Kane Cornes has slammed the South Australian government for not putting their hand up to host Victorian teams while they’re stuck outside the state.
Queensland will be the home base for all 10 teams for the remainder of the season, as the COVID-19 situation in Victoria worsens.
This will lead to constant games at the Gabba and Metricon Stadium and also gives the state some serious leverage when it comes to hosting the AFL Grand Final this year.
Cornes believes the South Australian government has missed an opportunity for extra games because of their conservative approach.
“I reckon it is a massive own goal by the South Australian government not to have done the same (as Queensland),” he told SEN SA Breakfast.
“I know logistically it is a little more difficult because there’s only one logical venue to play AFL games, but our government is far too conservative.
“Can you imagine the opportunity we would have had to do something similar to what Queensland are doing and host the Grand Final in Adelaide?
“But because of how conservative they have been, and you can cite public health and all of that, but it seems to be working okay in Queensland who have had similar COVID-19 cases to South Australia and with the testing and the protocols for the players, it is a massive opportunity missed from our South Australian government not to play ball with this AFL season.”
While Cornes admits his state doesn’t have the infrastructure to host all 10 Victorian teams, they could have been part of the solution rather than being part of the problem.
“You could have put your hand up earlier. Instead of hosting 10 teams you could have easily hosted six. There’s no doubt about it,” the former All-Australian midfielder said.
“These players are getting tested twice a week, you’ve got to go through the quarantine situation, which will happen with the players who aren’t in Queensland yet and also the families going up, so they have to quarantine for 14 days before they have any contact with the players.
“Like, the safety of it is pretty stringent and I just think (SA Premier) Steven Marshall, the government here, have just been far too conservative on this.
“Can you imagine what it would have done for the Adelaide Oval, the potential for the Grand Final to be here in front of 53,000 and what it would have done as a buzz for this state putting us on the map.
“It’s just a significant missed opportunity. I said that right from the start and I’ll say it even stronger now.”