West Coast coach Adam Simpson says he hopes fans take an understanding approach to not being able to come in close contact with their AFL heroes during the coronavirus outbreak.

Simpson said the club would probably close their training sessions in a bid to protect the players, and he hopes the fans understand that players won’t be shaking their hands or signing autographs.

The coronavirus outbreak has had a huge affect on sport all around the world, and there’s a strong chance AFL games will have to be played behind closed doors in the near future.

Simpson addressed the media before the club’s season launch on Thursday, and said the new measures put in place were necessary to increase the chances of games actually going ahead.

“Hopefully everyone out there respects the fact that we’ve had to do this,” Simpson said.

“It’s in the players’ best interests. We want to play. We want a season. We want to hopefully play in front of our crowds.

“But to do that it might mean that unfortunately we can’t (interact) with our fans and supporters as much as we normally do. I think everyone understands that.”

Simpson said it was with reluctance that training sessions would now be closed.

“Yeah we probably have to lean that way, as much as we don’t like it,” he said.

“We just don’t know where people have been. And players do attract attention, signing autographs and shaking hands. We’ve probably got to avoid a little bit of that.

“At the moment we’re doing the best we can to isolate our players a little bit, elevate hygiene, and also not get too hysterical as well.”

Simpson said the situation could reach a point where teams need to charter their own planes in order to avoid exposure to the coronavirus.