Brendan Lines    May 22, 2020

The AFL and the South Australian Government have agreed to exemptions to fly-in umpires and broadcasters, allowing a ‘lock’ for the round 2 Showdown at Adelaide Oval to go ahead.

Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas and Crows captain Rory Sloane at Adelaide Oval – Image: The Advertiser.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan’s ‘How we start is not how we will finish’ statement at last Friday’s 2020 season re-launch was fair warning at the time.

As both Adelaide teams have arrived at a very different place today — as doubts shrouded the possibility of the game going ahead in Adelaide last night.

The AFL will fly a cohort of umpires to Adelaide to serve mandatory 14-days quarantine in South Australia, in order to meet the shortage of only two qualified AFL umpires locally.

Broadcast technicians will be exempt to fly in, being allowed only travel to Adelaide Oval to provide coverage, commentators are not exempt.

Fortunately, broadcasters have kept their South Australian TV crews at the ready through JobKeeper, who are now trained in the appropriate COVID-19 protocols.

Fox Sports earlier in the week indicated its coverage of the NRL’s round 3 re-start will adopt a more Olympic Games style of Player segregation, if all going well that format could be used to televise AFL matches.

This will implement a ‘clean zone’ for players, coaches, and officials on the Field of Play and a dedicated ‘dirty zone’ for other media, with strict health and safety protocols in place for any personnel and equipment entering the ‘clean zone.’

As commentators are not exempt they could potentially call the Showdown from a studio hub across a slot beginning 4pm to 4.30pm, then crossing to an evening game in Melbourne afterwards.

Earlier this week calls came from both clubs to protect the showdown, the ‘lock’ now around the Showdown and new training exemptions offered this week affords some rare certainty for both clubs, as they can now delay their respective moves to a Gold Coast hub.

Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas said on Tuesday the recent exemptions for full-contact training would allow Port Adelaide players to re-start the season on an ‘equal footing’ with competitors.

While Crows coach Matthew Nicks slated that this Sunday would have been the day the Crows would re-locate to the Gold Coast. 

While the green-light looks likely, the final decision now rests with the AFL, who is set to make its announcement on the 2020 fixture on Monday.