The Western Bulldogs leaving Melbourne Airport for their hub on the Gold Coast on Monday. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
Hubs away! Much like with the annual fixture release, regardless of how it lands before every season, it seems every Victorian club has “welcomed the challenge” of traveling to a quarantine hub while their home state battles a serious COVID-19 spike.
Given the way West Coast performed after making its hub-related grievances known early in its Queensland stay, maybe projecting a positive attitude into the public arena is for the best.
It’s something clubs such as Collingwood and Geelong have made a point of doing through coaches Nathan Buckley and Chris Scott over the past few weeks since it became clear they would be heading interstate for extended periods.
Light-hearted cracks about enjoying the sunshine and beaches in the northern states have quickly become as prevalent for travelling Victorian clubs in their media appearances as the words “flexible” and “agile” are at AFL House.
Now we charge head-first into one of the most bizarre blocks of AFL matches ever likely to be seen in our lifetime. Get used to seeing a schedule packed with fixtures like Geelong-Brisbane in Sydney, West Coast-Adelaide in Brisbane and Carlton-Western Bulldogs on the Gold Coast.
There’s talk about 2020 being one of the hardest-won premierships in history, while commentators on the other side of the debate keep talking about the asterisk hovering over the truncated and compromised season. In the end, it might just be a case of being the last team standing when we reach finals time – whenever and wherever that may be.
The heat has been on Richmond and Collingwood in recent weeks, and much of it brought upon themselves. Now you can add Melbourne to the list as the blowtorch gets turned up on the Dees’ woeful skill areas that need to be urgently addressed.
You’d think that would make silky star Harley Bennell a welcome addition to the line-up to tackle Gold Coast at Giants Stadium, though his selection will depend on whether he has adequately addressed Simon Goodwin’s requirement that he builds on his ability to run at the right intensity for long enough.
The Tigers rectified their own intensity issues with a hard-fought win over Melbourne last week, but face a difficult task to cope without injured premiership stars Dion Prestia, Toby Nankervis and David Astbury for extended periods of time.
Skipper Trent Cotchin is also among the walking wounded and will miss Sunday’s clash with Sydney at the Gabba with a minor hamstring complaint that will be watched closely after he struggled with similar issues throughout 2019.
Tom Lynch’s mad dash to the Tigers’ Gold Coast hub on Monday night after minor surgery on a fractured hand wasn’t quite as spectacular as West Australian champion Brian Peake’s helicopter arrival in Geelong many moons ago. But the private jet he travelled in still spoke to Richmond’s “power club” status as it continues to flex its muscle off the field.
For all the Eagles’ aforementioned woes, they are back on track and expected to comfortably account for winless Adelaide in their final match in Queensland before heading back to Perth. It will square their record at 3-3 ahead of a long stretch of home matches, likely to be played in front of bigger crowds than are allowed anywhere else in the country. Anyone who rules out West Coast as a genuine contender at this stage does so at their own peril.
Red-hot Brisbane faces another big test when it tackles Geelong, while Collingwood and Hawthorn will be desperate to get back in the winners’ circle. The Port Adelaide-GWS clash pits two possible flag winners against each other and the Western Bulldogs can’t afford to drop a game against Carlton if they’re serious about contending.
While Victorian football suffers under the weight of the state’s ongoing coronavirus crisis, there will be one small beneficial side-effect from the AFL’s absence in its heartland. You may not have noticed, but the huge drop in traffic on Marvel Stadium in recent months has left the oft-maligned turf in the best condition it has ever been in since the Docklands venue opened 20 years ago.
The only issue with the surface that remains for the AFL is the soft centre circle that often results in poor bounces. With at least five more weeks’ rest, it should be a carpet by the time football returns to Melbourne.
Now we’ve just got to sit and wait to see when that might be. In the meantime, enjoy the games elsewhere and keep it in perspective – because even footy with a wild overcorrection on holding- the-ball decisions, sliding skill levels and low scoring is better than no footy at all.
