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Danger warming to hubs

April 21, 2020 12:30 pm in by

AFL Players Association president Patrick Dangerfield says he’s coming around to the concept of quarantine hubs as a way to resume the 2020 season.

The Geelong superstar initially vetoed the idea of hubs, which would see teams split into three groups and isolated in different states to limit their exposure to COVID-19.

But Dangerfield now says it’s worth exploring.

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“The longer you look at where we are at nationally in terms of trying to combat the virus, I think it becomes more of an option to start the season,” he told SEN radio.

“This is purely my own personal thoughts, (but) I don’t see us flying week to week, state to state, I don’t think that’s going to be possible so I think we’re going to have to open our eyes to that possibility that there’s certain hubs around.

“We have to be open to it as the jobs of so many rely upon it and that’s not just players … so as more information comes to light I think it’s not as scary a proposition as what first initial reactions were.”

Dangerfield says it’s too soon to make a call on resuming training on May 4, which has been floated as a possible timeline.

“I know that was a timeline publicly discussed a month ago but I’m not sure how close that is to the reality of where we are at,” he said.

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“A lot of it is going to be government driven around rules on isolation.

“May 4 isn’t a date that was ever formally put to us as a PA and I suppose the situation we’re in is we’re waiting for an update from the AFL on where it’ll all stand but they are still gathering information.

“It’s frustrating for all but it’s better to get it right than rushing to a decision that could be ever changing.”

(C) AAP 2020

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