The sirens will soon blare across the MCG again, with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan announcing today that the 2020 season will restart on Thursday, June 11. The season was initially suspended on March 22, in line with other venue and event shutdowns across Australia.
From Monday, May 18, clubs will resume training but full-contact training will not resume until the following week, on May 25. All players and returning staff will be tested for Covid-19 before returning to their clubs. Once contact training begins, there will be only two contact sessions per week, and players will be tested again for the virus before each session.
No announcement has been made on crowds though it should be presumed that the matches will take place without spectators in line with current restrictions on public gatherings.
The first match will be played on Thursday, June 11 and a revised fixture will be announced in four to six-week sections. The Age has reported that the Grand Final most likely won’t happen until the end of October and that it may be played at Marvel Stadium instead of the MCG (as it is booked for the Twenty20 World Cup, should the event go ahead).
Read more: 15 things you might not know about Victoria's stay-at-home restrictions.
Plus the Corner Hotel is hosting a huge bottleshop sale.