Dockers, Eagles likely to stay in Perth for entire AFL season
West Coast and Fremantle players look set for an extended stay on home soil after the AFL formally requested its 10 Victorian teams be based in Queensland for the remainder of the season.
As the pandemic continued to cripple Victoria and a new cluster of cases now in south-west New South Wales, AFL boss Gil McLachlan approached Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to host more matches there during the final nine weeks of the reduced 17-round season.
Optus Stadium is likely to be used as a regular AFL hub for the remainder of the 2020 season.Credit:Frizz Ferguson
Veteran broadcaster Gerard Whateley revealed on Wednesday the Victorian teams were not likely to head home while the Eagles and Dockers, who returned to Perth last week after a five-week on the Gold Coast, would be based in WA until the season's completion.
""This is the biggest development in the race to keep the season alive," he told SEN listeners on Wednesday.
"There’ll be 11 rounds in nine weeks and Victorian teams will not return home. They’ll be based in Queensland.
"Staff have been informed that they can’t bring families. Players are waiting to hear what the family environments will be."
There was a strong chance WA clubs would not have to travel interstate at all for their 11 remaining fixtures.
"The hub in Perth will continue as scheduled," Whateley said.
"There's a very real chance that Brisbane and Gold Coast don't leave Queensland for the rest of the year.
"There's a very real chance the WA teams don't leave Perth for the rest of the year."
The WA hub gets under way on Thursday night when Geelong and Collingwood kick off round seven at Optus Stadium, the venue's first test of handling crowds in a social distancing environment.
The fixture will be the biggest Australian sports crowd since the coronavirus pandemic began, with nearly 20,000 tickets sold to 2pm Tuesday and a maximum of 30,000 permitted.
Round seven will end with a blockbuster derby when Fremantle host West Coast on Sunday at the $1.8 billion stadium.
Geelong and Collingwood will then play a further two fixtures in Perth before Hawthorn and Carlton replace them in the WA hub for a set of three matches.
Ms Palaszczuk took the opportunity for further involvement with AFL fixturing to push Queensland’s grand final agenda.
"As I told Gil, if the season is based here, then the Grand Final should be played here too," she said.
"Given the choice between not having a season and having it based in Queensland I think I know what the fans would like to happen."
McLachlan has said he won't decide on the grand final venue until August, but Optus Stadium CEO Mike McKenna said the venue was capable of hosting the boutique sports event and the entire AFL final series should it need.
The state's grand final push comes after Optus Stadium boss Mike McKenna said the 60,000-seat venue could host an entire finals series should it be preferable.
"They’ve missed the benefit of having a finals series perhaps at a location that is purpose built for this type of activity," he told SEN.
"We’ve had some of the biggest sporting occasions in our very short history, two years.
"We’ve had Manchester United playing here, we’ve had the Bledisloe Cup, we’ve had great AFL finals football being played here, cricket matches, Test matches, ODIs.
"It really is the big event stadium in the country along with some of the other greats.
"ANZ Stadium is a great stadium... hasn’t played AFL football for quite a long time, but it is a great stadium to watch rugby union, rugby league. I don’t know that it’s such a great AFL stadium.
"I think what you get here if you have a grand final or a finals series in Perth is passionate fans attending and they will attend games that involve neutral teams. I am not sure that is always the case in other states."