Rhyce Shaw has called for calm, as rumours continue to swirl around the different machinations of a return to football.
While quarantine hubs, reduced list sizes and revised fixtures are among the discussions in media circles, the North Melbourne coach said a patient and measured approach is key.
“I think the AFL and the state governments are working pretty hard together, to come to a resolution, and get some plans in place to position ourselves to get the season under way. They are doing a great job of that,” Shaw said on 3AW.
“I’m a pretty simple man. I try to deal in as many facts as we possibly can, and we haven’t got many at the moment.
“I think a call for a calm is probably the order of the day.”
Shaw said rumours and innuendo were simply that, and his focus was firmly on keeping his players engaged and ready.
“The message to my boys is: we’ve just got to the best prepared team we possibly can be, and we’ve just got to control what we can,” he said.
“Right now, we’ve got to control our training, and how we apply ourselves to that … how we engage with the rest of our group, making sure we’re invested in each other, and our coaches and staff members.
“It’s not just the players, it’s our whole footy club going through a really tough period at the moment.
“We’ve just got to be ready. When that call comes, we’re going to be ready and we’re going to be raring to go.”
Shaw said talk of a 20-week quarantine hub seemed a little far-fetched, but was confident the AFL, its players and stakeholders would find a solution to suit all parties.
“That’s something that would be very difficult to undertake,” he said of the proposal.
“I think we’ll find a resolution in that regard, and I think that’s very unlikely in terms of where that’s going to get to, in terms of time.
“We got wind of the Players’ Association meeting on Monday night and got a couple of lines of enquiry from the boys. We spoke to them the next day. I pretty much said exactly the same as I said to you, ‘let’s take a deep breath, let’s calm down, we know that these scenarios are going to take place’.
“We’ll put our best foot forward in terms of what we would like to see happen and what we wouldn’t like to see happen. We’ve just got to make sure we deal in fact.
“I’ve said to the boys ‘let’s cross that bridge when we need to’, and when we find out what’s going on then we’ll work those situations and scenarios.”
Earlier this week, the AFL sent a memo to clubs stating that any plans for a resumption of the season would be communicated following a national cabinet meeting on May 10.
