This’ll be the “roadmap” was released today. The states where the games are played would need to be at step 3 to be able to play a game when you consider club staff, medicos, umpires,..... I can’t see that happening until July surely. That’s only 6 weeks away and currently Vic is still limited to groups of 2. That will likely change on Monday and WA may even go from 10 to 20 but no one will be close to the 100 that will be needed. Have to factor in the AFL’s 3 week preseason too. It’s already been too long since ORFFU round 1 but at least it’s looking like it will be over faster than I thought it would be, in Australia that is.
Until there's a second wave, because the general populous are idiots. The toilet paper shenanigans only served to prove this. Call me a pessimist, but footy as we know it is not coming back this year. The only way it will is if the players get over their own over-inflated sense of self-importance and "god-like" stature, and agree to living in a bubble for long enough to complete a season (ie the Hub plan). There's no other way to ensure that player X doesn't go home to his family, one of whom was at Woolies 2 days ago to get some bread and milk, and was in the queue infront of Bob, who had one small cough because his housemate had recently come back from an "essential" trip to Bali to get away from the Melbourne winter, and when player X goes back to training he infects half his team-mates... The only way to ensure this doesn't happen is absolute zero contact with the outside world. Full isolation for everyone involved in day-to-day footy. But the players have already publicly come out and said they don't want this, as they're too important to sacrifice a few months away from home to perform their jobs and support their families and their communities, completely forgetting that 100 years ago young men of the same age were sent off to the other side of the planet for an indefinite amount of time, without adequate means of communication back home, to face an uncertain future where other young men were hell-bent on killing them. Sorry, that turned into a huge rant (wrong thread for this!!!), but I've just lost so much respect for the players and the population in general through all of this (that comment also goes for "Instagram Influencers" - advertisers - who are whinging that the world is unfair because they're losing advertising money right now, while thousands of people who actually contribute to society are either working excessively hard to ensure we're all safe and healthy, or have completely lost their jobs and are probably stressing about just making ends meet. I just hope that out of all of this pandemic, people get a greater understanding of what is really important in life, and the less-important aspects remain in the background so that the important aspects get the focus they deserve - the world has a perfect opportunity to become a much better place out of all of this, if we try!
I agree with you mate. There’s too many wanting to rush back to pre-COVID even though that world no longer exists. This is a perfect time for a reset, unfortunately as you’ve already said, greediness and ignorance will prevent this from happening properly. For me, being in WA has been the best place to be. We were quick to close borders, are resistant to Gill’s desire to get back to fly in/out fixtures and are looking at the bigger picture. I have grave concerns for VIC & NSW. Yes we have to try and get to some sort of normal, but the rush that the NRL & AFL are in seems counterproductive. I understand that money is an issue but maybe it’s time to look at the number of clubs in VIC and build a more sustainable model that will be more resistant to this as the precedent has been set. The next virus that hits within 10 years will bring around similar restrictions. 10 teams has not been sustainable for over 30 years but the interstate clubs are expected to prop them up. It’s time some actually went or at the very least relocated to other markets. Sponsorship dollars will not be the same going forward and neither will TV rights nor salaries. Time to bite the bullet and embrace change. 6 teams in VIC, 2 in WA, NSW, QLD, SA and 1 in TAS & NT. Scrap the preseason rubbish and play a 30 game season where everyone plays each other twice on a level, truly national, playing field. Hell, don’t even put a club in TAS & NT and play a 26 game season. The teams will be stronger due to less dilution, draft talent will be more evenly spread and we’d likely see a much more competitive league with less blowouts. When it comes to the players it’s unfortunate that few see the bigger picture. We’ve already had both clubs in WA say they’d be prepared to move east for two months of consecutive away games if our borders aren’t opened but as usual the Vics have gone the opposite way and said they won’t play in hubs, they’ll consider it but won’t be happy. I’ve never seen as many kids in a change room as post WC matches yet these are the guys who say they’d move to play. I can only dream of a level playing field; the fat cats won’t let it happen. None of them want to be remembered as the administrators that killed off “historic”, albeit financially incapable clubs. I’m keen to see the “new” normal. The disappointing thing is that it likely won’t be that new.
A slight side track but from what I'm hearing around the traps is that employers can't effectively force you to go back to work until a vaccine is developed if you can still work from home. The biggest risk employers face is someone turning up to work and then getting Covid-19, the workplace would be liable having breached OH&S and I'm sure a few other things. Now thinking about AFL, the Commission will need to really think about how they're going to do this without getting themselves in a pickle. I'd imagine that something similar to the hubs idea is the most likely solution they'll go ahead with, perhaps testing everyone 30 and 14 days out from when they are due to head into the hubs, requiring players to self isolate for those 14 days before games start etc. In the next AFL TV rights negotiation I think we'll see lower $$$ being paid to take into account similar future interruptions that are a possibility. We'll see a more conservatively run economy for a little while (until we forget the effects this pandemic has had on everyone) so I'm guessing the AFL will have to cut funding to clubs, set aside more cash for a rainy day. Setting up a new club in a new market will cost too much to be feasible in the short term so I agree that some clubs will probably have to be relocated out of Melbourne into other markets such as Tassie, perhaps a 3rd WA and SA team, and maybe even a central Aus team that covers NT and regional QLD and NSW. It's going to be interesting to see how the next few years pan out, not just for AFL but businesses and the economy in general.
I can't comment on what's going down back in OZ, but some of the reporting and restrictions here are a tad bewildering at times. Thailand has a population of 70+million and we've recorded 56 deaths in total, attributed to COVID since mid-January, approx 4 months or 14 deaths per month. Whereas road accidents accounted for 20,169 deaths in Thailand last year or 1680 per month. Think about that for a moment.....1680 per month, not 16 or 168 but 1680......This figure could probably be a lot higher cause only deaths at the accident site are regarded as Road Deaths. Any deaths in Hospital as result of the accident are classed as just a death in hospital. And no restrictions were put in place to try and reduce that number but they did at one stage propose to INCREASE the speed limit on some Highways to 120kph....the mind boggles. In Rayong which is the province in which I live, we have a population, about the same as the Gold Coast, at 700,000. In the 4 months since mid- January, we have had zero deaths and only 6 reported cases of COVID and we haven't recorded a single case for the past 35 days. But still I cannot be away from my home after 10pm. I cannot have a beer/wine with my meal in any restaurant that chooses to open, and all the bars are still closed. I must wear a mask in public at all times or face a 20,000 baht fine. I have to have my temperature checked every time I enter a 7-11 or any business that is allowed to open. I cannot go for a walk at my favourite walking track because it's still closed. I cannot go to the beach. These restrictions are all in place because we've recorded 6 cases and no deaths, in a pop. of 700,000, while approx 30 people, (going on 2019 statistics for Rayong) have died on Rayong's roads each month since January. So it would appear I have more chance of dying on the roads than contracting COVID. Anyway my rant has come to an end....so stay safe and take care ......
It's gonna be a tough call, yeah a MSD would help get the juices flowing for ORFFU but we haven't seen anything from the young blokes yet to make a decision. Tough call.
Depending on fixturing and with 16 games to be played apparently, maybe a brief Trade period between Rds7-8 and then an MSD between Rds8-9. That would allow coaches another 6 rounds, to have a gander at those young blokes you mentioned and that would then also allow all those coaches who traded previously and gained picks in the MSD, to complete their strategies the following week.. @JPK
Sounds like a good suggestion Chops. Created a new thread to discuss this very issue. http://tooserious.net/forum/threads/what-to-do-with-the-msd-and-mst.90647/
Sticking to my word from 17 March, unless anyone can come up with a reasonable objection, then the 2020 ORFFU season will play out like this: We will restart at round 2 on Thursday 11 June when the AFL resumes their season. The 'FU season will consist of each team playing eachother once, in the same order that our original fixture dictated. If there are 17 rounds of AFL played, then: The 2020 ORFFU Premiers will be the team on the most wins. If there are even wins at the end of 17 rounds, then most points for (between all teams on the same number of most wins) will be deemed the winner. Should there be some crazy luck that two teams have the same number of wins and the same points for after 17 rounds, then the team that won the matchup between these two particular teams will be deemed the Premiers. If they fucking drew that game then screw them both and I'll award the Premiership to who-ever I damn-well please! If there were three or more teams on equal wins and equal points for, then a "round robin" will be used, and the team with the most wins between all effected teams will be the Premiers. Points for scored across these games will be used as the differentiator if wins are split / still equal. If there's still no way of separating the teams, then screw them all and I'll award the Premiership to who-ever I damn-well please! If there are less than 17 rounds of AFL played, then: Most points for at the end of the AFL "regular" season will be the 2020 'FU Premiers. Should two or more teams be on equal points for, then: The winner of the head-to-head matchup will be 2020 Premiers, If three or more teams are on equal points for, then the winner of the "round robin" between all these teams will be the 2020 Premiers. If the teams on equal most points for did not (all) play against eachother, then the team with the highest individual round score will be deemed 2020 Premiers, If there is still no differentiation between the teams, then once again, screw them all and I'll award the Premiership to who-ever I damn-well please! No-matter what happens, lets hope we don't get to the "screw them all" scenario. Please... Good luck everyone
Everyone gets to play 17 games (hopefully), which is better than 14-3 can offer. Best of luck to everyone in the COVID Cup!
comment prefaced with: i have done no research, am too lazy to look online myself and have lived in a bubble since March 1 so have no idea about life outside my house>> so @JPK with your plan of 17 games mate and each playing each once, what happens with round 1? Is it included as a part of the 17 or is it voided?
7-8 and 8-9 most capture the spirit of the MSD. It actually also means that MSD picks get 8 rounds to play. At one stage, it was only 5.
I think its safe to (atleast) open the curtains mate... R1 results will count as 17 rounds are required in the AFL and ORFFU for each of the 18 teams to play eachother once (have you also forgotten how to do maths since 1 March???).
Maths are fine you goose. No idea how many rounds there are in total. Curtains remain closed. The world sucks