Crows, Power preparing to move interstate for AFL season after quarantine exemption refused

Australia Health World

The Adelaide Crows are preparing to relocate interstate to start the AFL season after SA health authorities ruled out relaxing coronavirus quarantine restrictions, board member Mark Ricciuto has said.

While Port Adelaide has indicated it would be willing to base itself “anywhere we can to be a part of the competition”, Ricciuto said it was important players could maintain a consistent training schedule in the lead-up to the resumption of play.

“As of this morning, I think the Adelaide Football Club will be preparing to play in hubs outside of Adelaide pre the game starting, and maybe up to the first five weeks of the footy season, so they can get some certainty in programming for the AFL,” Ricciuto told Triple M this morning.

“All footy club presidents and CEOs and footy managers have been changing what they’re doing daily.

“It’s been just a moving beast at the moment and that’s going to continue for Adelaide after that announcement last night.”

SA Health had previously ruled out a relaxation of COVID-19 rules for the clubs, but SA Premier Steven Marshall said on Tuesday the State Government was still “actively” looking at its options, and players could be granted modified quarantine requirements to allow them to play.

However, a letter to the AFL from South Australia’s chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier and Police Commissioner Grant Stevens confirmed Adelaide and Port Adelaide players would not be granted exemptions to current restrictions.

“As a highly visible part of society, it is important that the AFL model the behaviours expected from the public in general,” the letter, sent to AFL chief Gillon McLachlan yesterday, stated.

“The risk of complacency within the wider community rises if it is that these measures have diminished in importance.”

The letter stated that a “modification or exemption” to the state’s “strict quarantine requirements” was “considered an unnecessary public health risk in South Australia”.

Power ‘disappointed’ with decision, Koch says

The AFL is expected to make an announcement on the layout of the season later today, and could now strongly favour the hub model which has been resisted by the AFL Players Association.

“Our preference is Queensland, but obviously we’ll base [ourselves] anywhere we can to be a part of the competition,” Power chairman David Koch said on Channel Seven’s Sunrise program this morning.

Port Adelaide chairman David Koch

Port Adelaide chairman David Koch

Port Adelaide chairman David Koch said the Power was willing to relocate.(AAP Image: Julian Smith)

Koch said the decision to disallow interstate travel would “disadvantage” his side, but he accepted the ruling by health authorities.

“Obviously we’re disappointed with the decision, but we’ve always said we’d take the advice of the medical experts and also the State Government,” he said.

“They’ve said no, they won’t relax the quarantine rules, we put a proposal to them which basically almost quarantined our players but allowed them to fly in and out, but it was not accepted and absolutely we respect the Chief Medical Officer’s decision.

“It will put us at a severe disadvantage to the big Melbourne clubs and other interstate clubs, along with the West Australian clubs, but that will make victory even sweeter, to get over those hurdles, because we still need to represent South Australia in the AFL.”

The decision by South Australian authorities comes after assistant coach Ben Hart was stood down for six weeks, and 16 Crows players were handed a suspended one-match ban, over a breach of the AFL’s coronavirus restrictions.

The players were quarantining after crossing state borders and breached an AFL requirement to train in pairs while at a Barossa Valley resort last week.

An AFL investigation found the players had worked in pairs before separating into two larger groups of eight.

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