AFL and COVID-19 | Run unfairly? How the AFL compromises are piling up

West Coast has already been hampered by a mix of moving to Queensland and the obvious reluctance of players to take on life at the outpost, where married players have missed families and coach Adam Simpson has pointed out that spending a long time on the coast is unfair. A comment that is correct, but should not have been said by the senior coach.

The Brisbane Lions are said to have raised the West Coast disaster problem at the hub before their game last weekend.

West Coast and Fremantle were disadvantaged in the first rounds. To compensate, the AFL takes precautions so that these clubs in Perth can probably play seven games in a trot.

The pandemic takes one hand and gives with the other. The Eagles can (and must) play a role in Perth, especially given that they will have their 19th husband – almost 60,000 of them – on their side.

Geelong was a big winner of the compromised game when the AFL was planning early games at the Fortress of the Cats. Then Carlton put her on the floor and the Cats and Collingwood were drafted in for a three-week stay in Perth, a fate that only six of the 16 teams will share.

It makes a hell of a difference whether you meet the Eagles in Perth before 60,000 or play them in an empty Metricon Stadium, as Port and Richmond did this weekend.

So far, the lions and tigers have done well on the fixation front, although this could change as the corona virus is not a barrack for anyone.

The COVID crisis has highlighted the true existence of the AFL competition, which is simply to host a competition that employs players, coaches, etc. and engages fans

Brisbane and Gold Coast are in fact beneficiaries of their state’s border regime, which should limit them to the east coast and completely avoid Perth and Adelaide.

In the time of the corona virus, another factor can be added to the typical premiership template (talent, injuries, dynamism, maturity, form): cooperation – or accidental support – the chief physician of the states.

Overall, clubs believe that AFL has emerged through the labyrinth of COVID-19 restrictions, quarantines, and agreements with players, broadcasters, and governments to help restore the season.

But hardly anyone has any illusions about the true purpose of this “unique” season, which is not about crowning a premiere at the end of October.

“It’s about the TV money that keeps many people in jobs,” said a Victorian club official, a comment repeated by several others in Victoria and other states. A football official at a non-Victorian club noted that “there is no equality” as different travel / hub agreements get mixed up.

The COVID crisis has made the AFL competition’s real reason for existence clear, namely simply to organize a competition in which players, coaches etc. are employed and fans are engaged.

One could argue that the competition is compromised even in peacetime, that the game – and the simple fact that the grand finale is played in the MCG – shows that Footy never had the proverbial level playing field. WA teams have long noticed that they drive through the Zero Laboratory every two weeks, while Melbourne teams play most of the games within a few kilometers.

The strange arrangements for 2020 – the non-home games, the hub abaloo and the upcoming AFL decisions about who will play where – should become a platform for further testing this elusive concept of “fairness”.

The best-of-three finale will not fly, and travel cannot be balanced if there are 10 teams in one state and two in four others. However, from 2020 the AFL should continue with a stronger commitment to an even fixation.

As a starting point, this means that the “disabled” schedule for the five games in which the clubs play twice will be canceled, in which the six best teams compete against more six teams and the six best teams against their colleagues.

The 13th place team should not have a better “tie” than the premier to maintain interest in the yeast of the home and away season. The compensation already has enough leverage: draft, upper salary limit and soft upper limit.

The great success of 2020 will complete 162 games. To avoid an Asterix, the AFL must hope that this year’s premier, like the West Coast triumph in 2018, negated the MCG’s grand final home, is a club that’s gone the hard way.