Fremantle president Dale Alcock fears his club will be at a disadvantage when the AFL season resumes because of Western Australia’s border restrictions.
Under a plan being considered by the AFL, the Dockers and cross-town rivals West Coast could be forced to temporarily relocate to Victoria to play games when league returns after its coronavirus shutdown.
The WA sides would play a string of away matches before finishing the season with a succession of home fixtures in Perth to balance the schedule.
The proposal has arisen because WA still has a strict 14-day quarantine period for people arriving from interstate, despite on Tuesday recording a sixth consecutive day with no new coronavirus case.
Teams from interstate could not afford to be locked in quarantine for that long as the AFL attempts to squeeze a season into a shortened time frame.
“If there wasn’t any change locally I think there’s a risk that football may not be played here because of the 14-day quarantine,” Alcock told 6PR radio.
“That could mean the WA clubs located over east to play, which I don’t think anyone here wants to see and I don’t think it’ll assist in the performance of our local two teams.
“There’s a lot of water to go under the bridge.
“I think we are going to see incremental relaxation and specific exemptions and I’d hope that we can find a level playing field.”
There is growing confidence the season will be able to restart as soon as next month with the AFL set to release its return-to-play plan on May 11.
West Coast defender Will Schofield said he would be prepared to relocate to Victoria temporarily if it meant getting the season back under way.
“I think we’re pretty well placed to travel as a team, we do it the most in the competition, so if that’s what it takes then we’re happy to,” Schofield told SEN radio.
“We want to play some games for the fans and for ourselves.”