Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has questioned whether the AFL can continue on with fixtures if teams experience the same outbreak as the West Coast Eagles.
For their 15-point loss to North Melbourne on Sunday the Eagles were forced to field a team decimated by injuries and players forced into COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
While injuries to the likes of Elliot Yeo, Oscar Allen and Andrew Gaff were bad enough for the Eagles, the lead-up to their match against the Kangaroos turned to farce as the club was forced to dig into their COVID-19 contingency list as part of the AFL’s top-up policy.
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In total, 12 players were listed out under health and safety protocols, which forced the Eagles to field several top-up players.
Lloyd, a three-time Coleman Medallist who booted more than 900 goals in his career, questioned if the conversation going forward would look different if a COVID-19 impacted team is blown off the park.
“What about the result when it’s a 15-goal margin? That will come.” Lloyd said on Nine’s Footy Classified
“I think the AFL got lucky that the West Coast Eagles were playing North Melbourne.
“If this was Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and they got smashed by 15 or 16 goals, I think that’s when there would be a different discussion.”
It was a controversial moment for the AFL in the aftermath of West Coast’s defeat.
Blues coach Michael Voss, whose side has started 2-0, said it a “disadvantage for one team”
“I didn’t like it, I must admit. I know that’s the only way we’ve got right now but that just felt like it was too much,” Voss said.
Leading AFL journalist Caroline Wilson said comments from Voss and other coaches, who are aware of the AFL’s top-up plan to combat COVID-19 outbreaks, rubbed the league the wrong way.
“Some people in the AFL are filthy the coaches came out and said this when they all agreed to it, they’re disappointed,” Wilson added.
“I agree coaches have every right to have an opinion even if they’ve changed their minds… I say again if you’re the Melbourne Football Club or the Western Bulldogs, a team with a chance this year, surely you’re saying to your players for heaven’s sake be careful.
“What’s going on in the west is something that happened in Victoria, New South Wales, to a lesser extent Queensland.
“It will probably happen to Fremantle next. I honestly believe there are ways you can circumnavigate this if you believe you are in top-four contention.
Lloyd questioned whether the next outbreak should result in cancellations or postponements of the fixture.
“My solution is, I would like to know when a game could potentially be cancelled?” Lloyd asked.
“I think if what West Coast dealt with on the weekend, I would seriously consider looking at where you can potentially find a game because it might only happen to the Perth clubs.”
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