The AFL will continue to negotiate with various state governments in a bid to secure a prompt return to uniform full training while its clubs make tough calls on the staffing of their football departments.
An announcement on returning to train and play dates will come this week, potentially as early as Wednesday.
The AFL has already ordered all players and staff to undergo coronavirus tests this week before a planned return to group training, with an expected June season resumption.
Players will get a better understanding of what to expect when the competition does restart after they meet with AFL Players Association boss Paul Marsh on Wednesday.
“It won’t be business as usual, we’re all aware of that,” Collingwood midfielder Taylor Adams told RSN.
“Hopefully it’s nothing too strenuous, just some safety measures to ensure the risk (of COVID-19) is mitigated.”
Victorian clubs have a state government exemption to return to full training – including contact – while clubs in NSW and Queensland are expected to receive similar privileges in line with those granted to their NRL counterparts.
It means plans to progress beyond players training in pairs hinge on yet-to-be-granted training exemptions from the South Australian and Western Australian governments.
Those clubs will also need to secure state government permission to fly in and out of their bases for matches without serving mandatory quarantine periods upon re-entry, otherwise they could have to temporarily relocate their operations.
As part of strict return-to-play rules, players have been banned from featuring in their affiliated second-tier competitions.
The AFL is considering allowing players not selected for games to participate in scratch matches against other AFL clubs in a controlled environment.
Meanwhile, clubs will have to quickly finalise their revamped football departments.
The clubs have been told to reduce football department spending by 40 per cent, while staff numbers will be capped at 24 and must include a doctor, player development manager and psychologist.
Clubs stood down the majority of their staff when football was suspended and the reduced numbers mean some of those will not return when full training resumes – and potentially beyond.
Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew said the Suns would have to cut down from “upwards of 40” staff members – many of whom usually juggle AFL commitments with AFLW and academy duties.
“From 4pm today roughly through to tomorrow we’ll be speaking to all our staff and what that looks like,” Dew told Fox Footy Live on Tuesday.
“There’s some hard decisions to make and you wear that with heavy hearts at different times.”