SILLY CROW BLOW
Group training plan may have been dashed by rules breach
ADELAIDE’S flagrant breach of social distancing rules could delay the AFL’s return to training until May 18, with quarantining players still locked in their homes in Perth and Adelaide.
As the AFL Commission prepares to meet today to thrash out plans for a return to play, it is understood West Coast still has players in quarantine until May 21.
Clubs had been told the AFL might help lobby state governments to lift 14-day quarantine periods for players returning to SA and WA, but now say Adelaide’s issues have dashed those plans.
As one football figure said yesterday: “It was the AFL’s intention to try to get some of the restrictions relaxed, but now the Adelaide thing has happened there is no chance of that now.
“It was made clear to every club to err on the side of caution and not to look for competitive advantage. The AFL couldn’t have made it clearer.”
West Coast has quarantined players who only went into isolation last Thursday, meaning they have 10 more days in the confines of their home. Port Adelaide has 17 players quarantining in their homes, while Adelaide’s players are allowed to train on a camp in the Barossa Valley.
South Australian police have begun doorknocking Port Adelaide players to ensure they are at home, illustrating how seriously the quarantine measures are being enforced.
All but three Power players are set to finish that exclusion period next weekend, with the remaining trio out of quarantine on May 19.
The league has already indicated under a one-size-fits-all policy no club can train in groups of 10 until all AFL clubs are ready to return. In quarantine, players were urged by their clubs to act as if they had COVID-19, not leaving their houses and only doing exercise in the confines of their homes.
If a date is pushed back until May 18 it could again delay the AFL season, given the league will need a staged return, with at least one week with Level B training restrictions before full contact drills. Under one scenario raised with team officials, clubs could have one full team training session a week, and two sessions restricting players to groups of 10.