The "fix" ture - will North cop the double barrel?

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CONCERNS OVER MELBOURNE GAMES
Power midfielder Tom Rockliff and Crows defender Brodie Smith admit they feel uneasy about travelling to virus-hit Melbourne to play next month and hope the competition can continue in hubs including in South Australia.

Their Round 7 games against North Melbourne and St Kilda at Docklands on July 18 and 19 were thrown into question on Monday with the Queensland government – where they are currently based on the Gold Coast – refusing to allow them to return without serving a two-week quarantine, and SA reconsidering its plans to open the Victorian border on July 20.

But Smith and Rockliff hope that with regular testing – players are tested twice a week – and strict isolation rules around their interaction with the community, governments will grant AFL teams an exemption to avoid having to shut down for two weeks.

“Obviously it (going to Melbourne) would be a little bit concerning if they can’t get on top of cases and they continue to rise, in the short talks I had with (partner) Sharna about it she says ‘well, you’re not leaving the hotel, you’re not doing anything’ – not that we will be at a hotel, I think we’d fly in the day of the game anyway,” Rockliff told The Lowdown Podcast.

“There’s no doubt there’s an element of risk if we do fly in because you’re still going to have to go to the airport in some degree.

“And I think the AFL scheduled that assuming the borders would be open on July 20 to Victoria through SA but I’m not sure that will be the case now.”

With the Crows set to play in Melbourne at night, Smith said they would have to stay in a hotel.

“I completely agree with everything Rocky said, if we do go, we’re playing at night so I don’t think we can get back so we would have to stay at a hotel and I believe it would be a full lockdown, I don’t know if we’d be allowed out of our rooms or out of the hotel at all,” he said.

“It will be interesting to see how it’s managed but if they’re getting 75 cases overnight now what’s that going to look like in two weeks’ time? Are they going to be able to control it?

“A lot can happen from now until that Kangaroos game in Melbourne so we have a bit more to worry about in the near future.”



Rockliff said Port Adelaide – which is 4-0 and on top of the ladder – was happy playing in a hub but he was beginning to miss his family.

“You’ve got to embrace it as best you can and it’s different for us because we’re winning games and having a good time but there’s no doubt I’m missing my family back home, I think three, a maximum four-week period in a hub would work, any longer would be a struggle.

“Talking to the West Coast players after the game they’re probably at that limit now and they’ve still got another 2-3 weeks but if you embrace it and we have, we’re here for 16 days total so just over the halfway mark and enjoying it at the moment.

“If the worst case scenario is that we have to restart another hub somewhere – in Queensland, WA and SA or potentially NSW as well – hopefully the AFL can work with the government and come up with a solution.


“We are getting tested twice a week and we’re pretty much isolated from the rest of the community.”

Smith said hub life was made more difficult by the Crows’ current form slump but he hopes they can turn it around.

“It depends on how you’re going, I’m sure the Port boys are enjoying the hub a lot more than we are, we’re having a lot of meetings trying to figure out how to get better and what’s going on at the moment,” he said.

“The Port boys are out by the pool having a great time and we’re scratching our heads to put four quarters of consistent footy together.

“I know the guys are certainly starting to miss their families as well, this is day nine and it feels like we’ve been here for a month.

“But it’s great weather, we go to training and enjoy some time together around the hotel but there’s no place like home.”

The Crows had a player lunch at Southport Sharks on Monday where Smith said they “talked about anything but footy” as they try to clear their heads and stick together after a winless start to the season.
 
It looks like we will be spending time in a hub somewhere sooner rather than later, maybe we should get on the front foot, and along with Hawks push hard for a hub in Tassie, our track record there is pretty good, and nice cold, wet, and windy winter conditions would not be appreciated by some of our interstate comrades.
 

Hojuman

조수미 사랑해요
May 20, 2012
22,517
65,679
Seoul
AFL Club
North Melbourne
It looks like we will be spending time in a hub somewhere sooner rather than later, maybe we should get on the front foot, and along with Hawks push hard for a hub in Tassie, our track record there is pretty good, and nice cold, wet, and windy winter conditions would not be appreciated by some of our interstate comrades.




Don't think Tassie would want us at this stage.
 
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Feb 1, 2008
12,317
15,128
Thailand
AFL Club
North Melbourne
The AFL is considering moving multiple Victorian-based clubs to a quarantine hub in Sydney in order to play matches in the coming weeks.

Queensland and South Australia have shut their borders to Victorian residents for the time being, unless they are willing to quarantine for 14 days.

The Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and Essendon all have multiple players/staff living in these areas.

Despite the fact the Bulldogs and Kangaroos have already playing both Sydney and GWS, it is possible they could play other Victorian teams in a NSW hub.

Have to move by midnight tonight.
 
NSW is set to be announced as an AFL super hub, with four Victorian teams and the two Queensland clubs set to migrate to Sydney.

The home of rugby league is about to become AFL headquarters for the foreseeable future, with nearly half the competition – including the Swans and Giants to be based in the Harbour City.

News Corp understands St Kilda, Carlton, Hawthorn and possibly North Melbourne were, on Thursday night, firming to be included in the NSW super hub, along with Queensland clubs Brisbane and Gold Coast.

It’s possible some of the teams could cycle through in stages, rather than all at once. For example, North have already played four of the seven other teams, including the Swans and Giants.

But, in essence, Sydney looks like hosting up to eight AFL teams – nearly half the competition – for the next chunk of the season.

The SCG and Giants Stadium will be relied upon to host the bulk of, if not all of the extra matches, while Wollongong, Blacktown, Drummoyne and possibly ANZ Stadium are set to be used as training venues for the interstate visitors.

The AFL said there were still several moving parts to be settled upon with the draw, with a myriad of complications interrupting the process, but an announcement on a revised fixture could be made on Friday.


Gold Coast is set to be based in Wollongong, while Sydney Olympic Park and its large hotels would be an obvious place to host other teams, particularly with Giants Stadium, Blacktown Sports Ground and Drummoyne Oval near by.

The AFL’s response to the worsening COVID-19 crisis in Victoria is changing by the minute, but last night well-placed sources confirmed that St Kilda, Carlton and Hawthorn were three of the clubs being pushed to move north.

North Melbourne and Brisbane are also likely, despite the fact the Kangaroos have already played Sydney and GWS.

Renaming some of the highest profile clubs in Australian sport the Blacktown Hawks, Drummoyne Saints, Homebush Blues, Eastern Suburbs Lions, Wollongong Suns and Canberra Kangaroos would have sounded ridiculous weeks ago – but now won’t be far from the mark.

It’s a huge boost for the AFL in Sydney, particularly in a State where crowds are now being permitted.
 

Time to cancel the season. Its a matter of time before one player tests positive out of those 6 clubs. It will be very hard to get every team to play each other once.

Group teams into a few hubs and have a knockout competition. Award the winner the "night premiership" but don't give a day premiership this year.
 
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