Ratts on hub propsals

[saynta]

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/rat ... 54nhq.html

'St Kilda coach Brett Ratten has given tentative support to the AFL's quarantine hub concept but says the Saints will respect the decision of any player who does not want to be part of it.

The AFL has not yet finalised its plan to resume the season but is understood to be weighing up multiple states as potential bases for training, accommodation and matches.

An announcement is expected on May 11, though the issue has not yet been discussed in fine detail with the AFL Players' Association.

Ratten is equally wary of the mental health challenges that could arise in quarantine hubs and the impact on players' families if they are to be away for up to eight weeks.
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"Somebody could say, 'It's too hard for me mentally to leave my wife and kids or not to see my kids' and we would respect that," Ratten told SEN radio on Monday.

"At the end of the day, this is a situation and a season like no other.

"The health of our people and the mental health of our people is first and foremost.

"If that meant somebody said they weren't playing, we would respect that."

Ratten said he wanted more detail on the hub concept before giving his definitive support, but is receptive to the plan.

"If people have got to sacrifice a little bit to make the game work, I think we have to do that, but only if we're all safe and our health is at the forefront of it all," Ratten said.

"If we have to play in hubs, we have to play in hubs to get the game back on track.

"I'm very open to it, I think a lot of people are, but we haven't got all the information to make a real definitive comment with it."

In contrast to Richmond counterpart Damien Hardwick, Ratten is happy to wait for the AFL to deliver its date for a resumption of the season, which was put on hold last month.

He said it was important to finish the 2020 campaign without further interruption once it resumes.

"The AFL are working closely with the government, so I think they'll come up with the start date," Ratten said.

"We don't want to get back and then have to stop the game again."

Hardwick on Sunday said the Tigers could be up and running within as little as two weeks, but Ratten feels a three- or four-week training block would be necessary before the next round of matches.

[Scollop]

You’re turning Saintsational into a bit of a media ‘hub’ with all your posts.

Great effort and many thanks

[CURLY]

One thing is guaranteed out of this. These hubs will benefit clubs like Collingwood Eddie will make sure of it. Watch us get sent to Perth.

[saynta]

You’re turning Saintsational into a bit of a media ‘hub’ with all your posts.

Great effort and many thanks

Thought I would cheer you guys up a bit.

[CQ SAINT]

You’re turning Saintsational into a bit of a media ‘hub’ with all your posts.

Great effort and many thanks

Thought I would cheer you guys up a bit.

Cheers Saynta. Makes a welcome change from some of the gloom and doom posts on here recently and as a banana bender and one who doesn't support any media outlets with subscription, your sharing of Saints articles is much aappreciated.

[CQ SAINT]

You’re turning Saintsational into a bit of a media ‘hub’ with all your posts.

Great effort and many thanks

Thought I would cheer you guys up a bit.

Cheers Saynta. Makes a welcome change from some of the gloom and doom posts on here recently and as a banana bender and one who doesn't support any media outlets with subscription, your sharing of Saints articles is much aappreciated.

[Secret Kiel]

The hub idea is insane.

[saintspremiers]

The hub idea is insane.

Of course it is.

Why can’t players get tested every week with a 24 hour testing turnaround the day prior to playing?

Surely that would do the trick.

Are they friggin morons that run the AFL??

Aren’t they aware of the massive amount of test kits now available?

It’s like we are living in a time lag.

The quarantine hub made sense 2 or 3 weeks ago when cases were high and we hadn’t fully flattened the curve. Plus there was very limited test kits.

Are the media dumb also not pushing the more sensible mass and regular player testing concept??

[remboy]

The hub idea is insane.

Of course it is.

Why can’t players get tested every week with a 24 hour testing turnaround the day prior to playing?

Surely that would do the trick.

Are they friggin morons that run the AFL??

Aren’t they aware of the massive amount of test kits now available?

It’s like we are living in a time lag.

The quarantine hub made sense 2 or 3 weeks ago when cases were high and we hadn’t fully flattened the curve. Plus there was very limited test kits.

Are the media dumb also not pushing the more sensible mass and regular player testing concept??

Now your just being silly. Why couldn’t the players play wearing gloves and masks. Even spacesuits if they have to. That should enablethem to get the season up and running.

[saintspremiers]

The hub idea is insane.

Of course it is.

Why can’t players get tested every week with a 24 hour testing turnaround the day prior to playing?

Surely that would do the trick.

Are they friggin morons that run the AFL??

Aren’t they aware of the massive amount of test kits now available?

It’s like we are living in a time lag.

The quarantine hub made sense 2 or 3 weeks ago when cases were high and we hadn’t fully flattened the curve. Plus there was very limited test kits.

Are the media dumb also not pushing the more sensible mass and regular player testing concept??

Now your just being silly. Why couldn’t the players play wearing gloves and masks. Even spacesuits if they have to. That should enablethem to get the season up and running.

Are you on drugs?

FYI they want to do 100,000 tests in Victoria in 2 weeks.

Why is doing 800 tests a week on AFL players a problem?

Do you think isolating players for 6 to 8 weeks at a time is feasible? Plus costs a fortune.

[Secret Kiel]

Too right it will cost a fortune, how backward is wasting money in the current climate. Planet earth has lost the plot.

[samuraisaint]

We will be in the Adelaide "Hub" if it goes ahead.

Considering we will have to play Port Adelaide and Adelaide each several times if that goes ahead, we'll end up playing two teams who thrash us every time we play them at a ground interstate where we never win. Oh yeah, that sounds great! Where do I sign up!

That will be like a season whereby we get to play Collingwood at Victoria Park, Geelong at Geelong, and Carlton and Hawthorn at Princes Park on rotation for four solid months!.

We would be extremely lucky if we won more than four games out of the 17 (18 if you include the North Melbourne debacle).


Things may never get back to normal the way we knew it pre-corona virus lifestyle, but If the travel bans are still in force, and schools around the country, not just a couple of states and Darwin, are not fully opened by mid-July just cancel the season already, reset and play again in 2021.

[Secret Kiel]

We will be in the Adelaide "Hub" if it goes ahead.

Considering we will have to play Port Adelaide and Adelaide each several times if that goes ahead, we'll end up playing two teams who thrash us every time we play them at a ground interstate where we never win. Oh yeah, that sounds great! Where do I sign up!

That will be like a season whereby we get to play Collingwood at Victoria Park, Geelong at Geelong, and Carlton and Hawthorn at Princes Park on rotation for four solid months!.

We would be extremely lucky if we won more than four games out of the 17 (18 if you include the North Melbourne debacle).


Things may never get back to normal the way we knew it pre-corona virus lifestyle, but If the travel bans are still in force, and schools around the country, not just a couple of states and Darwin, are not fully opened by mid-July just cancel the season already, reset and play again in 2021.

Maybe with no crowds the crows and power plauers might be more disinterested than our players to give us the edge and maybe a spectacularly boring victory.

[minneapolis]

The hub idea is insane.

Correct. There is a lot of hubbub bout it.

[takeaway]

The hub idea is insane.

Correct. There is a lot of hubbub bout it.

Surely with a shortened season, shortened quarters, even a period using the hub scenario, and above all no crowds, they will not be presenting an AFL Premiership Cup at the end of it. Would never be regarded as an authentic premiership.

Should be renamed the "Hub Cup" for this year.

[desertsaint]

Here's a good idea for a hub competition.
The ten vic clubs form their own hub. fight out a premiership call the VAFL. The adelaide clubs already have clubs in their local competitions - and just spread their top list across the sanfl for the year. the other interstate teams can do something similar, or take a rest.

[minneapolis]

The hub idea is insane.

Correct. There is a lot of hubbub bout it.

Surely with a shortened season, shortened quarters, even a period using the hub scenario, and above all no crowds, they will not be presenting an AFL Premiership Cup at the end of it. Would never be regarded as an authentic premiership.

Should be renamed the "Hub Cup" for this year.

And they would get a Golden HubCap instead of a Premiership Cup.

[Secret Kiel]

The hub idea is insane.

Correct. There is a lot of hubbub bout it.

Surely with a shortened season, shortened quarters, even a period using the hub scenario, and above all no crowds, they will not be presenting an AFL Premiership Cup at the end of it. Would never be regarded as an authentic premiership.

Should be renamed the "Hub Cup" for this year.

And they would get a Golden HubCap instead of a Premiership Cup.

The biggest risk with re starting is shutting down again and all that will have been achieved is wasting a significant amount of money. I would have thought wasting money in times like these is something you would be desperate to avoid.

I'm starting to think this is more about saving Fox which is in massive financial trouble and was well before COVID-19.

It's going to be interesting to see how the marketing department spin the GF and flag which is normally considered the Wholy Grail.