Opinion Eddie McGuire urges AFL to consider radical plan to combat COVID in 2021 season

[Coolangatta]

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/af...s/news-story/0b0fc66f7db75393d38ab95c2f0fbfa1

I like it, 100% agree with Eddie on this, and the extra games will give interstate sides more MCG exposure and vice versa. Whether it's 22 rounds or more, the AFL can go * themselves in the arse with a barbed-wire cactus if they've made any sides play each other twice before the end of the 17th round. Ensure everyone plays each other once first, then decide the remaining five or more double-ups from there after those games have occurred. You can't get a fair fixture unless everyone plays each other twice, but you can get the next best thing adopting this method.

 

[DieSwans]

Nah

 

[Power Raid]

agree

I'm pro 20 minute quarters but would be swayed on shorter quarters, with an early start to the season and the only risk "more rounds"

especially given cricket has given up on supporters and tennis (which is dead boring anyway) delayed

 

[Bombermania]

Yep start round 1 the Thursday after the Australian Open ends. The preseason is mickey mouse stuff so it would be better to just add the three or four preseason games to the actual fixture then more teams get to play one another twice.

 

[Underarm]

An October GF > February start. Especially when the ended 2020 So late and teams aren't back training.

There won't be a 5 week stop in the middle of the season and hubs wont be necessary.

 

[boncer34]

Oh I thought Eddie had stopped talking publicly. Was very quiet during the trade period.

 

[L_W_P]

More games = more money right? Quantity over quality.

15 min qtrs.
34 rounds.

Play games in bunches like the NBA.

Essendon and St Kilda go to Adelaide.

Friday night double header - St Kilda v Port followed by Essendon v Adelaide.
Then on Sunday we get the reverse - St Kilda v Adelaide followed by Essendon v Port.

Some math genie out there can map out a whole season I'm sure.


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Realistically though; Some combination of Richmond, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Essendon, Geelong, Carlton and West Coast are going to be on our TVs every Thursday and Friday night for the entire season.

 

[74561347]

every year this comes up and every year people forget that all major stadiums have contractual cricket requirements. unless you want to play in the country or pay out the cricket at each venue, this wont happen.

 

[Bombermania]

every year this comes up and every year people forget that all major stadiums have contractual cricket requirements. unless you want to play in the country or pay out the cricket at each venue, this wont happen.

Replacing the preseason with more H&A matches would still enable games to be play in country areas.

 

[HTT]

The season only stopped because there was no plan in place. There would have to be another national lockdown to stop the season again, and thats highly unlikely given everyone is aware of the dangers now.

 

[74561347]

Replacing the preseason with more H&A matches would still enable games to be play in country areas.

i wouldnt mind playing games in country areas, i said in my post it was an option. the only issue i think they would face would be the cost of bringing enough grounds up to afl code in terms of surface, rooms, HD cameras, goal line technology etc. also finding enough grounds where the cricket is also still not being played at the grounds where they want to play afl matches

 

[Coolangatta]

More games = more money right? Quantity over quality.

15 min qtrs.
36 rounds.

Play games in bunches like the NBA.

Essendon and St Kilda go to Adelaide.

Friday night double header - St Kilda v Port followed by Essendon v Adelaide.
Then on Sunday we get the reverse - St Kilda v Adelaide followed by Essendon v Port.

Some math genie out there can map out a whole season I'm sure.


---------

Realistically though; Some combination of Richmond, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Essendon, Geelong, Carlton and West Coast are going to be on our TVs every Thursday and Friday night for the entire season.

34 rounds would be ideal with 18 teams. Your method is a good way to get extra games in. Two sides from the same state could also do the reverse and play in a Victorian hub against two sides. You could have Richmond vs. West Coast and Collingwood vs. Fremantle on Friday then Richmond vs. Fremantle and Collingwood vs. West Coast on Sunday. Good thinking.

 

[gingernuts]

every year this comes up and every year people forget that all major stadiums have contractual cricket requirements. unless you want to play in the country or pay out the cricket at each venue, this wont happen.

yeah but this afl they can takeover the world

 

[Senor M]

Oh I thought Eddie had stopped talking publicly. Was very quiet during the trade period.

Eddie has—- OP found an article from the 17th Nov to post & have a whine about.

 

[JackFlash]

Not bad from Eddie. This isn't over by a long way, but while we still have scaremongers like Mark McGowan who knows when we will start footy again?

 

[Altum Volantes]

Not bad from Eddie. This isn't over by a long way, but while we still have scaremongers like Mark McGowan who knows when we will start footy again?

The curtain twitchers will re-elect McGowan on 13 March - probably in a landslide - so hopefully he is content with that and eases off on the sky is falling stuff.

 

[JackFlash]

The curtain twitchers will re-elect McGowan on 13 March - probably in a landslide - so hopefully he is content with that and eases off on the sky is falling stuff.

He has them all panicked over there due to a virus you have to be tested for... to actually know you have it!

 

[juss]

Keep the borders closed until a global vaccine, the virus can't spontaneously manifest, it's virtually gone in VIC and some other states, and nation wide it's barely present.

Keep hard tabs on returning Aussies and don't let them leave the airport hotels for 2 weeks.

This thing is incredibly manageable with close to normality in Aus providing we don't let non citizens in until it's globally controlled.

There's no reason we can't have a relatively normal 2021 season at this stage.

 

[SunshineBoy]

agree

I'm pro 20 minute quarters but would be swayed on shorter quarters, with an early start to the season and the only risk "more rounds"

especially given cricket has given up on supporters and tennis (which is dead boring anyway) delayed

NO onther elite competion in world sport has changed the LENGTH of their games, harden the * up AFL, Australia is not the only country affected by COVID amnd the way the AFL is carrying on its like the only sport affected.

 

[SunshineBoy]

Keep the borders closed until a global vaccine, the virus can't spontaneously manifest, it's virtually gone in VIC and some other states, and nation wide it's barely present.

Keep hard tabs on returning Aussies and don't let them leave the airport hotels for 2 weeks.

This thing is incredibly manageable with close to normality in Aus providing we don't let non citizens in until it's globally controlled.

There's no reason we can't have a relatively normal 2021 season at this stage.

I have bolded an issue , we are struggling to keep tabs on foreigners arriving, its an issue that we find out that a US citizen arrived here in July and we find out he was positive 4 month later, At the time our borders were closed to overseas arrivals yet this happened,

 

[juss]

I have bolded an issue , we are struggling to keep tabs on foreigners arriving, its an issue that we find out that a US citizen arrived here in July and we find out he was positive 4 month later, At the time our borders were closed to overseas arrivals yet this happened,

Faults in the past can be learnt from, it shouldn't be that hard, even if our customs/immigration service takes a lot longer, no one should be getting off an international flight without significant screening. They should then be led from customs straight to their locked down hotel.

 

[The 747]

Keep the borders closed until a global vaccine, the virus can't spontaneously manifest, it's virtually gone in VIC and some other states, and nation wide it's barely present.

Keep hard tabs on returning Aussies and don't let them leave the airport hotels for 2 weeks.

This thing is incredibly manageable with close to normality in Aus providing we don't let non citizens in until it's globally controlled.

There's no reason we can't have a relatively normal 2021 season at this stage.

At this stage I would say that a normal 2021 season is on the cards.

 

[HairyO]

More games = more money right? Quantity over quality.

15 min qtrs.
34 rounds.

Play games in bunches like the NBA.

Essendon and St Kilda go to Adelaide.

Friday night double header - St Kilda v Port followed by Essendon v Adelaide.
Then on Sunday we get the reverse - St Kilda v Adelaide followed by Essendon v Port.

Some math genie out there can map out a whole season I'm sure.


---------

Realistically though; Some combination of Richmond, Collingwood, Hawthorn, Essendon, Geelong, Carlton and West Coast are going to be on our TVs every Thursday and Friday night for the entire season.

Hawks will only get a Thurs against an interstate team who get a 6 day break when we get 5.

We may get one Friday night against a team getting 7 days and us 5 or 6.

Hocking enjoyed rigging our 2020 draw too much to not do it again.