West Coast v Covid 19 - we are better off than most

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ziad

Brownlow Medallist
May 2, 2009
22,448
15,538
Sydney
AFL Club
West Coast
Darwin isn't too bad, humidity is a killer but rarely gets above 34, unlike Broome where the humidity is the same but the temp gets into the 40s. I lived most of my life in the mid west and the heat is dry and intense but preferable to 90% humidity.
I have never understood how people play footy in Darwin having worked theer a bit. Night games helps I guess but it must be tough.
 

Capriati

Club Legend
Aug 25, 2019
1,986
2,707
Melbourne
AFL Club
West Coast
Here's an article in today's West about T20 Cricket potentially being moved from Optus to the WACA, also touches on an OS GF.

Why Optus Stadium could be considered for AFL Grand Final if it misses India Test
Headshot of Braden Quartermaine

Braden QuartermaineThe West Australian
Saturday, 4 April 2020 9:52PM
Braden Quartermaine

AFL set for mid-July return

The AFL and Optus Stadium have begun preliminary discussions about staging football matches outside of the normal season, but the Burswood venue’s role remains clouded by cricket’s Twenty20 World Cup.
Optus Stadium is scheduled to host six T20 internationals in the space of a week from October 24-30, including a blockbuster between Australia and title holders the West Indies on Wednesday, October 28.
While Perth’s role in the tournament is over quickly, the stadium would have to begin cricket preparations in early October – wiping Optus Stadium out as a football venue for more than a month.

Should the T20 World Cup go ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic and resultant travel restrictions, the AFL has the option of trying to cut a deal with cricket to move the Burswood games across the river to the WACA Ground.
Optus Stadium boss Mike McKenna said talks would ramp up once there was more certainty over the dates for a new-look AFL fixture.
“To be honest there’s been one or two (discussions) very early, but that will get more serious as we get closer to the other side of this,” McKenna said.
“Those conversations are a little way away yet, because I think the AFL need to get themselves sorted out.”
McKenna said he was preparing for the T20 World Cup to go ahead

West Coast football operations manager Craig Vozzo said he hoped for an August re-start to the AFL season.
“My guess would be if we got the players back (to train) by the middle of June, that would be a good outcome,” Vozzo told ABC Radio.
“And it’s probably going to take three or four weeks to get them ready to play. So I would have thought at the very earliest we’re looking at mid-to-late July into August. And that would be a really good outcome I think for everybody.”
Twenty weeks of football, 16 remaining rounds plus finals, starting in mid-August would leave the grand final to be played on Boxing Day, although AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has indicated that footy would not impinge on Test cricket’s most important day.
The grand final could be played earlier in December or even November if breaks between games were compressed to four or five days.
Optus Stadium’s appeal as a summer grand final venue could be enhanced if it misses out on hosting one of four Test matches against India, with the MCG a lock to stage the traditional Boxing Day Test from December 26-30.
Optus Stadium has gone into hibernation as a sporting venue, but has been given rent-free to WA Police to use as an emergency headquarters during the COVID-19 crisis.
“We’ve got zero revenue. We’ve got no income,” McKenna said.
“We’re shutting down the stadium as best we can. So we’re consolidating all of our operations, turning off everything we can to economise.
“But it’s an expensive place to keep safe. It’s a pretty big place. So there is an ongoing cost, but we’re minimising that.”
McKenna was adamant the two-year-old stadium would make a fine choice if required for the AFL grand final.
“This stadium is built to hold big events and we’re certainly more than capable if the AFL needs us to run the AFL grand final,” he said.
“And we know if it was open to the public the people of WA would definitely respond to that.”
 

Capriati

Club Legend
Aug 25, 2019
1,986
2,707
Melbourne
AFL Club
West Coast
I posted in another thread that it is believed West Coast is railing hard against the AFL making deep cuts in to the footy department and there was strong opposition from the club;
Simmo was on SEN today. It was a pretty enjoyable interview. He was pretty candid about some of the challenges the squad are experiencing during the lockdown. His openness surprised me a little. Main takeaways;

1) Some players went very hard during lock down training and they have had a couple of soft tissue injuries
2) Some players are finding it difficult to stay motivated. Simmo likened it to the Xmas break for some
3) Simmo didn't seem overly concerned stating that he felt players keeping 100% intensity wasn't sustainable for the entire lockdown period
4) The club hasn't received an update on where the Willie stuff is at for about "6 to 8 weeks". His statement implies the club recieved some advice a couple of months ago on where the Willie stuff was at, but the interviewers didn't ask a follow up question :(
5) Simmo's garden is looking really good at the moment. Has learned all there is to know about reticulation.

Interview is below;


Also - At the end of 2018, Collingwood and Richmond suggested to the AFL that welfare should sit outside the cap, West Coast disagreed believing the cap was big enough.

Now that the cap will be reduced significantly, I have heard that West Coast are petitioning the AFL extremely hard around the footy department soft cap moving forward. Some of the language and tone Simmo used in term of footy dept spend backs this claim up. He was quite adamant that people employed in the footy dept play a very important role, and he seemed peeved at the suggestion otherwise. Simmo highlighted the role clubs play in developing talented players who may need a bit of TLC and structure of an AFL club.

Well, Nizzy has come out today. Sounds as though schisms are starting to appear between clubs. Struggling clubs want deep cuts to stay afloat and wealthy clubs are concerned about the impact that will have on the competition.


Coronavirus crackdown: West Coast Eagles boss Trevor Nisbett says list cuts could be disaster
Headshot of Steve Butler

Steve ButlerThe West Australian
Saturday, 18 April 2020 4:00AM
Steve Butler

West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett fears that dramatic cuts to staff and player numbers because of the coronavirus crisis will turn the AFL back into a semi-professional slog.
Nisbett, part of the AFL’s special working group guiding football’s financial fightback, said any more than the suggested $3 million cut to football department spending — down from $9.7 million a year — could have devastating consequences for the league’s brand.
And a list-size cut to 35 players from 44 would be unworkable in the current structure and would put an end to AFL clubs having State league teams, such as the Eagles in the WAFL. It is already unlikely West Coast would be able to pay its $800,000 annual WAFL requirement as the club deals with the harsh financial fall-out from the coronavirus-led lockdown.
“This is a professional league and we need to keep it professional,” Nisbett said bluntly.
“We know there has to be cuts in finance, but if it goes lower than $6.7 million there is going to be so much trauma in the football departments because it will mean a lot of people may have to go.”
Nisbett said the impact of extra coaches, particularly in player development, had been underestimated. He believed some of the game’s greatest recent stories, such as West Coast pair Tim Kelly and Liam Ryan and Richmond’s Marlion Pickett and Sydney Stack, would never have emerged if clubs did not have the development coaches entrusted to bring “speculation” players through the system.
“They have been wonderful stories for footy and wonderful for those families and those kids,” he said.
“Yet what we’re saying is we’re not going to be able to do that any more because you’re only going to be allowed to have 35 players. I think it’s wrong and the wrong way to go. It needs to be staggered over a few years if we are going to reduce lists.”
Nisbett also pointed out that players had already agreed to a 50 per cent reduction for two months, but believed they would be prepared to negotiate further if it meant keeping teammates on club lists and coaches in football department jobs.
He said list sizes any smaller than 38 players would be damaging for the game’s standard, as would trying to top up lists with players from second-tier competitions who were not being trained at AFL level.
Nisbett harked back to 1989 when he first joined West Coast and the damage caused to the team because of the 35-player list size. They had only 18 fit players for the final game of the 1989 season when they were belted by Collingwood by 49 points at Victoria Park.
“You saw what a disaster that was in the Eagles’ first three years ... an absolute disaster,” he said.
“This needs to be given very careful thought before we make these changes.
 

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sounda

Cancelled
Apr 29, 2016
377
561
AFL Club
West Coast
So West Coast are like the Chinese Government. Slowly buy the smaller areas and make more money then eventually but out and kill off Victoria?

"So West Coast are like the Chinese Government."

Well yes ... they are very similar actually!

China has a massive trading surplus as does the WCE!

Loan to Freo approved on 11% basic rate + an additional 4 point risk loading + an additional 8 point constant underperformance loading = total rate of 23% (similar to a credit card) :tearsofjoy:

:westcoast:
 
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