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Coronavirus: AFL & MFC

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1 hour ago, Demonland said:

"To start the footy on Thursday night would be to pretend sport can operate in isolation to real life."

Gerard Whateley explains why the AFL season starting as scheduled would be a "shocking look".

Do you agree with Gerard? 

There's 3 priorities in all of this. Ranked from the most vital immediately to the important but less so in the short term.

1. Stop the spread of disease
daylight
more daylight
2. Look after each other - act as a community, in physical and mental well-being
3. Do what we can for the economy - money has to keep flowing wherever possible

AFL Players playing are risking point 1. Both for the individual participants but also for that the community doesn't heed the message that we still need to social distance far more. Oh the footy is on - everything is normal, I don't have to listen to the experts.

But games of footy would be such a great distraction and excitement. Just to escape from the overwhelming crush of the disease would mean so much. And footy is that thing for so many of us.

And point 3 matters. Even if it's just a pizza and a 6 pack of beers delivered whilst you watch the footy on a Friday night that supports the local pizza shop.

But it really comes back to point 1 and stopping the spread of the disease. If the players do play they are risking spread within their team and the opponents. But right now they've been isolated for a week, they are healthy, they are keen to play. So maybe the bigger issue is the community 'look' of having them play. And that's where the messaging has to come in that they aren't playing because they don't think this is serious. Government Health ads have to run during the games. Pubs have to make it clear that more than about 50 people and any kind of crowding is incredibly foolish. Players have to put out a message that they aren't playing because the risks are minimal, in fact it's the opposite. They are playing because it's real and they want to spread that message.

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    1 hour ago, Demonland said:

    "To start the footy on Thursday night would be to pretend sport can operate in isolation to real life."

    Gerard Whateley explains why the AFL season starting as scheduled would be a "shocking look".

    Do you agree with Gerard? 

    Well said Sir. 
    Sport does not sit outside Society 

    it is part of it. The AFL are fools if they think they can beat the system’s in place. 
    A tough contact sport where germs can easily travel 

    Don’t do it AFL

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    12 minutes ago, Demonland said:

    This doesn't sound good. 

     

    Sounds like no football this week...

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    19 minutes ago, Demonland said:

    This doesn't sound good. 

     

    Can’t imagine there’ll be enough time to get the test confirmed before they have to make a decision. Therefor they’ll have to assume the worst, that the Pies have people infected and they have to call off the first round. Unless they play the rest of the games and postpone the Pies vs Doggies. 

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    40 minutes ago, Pates said:

    Can’t imagine there’ll be enough time to get the test confirmed before they have to make a decision. Therefor they’ll have to assume the worst, that the Pies have people infected and they have to call off the first round. Unless they play the rest of the games and postpone the Pies vs Doggies. 

    They can get the test back by tomorrow. It's still far more likely to be any other illness than covid-19, particularly when Pendles has similar symptoms.

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    3 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

    They can get the test back by tomorrow. It's still far more likely to be any other illness than covid-19, particularly when Pendles has similar symptoms.

    Problem is they’ve set the deadline for the decision to be Tuesday, clock is ticking. I really really want them to get round one out because at least that’s something before we get into lockdown but I just have this feeling in my gut that they will postpone it. 

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    1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

    They can get the test back by tomorrow. It's still far more likely to be any other illness than covid-19, particularly when Pendles has similar symptoms.

    While it may lead to the cancellation of round 1 should the person test positive, huge kudos to the AFL community for people thinking of others over themselves by self reporting illnesses.

    I want round 1 to proceed, but these guys are doing the right thing by everyone when they submit for a test.

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    3 hours ago, rjay said:

    Nick, Gary, Jonathan & Gerrard weren't in a hurry to take a cut themselves though...

    That was really only done grandstanding for fun purposes in my opinion!

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    8 hours ago, Demonland said:

     

    Ha. Good on Freo for trying. Desperate to finally get some silverware.

    Edited by Mickey

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    12 hours ago, Hampton 22 said:

    Acknowledging that there are infinitely more pressing concerns than the footy, I’ll take any positives I can. If/when the 2020 season is cancelled, the Dees should be in a good position for the 2021 draft, given our 2019 season :)

    If there's no state league, no school football and no Under-18s, should make for an interesting draft. Players will be drafted based on 2019 performances.  

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    I read the Crows are live-streaming their training session this morning. I like it, even if the season doesn’t go ahead it could be a pleasant distraction to some. If it does go ahead it gives their fans a chance to see how the team is preparing for R1.

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    Just now, Dee Zephyr said:

    I read the Crows are live-streaming their training session this morning. I like it, even if the season doesn’t go ahead it could be a pleasant distraction to some. If it does go ahead it gives their fans a chance to see how the team is preparing for R1.

    I'm in favour of this without the COVID-19 situation.

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    2 hours ago, Demonland said:
    Iconic grounds could be part of AFL fixture revamp  >>> ICONIC GROUNDS COULD BE PART OF AFL FIXTURE REVAMP

    I understand that we aren't particularity likely to be able to see any live footy this year. But this would really blow up in their face if they set up games in these tiny stadiums only to have the mass gathering ban lifted in the second half of the year. 

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    Brisbane have reportedly charted a private plane to carry their team to Melbourne on Saturday. I hope to god Melbourne are looking into this as well. I imagine the AFL would be telling all teams to do it.

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    It's not often that our game not having any international interest can be to our advantage. But having no teams in the competition from outside Australia helps keep the 2020 competition a possibility. With travel bans in place it is obviously much harder, or even impossible, for those competitions which have teams in different countries.

    While I understand the view of some that we shouldn't be playing at all, I can also see that as a society we need entertainment, particularly activities that can be consumed at home. If it is safe for the AFL to play (and I appreciate it's a big 'if' and that it's a very changeable landscape), I think they're doing the community a service by continuing to play. 

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    5 minutes ago, AshleyH30 said:

    Brisbane have reportedly charted a private plane to carry their team to Melbourne on Saturday. I hope to god Melbourne are looking into this as well. I imagine the AFL would be telling all teams to do it.

    With so few people flying, it might not even be necessary. We might end up with a plane to ourselves as the default position anyway.

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