The AFL has set a Friday deadline for clubs to submit up to 20 footballers who will compete for them as part of the competition’s new Covid contingency list.
Players can be from clubs’ aligned and/or designated state league or second-tier teams, or 19-year-olds in their Next Generation Academy or northern academy programs.
The league outlined the rules to clubs on Tuesday after months of speculation, having already informed them they planned to play all matches without postponements or changes this season.
Clubs can call-up footballers on their Covid contingency list to train if they have fewer than 30 fit players because of a combination of Covid healthy and safety protocols or general injuries or unavailability.
But they won’t be eligible to play in an AFL game unless their club has fewer than 28 players for those combined reasons.
There must be at least one absence from a footballer being in Covid healthy and safety protocols for teams to dip into their top-up players.
The AFL’s general manager of football, Brad Scott, said the league was committed to “completing the season for supporters in a way that prioritises the health and safety of the wider community”.
“In a national sport, played across many states and territories, we need to be able to adapt, and adapt quickly to the Covid-19 conditions at any one time at locations where home teams are based, or away teams are travelling to,” Scott said.
“These guidelines help us achieve that, while providing potential opportunities for talented players plying their craft in state league competitions to play football at the elite level.
“Through these guidelines, we have worked together with state leagues to ensure minimal impact or disruption to their respective competitions.”
The AFL designated stand-alone VFL clubs for NSW and Queensland teams to choose players from.
Brisbane can draw from Coburg and Port Melbourne; Gold Coast from Southport; GWS Giants from Frankston and Williamstown; and Sydney from the Northern Bullants and Werribee.
Adelaide and Port Adelaide will draw from their own SANFL sides, as well as up to four players from their NGA-aligned teams in the same competitxjmtzywion.
The rules are still being finalised for Fremantle and West Coast as far as access to players from WAFL clubs.
