture could be released as soon as Wednesday, but despite Victoria’s relaxation, the scenarios in SA, Western Australia, NSW and Queensland, is complicating the return to play situation for the AFL.
The Crows and Port Adelaide have nearly half of their respective lists currently in self-quarantine, while the West Coast Eagles have up to a quarter of its list in isolation.
Originally published as Premier hints Crows and Power will get modified quarantine requirements to depart and return to SA for AFL matches but Nicola Spurrier says issue is complex
‘Deceived into $35m loss’: Rugby’s civil war goes nuclear
Rugby Australia has hit back in a stunning counter-claim against the Melbourne Rebels in the legal case that has rocked the game, claiming they’ve been duped out of $35m.
Ball: Don’t put Smith through draft ringer
Fifteen years after he was forced to go through the draft to reach Collingwood, Luke Ball has urged the Cats and Dogs to come to terms to trade Bailey Smith and avoid the anxiety he felt while in limbo.