Collingwood, the AFL and the Virus.

Mr Miyagi · Joined: 14 Sep 2018

Australia's sports tars have always been more special than everyone else. No different to the music and movie industry really.

K · Joined: 09 Sep 2011

K · Joined: 09 Sep 2011

Players safer while footy continues: Veteran AFL doctor

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/players-safer-while-footy-continues-veteran-afl-doctor-20200319-p54by1.html

"Long-time Sydney Swans doctor Nathan Gibbs has backed the AFL’s decision to start the season but suggests that it may take two years to complete the 2020 campaign.
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Dockers players departed for Melbourne on Thursday ahead of their meeting with Essendon on Saturday donning surgical masks in a sign, with travelling teams set to be isolated across the weekend to protect them from carriers of the disease."

K · Joined: 09 Sep 2011

Niall:

Why the AFL was justified in playing on

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/why-the-afl-was-justified-in-playing-on-20200319-p54bqe.html

"The deliberations took so long that they prompted one exasperated club official to quip that there could be a cure for coronavirus before the AFL made a call.
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The league started from a position of clearly wanting to bounce the ball and get the games played. Their motivation was not simply to make money, but to ensure the very survival of clubs; to keep the doors open, the players and coaches paid and as many staff employed as possible.
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Wisely, the AFL sought to future-proof their decision by bringing the chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, in to a crucial meeting of the AFL Commission. Murphy, from what one gathers (as McLachlan suggested), reassured the AFL hierarchy that the risks weren't excessive.
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One club boss saw the decision as a choice between public relations damage (playing) and financial fallout (not playing). Not a great choice, he said.

Yes, the AFL choose to look after themselves and their own. Who doesn't? So long as they aren't exposing everyone else, their self-interested position is defensible."

K · Joined: 09 Sep 2011

"The AFL is modelling scenarios to financially sandbag the league including the option for renegotiating with the banks to draw against equity in Marvel Stadium.

The senior coaches, the public faces of their clubs, quickly agreed to take a pay cut of 20 per cent to help their clubs and the industry weather the coronavirus recession. Significant cost cutting among the large number of assistant coaches is viewed as certain, too.

And the incensed boss of the AFL Players Association, who also have been asked to take a 20 per cent pay cut, has called criticism of the players' position "disgusting", given that the players were taking the field at their own personal risk and that whole industry's viability "depends on them taking the field".
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All clubs rely on the income from gate receipts to balance their books with Geelong president Colin Carter revealing last week that every Cats home game delivered $1 million revenue to the club.

Richmond earned $8 million net on gate receipts last season..."

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/marvel-stadium-key-asset-as-afl-acts-to-survive-financial-calamity-20200319-p54bxw.html

The Pretender · Joined: 26 May 2013

Just shut it down

It's ridiculous to be playing

Skids · Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 12:10 pm

23 YIPPEE!!! · YIPPEE 23!!! Joined: 24 Jul 2019

Yep shut down this farcical situation the AFL is in time to cancel the season just for the time been.

K · Joined: 09 Sep 2011

Swans take 'extraordinary' safety measures for away game travel

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/swans-take-extraordinary-safety-measures-for-away-game-travel-20200320-p54c52.html

"Swans players are to be quarantined at a separate part of Sydney Airport and are being urged to take a lift by themselves at the team hotel in order to minimise their exposure to coronavirus.
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AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said on Friday the season would be shut down for a minimum 30 days if a player was to test positive to COVID-19.
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There is talk Swans players will be shuttled directly from the tarmac to their hotel in Adelaide where they have a floor exclusively booked for them."

K · Joined: 09 Sep 2011

McLachlan's 11 take 20 per cent pay cut

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/mclachlan-s-11-take-20-per-cent-pay-cut-20200320-p54cf2.html

"The executive group at the AFL earned a total of $10.57 million in 2019, including McLachlan's annual salary and any bonuses.

The across-the-board pay cut will save the competition more than $2.1 million, based on last year's figures.
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The clubs are still awaiting further guidance from the AFL about cost-cutting and new rules that govern what clubs can spend on football. It is certain that the soft cap on football department spending will be cut, with industry sources saying the AFL is considering a reduction over two years, not just 2019."

Skids · Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 10:44 pm

I just couldn't get into it.... a waste of an opportunity (considering our premiership window) to win a flag. Even if they salvage some sort of season, the winner will always be the Corona Cup winner. It won't be a true premiership.

K · Joined: 09 Sep 2011

^ Caro:

"But the significance of the premiership remains to be seen given the reality that some clubs could be struck worse than others by the coronavirus pandemic. There are still people at Collingwood who refer to Carlton's 1944 premiership as "The Cowards' Cup"."