18 hours ago, drdrake said:

At some stage the residents of WA will start to crack it, you basically have lost your summer National/international sport and events.  Now unless he back flips again your really are ruling out 6 months more of this.  The Ashes WA fans can cop but losing home Football for a season going to be massive backlash.

You would think that a Queensland relocation for the two WA clubs might be on the cards, it will really depend which state chips in some money to soften the blow for the AFL.  Going to be some very upset players and fans in WA this morning.

There is no question that the WA hospital system in no where ready for a large covid out break, he knows if this gets into his state he will go from hero to zero very quickly.

WA would have had more concern for missing their BBL Scorchers games than the Test Match. They are only interested in WA not Australia for their sport and any thing they can divest themselves raft of Ceduna.

But boy no boy were they not remarkable towards the AFL in 2021 and our Dees were very lucky to be the receiver of wonderful  good Will and support from them in the month we stayed there as we bulldozed one and all to our magnificent 13 th Flag!! 
Thsnk you again WA.

5 hours ago, 58er said:

WA would have had more concern for missing their BBL Scorchers games than the Test Match. They are only interested in WA not Australia for their sport and any thing they can divest themselves raft of Ceduna.

But boy no boy were they not remarkable towards the AFL in 2021 and our Dees were very lucky to be the receiver of wonderful  good Will and support from them in the month we stayed there as we bulldozed one and all to our magnificent 13 th Flag!! 
Thsnk you again WA.

That 3rd sentence is a doozy. No idea what it means. But hell, we won a flag!

20 hours ago, WalkingCivilWar said:

BT needs to read this. In particular, Rule 5. 

How about my rule 10.

Never attempt to say 'Up country mongrel punt' on air.  (Thankyou Tim Lane)

15 hours ago, dieter said:

Hope all is well.

Thanks Dieter.

To be honest, both myself and the young bride are still struggling. My 7 days since testing was over on Thursday but we are both still locked away and ordering in groceries etc, because we just can't shake it.

I envy those who carry it with no symptoms.

tennis australia must live in another world

all player covid testing is voluntary. No oversight, mandating or supervision

players are handed a pile of rats and recommended to test daily and if +ve to report to ta

some players have already admitted they only test once a week or if they have symptoms. most are not saying.

there is really big money involved here once you get to the quarter finals. can you imagine a player self testing +ve who is symptom free (but infectious) dobbing himself in and losing the chance for a $250,000 or more payday? we will never know thanks to such a badly thought out, irresponsible policy

Edited January 22, 20223 yr by daisycutter

19 hours ago, ManDee said:

That 3rd sentence is a doozy. No idea what it means. But hell, we won a flag!

I was there from GF eve to Wed the next week and universally the WA public ( along with visiting and local Dees fans) were very well treated and respected.

Being a true AFL state you don't have to fight NRL fans about AFL for instance once you start mentioning footy as we know it!!  I live in Brisbane BTW. 

WA officially stating that Covid/Omicron has leaked into the community such that they cannot realistically eliminate it now.

Best of luck to them at suppressing the curve and learning from the errors of other states (which is not a political statement because different states have made different errors and if WA can learn from all of them they'll be operating like profound warrior monks. Also best of luck getting their vaccination/booster coverage up, which as I understand it has been a bit behind.

On the football side of things, it probably means that at the very least there will be interstate travel allowed under tight regulations.

Unfortunately for Freo and Weagle fans, such 'bulk' travel probably won't be on the cards for a bit longer.

It might actually be a good opportunity for us Demons to return the favour of their excellent welcome to Perth. I'd struggle to cheer on the Eagles but I might be able to get as far as giving a few yells for a FReo game or two on the east coast!

Indian women's soccer team had to withdraw from the Asian Cup because they couldn't field a squad of 13 players.

Strange no player at the tennis testing positive given the community spread. Perhaps I'm a cynic.

15 minutes ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Indian women's soccer team had to withdraw from the Asian Cup because they couldn't field a squad of 13 players.

Strange no player at the tennis testing positive given the community spread. Perhaps I'm a cynic.

Makes 2 of us 'Jim'

WA will be very interesting to see how they go leading into the footy season. For once I’d like to see the AFL take a tough stance with this, either WA opens the borders with zero restrictions to players and teams (none of this fly in fly out BS) or the WA teams relocated to another state. If neither gets agreed to then Freo and WC forfeit all home games.

No more of this “we’re working with the governments to come to an agreement” set the rules of the league and if they can’t abide by them then so be it.  

22 minutes ago, Pates said:

WA will be very interesting to see how they go leading into the footy season. For once I’d like to see the AFL take a tough stance with this, either WA opens the borders with zero restrictions to players and teams (none of this fly in fly out BS) or the WA teams relocated to another state. If neither gets agreed to then Freo and WC forfeit all home games.

No more of this “we’re working with the governments to come to an agreement” set the rules of the league and if they can’t abide by them then so be it.  

I can't imagine any scenario where Freo and WCE forfeit home games. The AFL has a TV broadcast rights agreement which requires 9 games per week. In addition, there's a big viewing audience in WA which the TV networks will want. The business of AFL will over-ride any petulant behaviour whether it comes from the WA Government or the AFL.

17 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Indian women's soccer team had to withdraw from the Asian Cup because they couldn't field a squad of 13 players.

Strange no player at the tennis testing positive given the community spread. Perhaps I'm a cynic.

Maybe you have good reason to be - testing appears to be voluntary; and this is allowed in the state that has had the harshest restrictions / repressions.  I guess it shows money talks. 

22 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Indian women's soccer team had to withdraw from the Asian Cup because they couldn't field a squad of 13 players.

Strange no player at the tennis testing positive given the community spread. Perhaps I'm a cynic.

Not a cynic. You just went too early...

https://7news.com.au/sport/tennis/belgian-player-covid-positive-after-open-c-5416365

58 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Not a cynic. You just went too early...

https://7news.com.au/sport/tennis/belgian-player-covid-positive-after-open-c-5416365

Yep.... she tested positive "after" going out of the tournament

On another note today marks two years from the first covid case in Melbourne. I took off for India a couple of days later. Those were the days.

Let's hope that it's a distant memory this time next year.

Edited January 24, 20223 yr by Diamond_Jim

On 1/24/2022 at 10:41 AM, Diamond_Jim said:

Indian women's soccer team had to withdraw from the Asian Cup because they couldn't field a squad of 13 players.

Strange no player at the tennis testing positive given the community spread. Perhaps I'm a cynic.

From what I'm hearing testing seems to be very loosy goosy at the AO. Seems they're going for the don't ask, don't tell approach.

approx 4.5M australians haven't had a single vax

25 minutes ago, daisycutter said:

approx 4.5M australians haven't had a single vax

True daisycutter, but there's a bit more to it than that. Approx 1 mill Australians are under 5 yrs old and not yet eligible for covid vax. 5-12s have only recently had access to covid vaccines. And hopefully those with legitimate allergies or other vax health issues will be able to take the new Novovax option

The rest, well... there's always a shallow end to the gene pool 

How many on AFL lists haven't met the deadline? 2 or 3?

 

This would be similar to the top-up pool created by the Big Bash League this season

This pool could see a player playing for one club in Round 1 and another club in Round 2, if required.

Somebody should perhaps mention to Gil that fitting into a football team is not quite the same as substituting in a Big Bash T20 game

17 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

This would be similar to the top-up pool created by the Big Bash League this season

This pool could see a player playing for one club in Round 1 and another club in Round 2, if required.

Somebody should perhaps mention to Gil that fitting into a football team is not quite the same as substituting in a Big Bash T20 game

Agreed. I really can’t see this working. 

REPORT: AFL considering top-up pool of replacement players for 2022

The AFL seems to be concerned that some clubs manage better with their second tier affiliates than others but they should be rewarded rather than making further allowances to the lazy clubs that don’t do enough for their development. 

Next week's Winter Olympics could be interesting...

Athletes must provide proof of two negative tests within 96 hours of their departure for China to get permission to fly and then test every day while there, and close contacts of those infected can be forced to isolate. Close contacts can still compete but are subject to extra restrictions and tests.

 

To minimise risks, Beijing 2022 has introduced a “closed loop” system which restricts all Games participants to certain zones in and around venues and accommodation, creating a bubble that separates them from the local population.

The organisers have reported 129 positive cases among Games-related personnel between 4 January, when the loop began operations, and 26 January.

On 1/25/2022 at 11:32 AM, Demonland said:

From what I'm hearing testing seems to be very loosy goosy at the AO. Seems they're going for the don't ask, don't tell approach.

From what you’re hearing…. Interesting 

9 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Next week's Winter Olympics could be interesting...

Athletes must provide proof of two negative tests within 96 hours of their departure for China to get permission to fly and then test every day while there, and close contacts of those infected can be forced to isolate. Close contacts can still compete but are subject to extra restrictions and tests.

 

To minimise risks, Beijing 2022 has introduced a “closed loop” system which restricts all Games participants to certain zones in and around venues and accommodation, creating a bubble that separates them from the local population.

The organisers have reported 129 positive cases among Games-related personnel between 4 January, when the loop began operations, and 26 January.

Easier to do for an event like the Olympics particularly in a country as tightly controlled as China.

Success or failure it would be impossible to implement for the Home and Away season.

Our finals will most likely be some kind of hub situation if teams are still being hard hit on a week to week basis at that end of the year.

12 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Next week's Winter Olympics could be interesting...

Athletes must provide proof of two negative tests within 96 hours of their departure for China to get permission to fly and then test every day while there, and close contacts of those infected can be forced to isolate. Close contacts can still compete but are subject to extra restrictions and tests.

 

To minimise risks, Beijing 2022 has introduced a “closed loop” system which restricts all Games participants to certain zones in and around venues and accommodation, creating a bubble that separates them from the local population.

The organisers have reported 129 positive cases among Games-related personnel between 4 January, when the loop began operations, and 26 January.

I take it that Djokovic hasn’t made the Serbian bobsled team?

On 1/24/2022 at 11:58 AM, Pates said:

WA will be very interesting to see how they go leading into the footy season. For once I’d like to see the AFL take a tough stance with this, either WA opens the borders with zero restrictions to players and teams (none of this fly in fly out BS) or the WA teams relocated to another state. If neither gets agreed to then Freo and WC forfeit all home games.

No more of this “we’re working with the governments to come to an agreement” set the rules of the league and if they can’t abide by them then so be it.  

You have my vote.