Crowds will be allowed into the Gabba and Metricon Stadium this weekend, according toย Footy Classifiedย panellist and veteran AFL journalist Caroline Wilson.
Wilson reported the news on Channel 9'sย Footy Classifiedย on Monday night with a Queensland government ruling granting the wish of Brisbane Lions chief executive Greg Swann to have fans at the Gabba for the clash against Fremantle in Round 2.
โI can tell you all there will be crowds at the Gabba and at Metricon Stadium this weekend,โ Wilson told Footy Classified.
โAnnastacia Palaszczuk, the Premier of Queensland, has announced that they will allow 25 per cent of every football stadium to be filled."
โWhere the Gabbaโs concerned, thatโs around 10,000 or 11,000. The Gabba is not really ready to bring in that many people in this weekend. So on Saturday afternoon for the Fremantle game, they are going to bring in 1000 people.โ
The Lions are playing the next four matches at home with Wilson stating the club would gradually increase the cap on attendance, moving to 2500 for Round 3, 5000 for Round 4, then potentially 11,000 for the Round 5 clash with Port Adelaide.
Gold Coast will start with 600 to 700 people at Metricon and will increase the amount to 6000 for their next home game in Round 4.
Wilson reported that Lions staff who have been recently laid off or not fully paid can attend as well as fully-paid members and corporates.
โTheyโre going to have to sit a certain distance apart, most of them outdoors,โ Wilson said.
โNo children are allowed because itโs hard too hard to police and certain gates will be open.
โNo medical checks, no temperature checks before they come into the ground.โ
Wilson also stated that fans haven't been ruled out for Saturday night's Showdown between Port Adelaide and Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
โTheyโre waiting on an announcement from their medical transition team (on Tuesday) โ they were hoping for an announcement (on Monday),โ she said.
โMy understanding is Port Adelaide were hopeful of getting some corporates in, a big group of corporates in, for Saturdayโs Showdown.โ
An update on Victorian grounds and crowds was also given by Wilson.
โI reckon weโll have supporters coming back to the footy at GMHBA (Stadium) and Marvel (Stadium) and the MCG within three to four weeks โฆ I donโt think weโre talking 25 per cent in three to four weeks, but this is moving so quickly you canโt rule anything out,โ she said.
Port Adelaide champion andย Footy Classifiedย panellist Kane Cornes, however, expressed his amazement fans were being allowed into venues while some clubs have to stay in hubs on the Gold Coast.
"It still seems ridiculous to me that weโve still got clubs in a hub and Port Adelaide and Adelaide are going to jump on a plane after the Showdown and fly to a hub to play footy. Yet we can still have crowds in the stadium,โ he told Footy Classified.
โHow is that happening in this world?โ
AFL CEO Gillion McLachlan spoke earlier Monday night on Fox Footy's On The Couchย stating that any Round 2 crowds would be โdone in authorised partnership with the statesโ and there would be โa balance where fans and members are there as much as corporates are, I can assure you of thatโ.
When asked of the economics of opening stadiums to smaller crowds, McLachlan said: โBroadly, most of the crowds in the smaller numbers will be uneconomic."
โBut our members have been unbelievable, and theyโve been getting our clubs through, and weโre investing back in our supporters as much as anything. And our reserved seat holders and others, to be able to go to the venues."
โItโs not an economic decision to be opening up the venues, itโs about the core of the game and the heartbeat of it, which is our supporters and members.โ
