Based on the following tweet what do you think the AFL should do? Do you have another option or should they just cancel the whole season?

 

Play without fans for now.

The moment one player tests positive, no footy of any kind for a few rounds, then re test everyone and start again.

Play 4 Rnds now, to empty stadiums;  and see which way things are heading,  Re the Virus outcomes and strategies.

AFL to collect all gate takings for 2020 matches,  and to distribute them evenly to all AFL clubs.

Anything less than 12 matches each team,  and the season should be declared Null, as far as the Premiership is concerned.

Players game stats should still be counted as regular AFL game stats.

 

Cancel til May, but even then don't guarantee it will actually happen.

Australia is dragging it's feet on this badly.

 

It’s obvious this thing is going to take many months, not weeks, to resolve.
 

Understandably the AFL doesn’t want to face the facts at this point, but inevitably thIs season will have to be cancelled. Even if after a couple of months the current measures start to show some promise in reducing the infection rate, until there’s an effective way to immunise those who are most vulnerable, the restrictions can’t be relaxed. If they relaxed the restrictions, it would only take a few infected people to start the infection chain all over again and we’ll be back to square one.  
 

If an effective immunisation isn’t going to be available for 12 to 18 months, the AFL needs to start thinking about how and when pre-season training for 2021 can be run and what that means for the start date for next year’s season. 

One thing they can do is maybe send their Behavioural awareness officers to supermarkets. 

Well done if they get games started. Will be impressive leadership if they make it 4 or 5 rounds without major disruption.

I hope this plan goes ahead and I hope they succeed. I hope it's broadcast globally that the AFL is playing football. It's this kind of effort that Australian's expect and take pride in the resilience.

All players over the age of 75, or those with underlying serious medical conditions should be kept away from games.

cancel the season

why take any risk

Gerard Healy summed it up perfectly last night IMO.

Just get as many games as you can get in before it all gets too disrupted - and then seek to continue the season as responsibly and appropriately as possible adopting agility and flex in relation to the fixturing etc.

These clubs are all training together, presumably daily - the medical experts cannot presently see any material difference between the clubs continuing to do this and playing each other in empty stadiums.

I say, bring on round 1. Next week.

 

53 minutes ago, Kent said:

cancel the season

why take any risk

How many elite athletes worldwide have died from Covid19?

Who exactly is at risk?

If it is the players, they have voted to play.

Chicken Little's are everywhere. 

NB. It seems ok to send our children to school but not for elite athletes to play footy!

 

A better question, that should be on the list is: Is it worth risking lives for the sake of football? 

4 minutes ago, Mental Demons said:

A better question, that should be on the list is: Is it worth risking lives for the sake of football? 

No.

But whose life are you talking about.

You realise that people can die playing sport.

Do you subscribe to banning all activiies in which someone may die?

Do you watch sport in the hope someone might die?

18 minutes ago, ManDee said:

Do you subscribe to banning all activiies in which someone may die?

No, just avoiding avoidable risks. Nobody should die for football. The competition will still be there after the crisis.

4 minutes ago, Mental Demons said:

1 Do you watch sport in the hope someone might die?

No, just avoiding avoidable risks. Nobody should die for football. The competition will still be there after the crisis.

1 No, what an absurd question.

If you had read and understood my earlier post I asked a few questions. I am unaware of any elite athletes that have died from Covid19. That and other information leads me to think that healthy 20-30 year olds are not dying from Covid19, if that is the case and if the players want to play why not let the season commence with no crowds? If a player contracts Covid19 suspend the season for fairness reasons.

5 minutes ago, ManDee said:

1 No, what an absurd question.

If you had read and understood my earlier post I asked a few questions. I am unaware of any elite athletes that have died from Covid19. That and other information leads me to think that healthy 20-30 year olds are not dying from Covid19, if that is the case and if the players want to play why not let the season commence with no crowds? If a player contracts Covid19 suspend the season for fairness reasons.

Because those healthy players can still be carriers and pass it on to other people who are vulnerable.

You can carry it without showing symptoms.

Play this weekend and for as long as possible. They don't start this weekend you can kiss the season goodbye. We should have shut our borders about a month ago and only allow Aussies back in and straight in to a 3 week quarantine zone. Hindsight is wonderful isn't it.

34 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Because those healthy players can still be carriers and pass it on to other people who are vulnerable.

You can carry it without showing symptoms.

So Nev you are a proponent of isolation. No trains, no schools, no shops, no gatherings, no public transport, no shared workplaces. STOP the world to protect the vulnerable. Noble but in my view unrealistic. How is playing football by elite athletes any more likely to spread a virus than kids going to school or catching a train?  

3 minutes ago, ManDee said:

So Nev you are a proponent of isolation. No trains, no schools, no shops, no gatherings, no public transport, no shared workplaces. STOP the world to protect the vulnerable. Noble but in my view unrealistic. How is playing football by elite athletes any more likely to spread a virus than kids going to school or catching a train?  

Nowhere did I say that, and frankly trying to stretch or misrepresent what people have said is a pretty pathetic way to interact.

I'm about minimizing risk. I have many relatives and friends who are at high risk with covid-19 and risking their lives for something as comparatively trivial as footy is not something I'm willing to do.

Playing footy isn't an essential component of life currently.

After such a perfect preseason, I am desperate to have some yardstick.  If they manage four rounds, that will possibly partly satisfy me and while i am doing nothing due to the pandemic, will give me four successful replays to keep watching.

Mind you, if we lose ..............

(and i must admit, I am of the view that some degree of continuity of life as we knew it can only be a good thing)

14 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Nowhere did I say that, and frankly trying to stretch or misrepresent what people have said is a pretty pathetic way to interact.

I'm about minimizing risk. I have many relatives and friends who are at high risk with covid-19 and risking their lives for something as comparatively trivial as footy is not something I'm willing to do.

Playing footy isn't an essential component of life currently.

Class. How do you propose removing these healthy athletes from society so as not to put at risk groups at risk?

I repeat, how do elite athletes playing football at a closed stadium put at risk people at greater risk? Football clubs would be close to the safest place to be during a viral outbreak. The greatest risk to the elite athletes probably comes from their children coming home from school, and yet there is no ban yet on schools. I note that several private schools have closed. 

I see no connection between elite football at closed stadiums and an increased risk to your family and friends. 

PS: Washing your shopping is more important than cancelling footy. 

Edited March 16, 20205 yr by ManDee
Bolding

7 minutes ago, ManDee said:

Class. How do you propose removing these healthy athletes from society so as not to put at risk groups at risk?

I repeat, how do elite athletes playing football at a closed stadium put at risk people at greater risk? Football clubs would be close to the safest place to be during a viral outbreak. The greatest risk to the elite athletes probably comes from their children coming home from school, and yet there is no ban yet on schools. I note that several private schools have closed. 

I see no connection between elite football at closed stadiums and an increased risk to your family and friends. 

PS: Washing your shopping is more important than cancelling footy. 

I repeat, we have to minimize the risk. Social distancing is a key factor, how exactly do they enact that in footy?

I repeat, "elite athletes" can still pass on covid-19 to vulnerable people.

I repeat, footy isn't an essential component of life.

One of the reasons schools haven't closed (yet) is that a lot of those children would be going into the care of grandparents currently.

You seem to only be thinking of the "elite athletes" and entirely missing the actual point.

Edited March 16, 20205 yr by Lord Nev

Just now, Lord Nev said:

I repeat, we have to minimize the risk. Social distancing is a key factor, how exactly do they enact that in footy?

I repeat, "elite athletes" can still pass on covid-19 to vulnerable people.

I repeat, footy isn't an essential component of life.

One of the reasons school haven't closed (yet) is that a lot of those children would be going into the care of grandparents currently.

You seem to only be thinking of the "elite athletes" and entirely missing the actual point.

I repeat, how do elite athletes playing football at a closed stadium put at risk people at greater risk? 

At some stage a player will contract the virus and the season will be halted. The best chance of getting a legitimate season in, is if they start before this happens and hope they have enough time to squeeze in the remaining games if the season can be restarted. 

Like others have pointed out, These guys are already gathering together for training. I don't see that playing matches in empty stadiums increases the risk of disease transmission.

1 minute ago, ManDee said:

I repeat, how do elite athletes playing football at a closed stadium put at risk people at greater risk? 

Read my post again. I'm assuming you're being deliberately obtuse now.