FINAL FAREWELL

Gabba likely host for AFL’s biggest day

JON RALPH

VICTORIA’S State of Disaster will ensure the AFL officially moves its Grand Final to a venue likely to be the Gabba and postpones any elite Under-18 football.

The league continues to ponder a decision on where the Grand Final will be played but had said it would make a decision by August so the venue had time to prepare.

Melbourne is now in hard lockdown until September 13 with curfews and heavy restrictions, with the league Grand Final slotted in for an October 17 contest.

The AFL will have to have allocated a ground to the venue for a historic shift by the time Victoria can even consider coming out of lockdown.

Everything points to a Gabba Grand Final given WA border restrictions that require quarantine and the state’s willingness to help the AFL keep its season alive.

The AFL had told five NAB League clubs to delay their return to training next Monday by another week despite hoping to start that competition on

August 22. Those five clubs are now in stage 3 lockdown which will prevent them from training.

The AFL is still hopeful it might be able to schedule some representative football later in the season for Victorian players before the national draft.

Senior AFL industry figures were privately conceding last week there was no prospect of the MCG hosting another game this year.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan thanked Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for her government‘s assistance as she allowed 10 Victorian teams to be housed from the state. Palaszczuk said she told McLachlan that “if the season is based here — then the grand final should be played here too.”

With such prohibitive lockdown rules more AFL wives and girlfriends might be tempted to relocate into Queensland hubs.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson said on Sunday the club expected to be moved into another Queensland hub in coming weeks after Hawthorn, Carlton, Sydney and GWS played in the state.