WHERE ELSE BUT QLD
Lions chief says Queensland AFL player hub makes sense
From facilities to weather, Brisbane chief executive Greg Swann is telling the AFL there’s no place like Queensland.
The AFL is set to decide early next month just how the sport will resume amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a hub-based option touted as the most likely scenario.
Swann doesn’t believe that would mean basing all 18 clubs in one location, instead he can envisage a scenario where there are three hubs across the country boasting six teams each.
Just like his Gold Coast counterpart Mark Evans, Swann is adamant
Queensland’s southeast is an obvious choice for a hub if that’s the path the AFL take.
“It makes sense for us to be in the mix,” Swann said.
“Obviously there’s a lot of other states trying to lobby for that but ... we think we’ve got accommodation, we’ve got the best facilities, we’ve got the best weather, we’ve got two great grounds that you can play footy on every night.”
Swann expects the AFL to selffund the costs associated with a hub set-up, including acquiring testing kits and other resources, saying the league wouldn’t want to place any unnecessary burden on the health system.
He has also backed the cautious approach with planning a resumption, saying it is important to make sure the season isn’t halted again.
“Once we start we don’t want to stop. We want to keep the season going,” he said.
“We don’t want to play four games and have to stop because of an issue or whatever.
“That’s one of the reasons that we’re looking to take our time a little bit about when we come back because I think that is a major consideration. “We want to make sure that all our ducks are in a row and that we get to play a season without hopefully further interruptions.”
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten has given tentative support to the quarantine hub concept but says the Saints will respect the decision of any player who does not want to be part of it.
Ratten is equally wary of the mental health challenges that could arise in quarantine hubs and the impact on players’ families if they are to be away for up to eight weeks.
“Somebody could say, ‘It’s too hard for me mentally to leave my wife and kids or not to see my kids’,” Ratten told SEN yesterday.
“The health of our people and the mental health of our people is first and foremost.
“If that meant somebody said they weren’t playing, we would respect that.”