The AFL should shorten nine rounds to six weeks.
Hobart will also host up to four AFL games over the next two months.
Follow the latest AFL developments on our rolling blog below.
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AFL PLANS FOR A SIX-WEEK FOOTTA
Tom Morris reports …
The AFL will release its next game on Tuesday at the earliest, but if it does, nine rounds will be compressed into six weeks.
Foxfooty.com.au Rounds 17 and 18 are expected to last a fortnight to give clubs a more “normal” entry into the final round.
In order to shorten nine games to six weeks, the AFL had to get the consent of the players. The AFL Players’ Association had previously given the go-ahead for five-day breaks – which were outside the parameters of the collective agreement – but the league wants to be able to schedule four-day breaks to further accelerate the season.
AFLPA was open to this idea, but made it clear that the contract freeze that had been in place since March (which prevented players from entering into new deals) must be lifted before the league’s demands can be approved.
Foxfooty.com.au It has been understood that the player contract freeze will be lifted within 24 hours, paving the way for the AFL to announce up to 81 games within six weeks, although they are more likely to gradually release the games as they did .
AFLPA did not want players to resign in four-day breaks and therefore risk injuries without being able to sign new contracts after 2020.
The league is expected to remain interested in hosting the annual Dreamtime game between Essendon and Richmond in Darwin, while Tasmania is now certain to welcome the clubs for a certain period of the season.
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HOBART HOSTING FOUR AFL GAMES THIS SEASON
Hobart will host up to four AFL games over the next two months Mercury.
The report provides details of an agreement between AFL, the Tasmanian government and Cricket Tasmania that North Melbourne could play all four contracted games at Blundstone Arena.
The games are played in a three-week block from the beginning of August to mid-September before the venue again plays cricket.
Clubs will most likely fly in and out to face North Melbourne.
Although the borders in Tasmania remain closed until at least July 31, travel exemptions for teams are planned.
Up to 25 percent of the audience can currently be seated in the Blundstone Arena. However, options are being explored so that the stadium is half full until the AFL action arrives.
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WARNING FAMILIES NOT EXPECTING A HOLIDAY IN HUBS
Families of AFL players moving to hubs were instructed by the league not to expect a “family vacation experience”.
While the AFL pays to keep some players’ partners and children at hubs with them, the League has warned them that their stay in Queensland will not be a standard given the exceptional measures taken to protect players from Covid-19.
Age unveiled a league memo for families of players going to the Queensland hubs with the AFL warning, which cannot exist:
“- A family vacation experience with the ability to move freely in the community
– An environment that mimics your normal way of living
– The same freedoms granted to local communities under that state’s current COVID-19 restrictions. “
The memo also emphasizes to families that “even after the first 14-day quarantine period has expired, strict compliance with the AFL protocols is required – similar to state restrictions of level 3”.
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SIMPSON ADMITS CLUB MAY HAVE BETTER HANDLING
West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson has admitted that his team has not managed things as well as they could have done during their stay at the hub, and said: “We probably could have handled it a little better.”
The Eagles had been at a hub in Queensland for five rounds of the resumed season before returning to Perth last week.
While the team finally returned to their victories before setting off, three direct losses had questioned the impact of the long stay, which Simpson admits was a challenge.
“You have to be careful and I don’t know how well we handled it. It didn’t look like we dealt with it too early in our experience. If you lose the freeway, the hardest part is the flight home,” Simpson said further Whateley from SEN.
“You just want to come home to your family, decompress a bit, think and then move on.
“If you live in a hotel from a coaching point of view, you want to know directly why and what happened and involve the managers. Tomorrow you have a day off, but no, you are at the hotel and pick up for a short meeting and try to nip it in the bud.
“I think if you have a disappointing performance, I thought it took a couple of weeks to figure out how we would handle the time together, because we probably spent too much time solving some problems, by who I finally thought we did, but we probably could have handled it a bit better from the route perspective, I guess. “
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