AshleyH30

6 minutes ago, Demonland said:

 

Tough times ahead for the 18 clubs.

RICHMOND CEO OUTLINES THE “BIG” FIGURE CLUBS STAND TO LOSE DUE TO EMPTY STADIUMS

I think it's going to get to the point where the club's are going to ask their fans for donations to survive. But if we end up like Italy, I won't blame people for focusing on themselves. A lot of people will end up below the poverty line because of this.

Don't worry guys, the PM has got this handled. He's told the virus to take a break until Monday so he can go to the NRL.

He really know's what he's doing. FFS.

Done and dusted. Sport all but over.

4 minutes ago, loges said:

This may be a dumb question but most other countries have much higher population than Australia and our land mass is much larger with population mainly spread around the country in the capital cities which are far apart. Shouldn't this aid us in our efforts to keep the virus contained?

Potentially, it can help stop the spread in the countryside, but as the population density in the cities is similar to other countries, the spread is likely to occur at the same rate within the city centres. It's already in the cities, so there is no chance of stopping the spread Australia wide.

4 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Golf too 

EPL will as well within 24 hours. All sport to be suspended by mid next week I suspect.

What will I watch now? ?

3 minutes ago, Demonland said:

?

However the AFL not conceding yet. 

 

After what Andrews said, I see no way it will happen, at least not in Victoria and NSW.

But in my opinion, it would be stupid for SA or WA to allow fans to enter as who's to say a Victorian carrying the virus decides to head over for the match.

Cricket following suit. There is no way fans will be going to the AFL next week.

If someone has Coronavirus, it will spread around more with people lining up with no official announcement. This is a farce of epic proportions.

All but certain the AFL will follow suit.

7 minutes ago, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Is it possible that the F1 component is cancelled, but the rest of the event, such as the V8s, is continuing?

Even so, release an official announcement that's the F1 component is off. I'm now hearing that they've delayed access to the park for fans who were supposed to enter at 8.45. Reports of racers on flights, it's become a full blown crisis because of a lack of leadership.

I guarantee most fans wouldn't go if they knew F1 wasn't going to be there.

The miss information surrounding the Grand Prix is amazing. Media is reporting it's off, but ground staff are being told to work as usual. This has been a huge cluster [censored] by management, who have known for hours about the media reports, and yet still haven't released an official statement.

4 minutes ago, Demonland said:

According to Robbo Round 1 might not proceed. 

AFL planning for Round 1 postponement as coronavirus alarm grows

The AFL is preparing for the possibility of a delay to the start of the 2020 season, with boss Gillon McLachlan holding daily briefings on the rapidly-developing coronavirus threat. 

The AFL is preparing for the worst-case scenario — postponing Round 1 — in the face of the alarming and growing coronavirus.

Chief executive Gillon McLachlan is chairing daily emergency briefings with clubs, the government and health groups and the Herald Sun has learnt that, as of Thursday, the AFL couldn’t guarantee next Thursday’s season opener going ahead.

“This is not moving by the day, this is moving by the hour,” an AFL source said.

“There are some big calls to make.”

Subtly putting it out there so people don't get blind-sighted like they did with the NBA. Only my opinion, but I think this is all but certain to happen now.

Here is a scenario I see occurring as the reason crowds will be banned before round 1:

Ball is kicked out of bounds into the stands, a fan with the virus picks it up and chucks it back onto the field, the player picks up the ball and recommences play. The ball is now infected with the virus and is being passed from player to player. Potentially, two entire teams could be infected from one ball going out of bounds.

With everything that is developing as we speak, I won't be surprised if the AFL season is suspended in some form. Once a player has it, that's it. Game over.

9 minutes ago, Demonland said:

The Victorian Government obviously didn't get this memo re: the Grand Prix.

I suspect this is the only reason mass gatherings haven't been banned yet. They're waiting for this to be over and then next week will announce it if they do. The timeline for banning of mass gatherings being reported by the media is getting shorter and shorter by the day. 2 days ago the media were reporting that there could be no fans in stadiums from round 5, now it's a possibility of round 2, it'll be round 1 by next week.

Also, they'll have to ban the gatherings nation wide as whose to say a Victorian person with the virus travels next week to watch WC vs Melbourne. They'll risk spreading it further if they don't. Just because Perth has a smaller number of cases doesn't mean someone with it won't travel there; safer to ban everyone than try and decide who has it and who doesn't.

Would assume this means training will be closed sessions from now on.

No more training reports...

36 minutes ago, Dee Watcher said:

Its done...expect AFL to play round 1 behind closed doors as with other major events like conferences etc, Government telling all codes this behind closed doors at the moment so expect announcements closer to the dates as they don't want people to panic! 

 

 

Wait, so the government is telling sporting codes to play behind closed doors, but the announcement won't be until next week? That doesn't add up as they're still selling tickets to those matches. The first indication of possible closures would be the halting of ticket sales. If it came out that the AFL knew they were to have no one in the stands, and continued to sell tickets before they announced it, they could have a big lawsuit on their hands if they didn't reimburse people.

Also, if it is true, the only reason the government is waiting is because of the GP this week. It's the same reason they waited until all GP staff from Italy were here before banning people from Italy.

Don't get me wrong, I think it will happen, but I think it is still a few weeks away.

20 minutes ago, Dee Zephyr said:

Training for tomorrow has now been listed as TBC. 

I suspect, as has been reported, the AFL have advised clubs to train behind closed doors for the foreseeable future due to Coronavirus. Where that means Melbourne will train, I have no idea.

Edit: I hope that means we get to train at the MCG, not at Casey, where it blows a gale every hour; our skills will be pour if we do.

30 minutes ago, Deemented Are Go! said:

Don't want to start a new thread, but have just heard from a source that one of our players is in quarantine....

If that were true, he would be currently being tested, and it would be huge news. I know for sure McClure or Morris would be desperate to name names the way they did with the Freo player.

6 minutes ago, Lord Nev said:

Missing the point mate.

Signed vB for 3 years. Ditched Kent who simply wanted more than 1 year.

It's at best, inconsistent.

I'm not saying Kent is a gun, I'm talking about the contract decisions based on both players outputs.

 

I'm not disagreeing, but aren't basing that a bit on hindsight? AVB had a brilliant Finals series in 2018, while Kent could barely get on the park for most of that year. The decision was based on output at the time. No one could predict what would happen to AVB afterwards.

I know it's a long road ahead, but if he broke down after joining the main group for only a little bit, it's a worry.

Probably (Hopefully) similar to last time, so should be back training within a week.

Edit: We now have all the flogs coming out on social media to bag him and the club. It truly disgusts me how little empathy some people have, but they'll be the first one's crying "woe is me" if anything happens to them.

I wouldn't be surprised if the government ban large gatherings. We're at the same point Italy were when they banned most gatherings. Sydney is quickly becoming a hot spot.

Just want to say one thing to those saying it's nothing more than a flu. Sure, it has a mortality rate of about 3%, flu has around 1%. It's not that most people will have mild symptoms, it's that fact that our most vulnerable people have no way to combat it. The flu has killed more this year so far because everyone has it, but the sick and elderly can get vaccines to help build up their immunity to it. They can't with the coronavirus, with a vaccine could be as far away as 18 months. Think of all those people getting it and clogging up the health system. That's the problem; that's why health experts are worried and are putting extreme measures in place.

43 minutes ago, DemonWheels said:

A few words from Harley’s old coach Ross Lyon:

”But Lyon had caught up in Melbourne with another recruit and (now ex) Docker that struggled to get on the field in Harley Bennell, who has been listed by Melbourne. He said Bennell was sprinting in a way that he had never managed as a Docker.

Lyon said Bennell, who had a succession of calf injuries at Fremantle, was "going really well" in Melbourne, having had successful surgery to his calf.

"He's excited. He's sprinting. He's sprinting at levels he never was able to achieve at Fremantle. Up on his toes sprinting," Lyon said.

Source: https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/recruiting-jesse-hogan-a-whole-club-not-just-coach-call-lyon-20200309-p548cl.html

While this sounds all well and good, let's not discount the possibility that Lyon might try and make a few swings at his former club out of spite.

I thought once Gawn was subbed off that we failed to readjust quickly enough after half time. Took us 10-15 minutes to finally readjust which coincided with when hawks had control in the third. Once we'd adjusted we were all over them defensively and in the midfield.

My only negative is the foward line structure, which again was highlighted early in the third as without Max and Brown not playing, we consistently had one less player in the forward line to lead or kick to, resulting in constant kicks to out numbered situations.