All options are on the table as the AFL begins to visualise how a finals series could look later this year.

Plus the AFL has secured a huge lifeline.

And the Cats believe they can still complete the final stage of the GMHBA Stadium this year.

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Finals Week 1

PORT ADELAIDE FEARS ITS SANFL SIDE WON’T SURVIVE SHUTDOWN

Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas admits the future of the AFL club’s long-standing state league outfit could be in jeopardy as the sport grapples with the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Port Adelaide Magpies are South Australia’s most successful Australian rules team with 36 SANFL premierships - a national record across the major state-based competitions.

The club is celebrating its 150th year in 2020, but it could also be the Magpies’ last.

“I would hate to contemplate that the Port Magpies won’t get through,’‘ Thomas said on SEN SA Breakfast on Monday morning.

“We are committed to it in the SANFL, but we’ll have to wait and see. The reality is we have to see where this lands, I don’t know how the SANFL is planning to move through it.

“It’s too early in the conversation to fully understand what’s going to happen to football in general.

“There are going to be a lot of structural conversations in the next few months.”

As with all AFL clubs, Port Adelaide was forced to stand down about 80 per cent of its staff last week after the national competition went into shutdown.

Thomas’ comments about the Magpies came a few days after AFL club Carlton made the tough call to axe its state league affiliate, the Northern Blues, effectively ending the club’s 138-year existence.

There are fears for other state league clubs as the football industry fights for survival.

Central District, South Australia’s most successful club this century, last week launched a fundraising campaign aimed at raising $250,000 to save it from extinction.

- Shayne Hope, AAP

AFL SECURES HUGE LINE OF CREDIT

Tom Morris reports...

The AFL has secured a half-a-billion dollar line of credit from the bank to keep the game afloat.

Foxfooty.com.au can confirm clubs have been briefed on the developments, which the league was working hard to finalise over the weekend.

The line of credit, which is essentially a bank loan, was badly needed to fund the shortfalls associated with an abbreviated season and no crowds.

Gillon McLachlan has played a key role and has been supported by former Macquarie Capital boss Robin Bishop, who is an AFL commissioner.

The AFL has secured a huge loan. Source: Getty Images

The AFL can essentially borrow against Marvel Stadium, which it acquired in October 2016 for approximately $200 million.

It makes Marvel Stadium the league’s biggest asset and critical to the bank’s approval for a loan exceeding $500 million.

Fairfax media has reported that the venue is valued at more than a billion dollars.

The AFL has taken over the treasury function of all clubs in unprecedented times. This is to ensure the financial viability of the game and to make sure money is managed correctly across the board.

Whatever previous distributions clubs received from the league have been thrown out the window. The collective industry wide approach has been welcomed by clubs, all of whom have been forced to stand down 80-90 per cent of its workforce due to the coronavirus crisis.

Only the most essential employees have been retained, and even many of them have had their work hours reduced to part-time.

To secure a line of credit, the AFL and AFLPA first needed to come to an agreement regarding the payment for the players so the league could inform the bank of its revenue projections. On Friday evening, it was announced that the players would be paid 50 percent of their wages for April and May, and then 50 per cent if games returned after that.

If matches don’t return, players will earn 30 percent of their overall wage. Discussions are ongoing regarding the contractual implications of the season progressing beyond October 31.

CATS EXPECT TO COMPLETE GMHBA STADIUM AMID FINANCIAL CRISIS

Geelong powerbroker Frank Costa expects the Cats to complete the final stage of the GMHBA Stadium redevelopment, despite the AFL facing its biggest financial crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Cats are set to lose up to $1 million for every home game they don’t play in front of fans at home this season and were forced to stand down 80 per cent of club staff last week.

GMHBA Stadium has become the pride and joy of Geelong since its redevelopment and now only has the old Gary Ablett Terrace and Ford Stand to complete.

But despite the dire financial state of the game, the former Geelong president believes the club will complete the stadium at the end of the 2020 season as planned.

“At this stage I think it will (go ahead),” Costa told SEN on Monday morning.

“I can’t see why it won’t because the money’s there – the state government has assured us of that.

“While it is very uncertain with everything that is going on around us at the moment, I do think it will go ahead.

“We held it off this season because the state government provided the funds for this final stage and they have a big cricket having this year and they didn’t want us to touch the stadium until the end of the footy season.”

Dustin Martin celebrates a goal in last year’s Grand Final. Source: News Regional Media

RADICAL FINALS PROPOSAL

A best-of-three Grand Final series is one of several options being considered by the AFL as it seeks to devise a compressed fixture in the case the league resumes later in the year.

According to the Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph, a wildcard finals weekend is another proposal being canvassed

The AFL will meet with the AFL Players’ Association in order to get four-day breaks ticked off in order to play a 17-round season.

However, were a wildcard weekend and/or a best-of-three Grand Final series ticked off, the league would need to find more time to accommodate such changes.

AFL fixturing boss Travis Auld stressed that a 17-game season and traditional four-week finals series would serve as the league’s minimum requirements.



“We are (open to wildcard weekend) except it’s going to add length to the season,” Auld said.

“If we have got the time maybe but things would have to change really quickly for us to be in a position where we have spare time. If we had kept going from Round 1 we would have had spare time but every week that goes by you lose that space.

“Getting 17 rounds away in a shortened period of time and then four weeks of finals is our base.”