Don’t play if you have any doubts
Blues coach backing hub plan, but players under no pressure
CARLTON coach David Teague says he would not stand in the way of any player who refused to play should the AFL season return in centralised hubs.
The league is considering putting teams in quarantined environments to play roundrobin matches if government restrictions are lifted and football is cleared to resume in certain states. Teague has thrown his support behind the idea provided it was safe to do so.
“Right now you’ve got to be open to everything and the game is facing a lot of challenges, as is the rest of the world,” he said.
“So if we can provide people at home some entertainment in a safe environment and also provide the game an opportunity to build by starting playing, then I think it’s great for the supporters and the game. I know our players would also love that opportunity to play.”
Teague said he would gauge the mood of his players by video conference later this week. “On Friday we’ll meet the players and they will have a chance to flag any concerns, but so far the general feel I’ve had from them is that they’re keen to play. Maybe that’s the majority and there may be some others that aren’t so inclined, but at the moment the group is keen.
“If there was a player that said, ‘I don’t want to play’ for whatever reason for his family or mental health, I think our club would absolutely support them making that call.”
The Blues coach paid tribute to Carlton supporters yesterday, revealing one had made a generous donation this week in a bid to keep members on the club’s books.
“They’ve been outstanding and we’ve been really lucky,” he said. “I know since Round 1 and the games being cancelled, I think we’ve had over 500 memberships sold. We even had a guy yesterday who offered to donate $2000 to members who are struggling.”
Meanwhile, the AFL has warned clubs they will be counting the cost of the coronavirus for years to come.
The league spent an hour on a telephone hookup with club chief executives yesterday as it issued a memo calling for “unity and alignment”.
The league said CEO Gillon McLachlan’s key lieutenants in Andrew Dillon, Travis Auld and Steve Hocking would come up with a plan to return to footy and get the rest of the season underaway.
While the league told clubs it was seriously considering the hub-based concept, it will only do so with the blessing of federal and state governments.
The league said it would only return to football under medical advice rather than attempt to accelerate a return mid-year.
The sobering warning for AFL clubs is that this will be no one-year financial issue, with some areas of the league set to be unrecognisable in coming seasons. The memo stated: “Unity and alignment are vital in the coming period in ensuring a successful return to play when the time is right to do so.”