Richmond captain Trent Cotchin caught in tough AFL virus dilemma
Richmond captain Trent Cotchin is reportedly considering returning to Melbourne after one of his daughters had to be taken to hospital earlier this week.
The Tigers have set up camp in Sydney after flying out of Melbourne last week amid the Victorian capital's emerging coronavirus outbreak.
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Cotchin remains in Sydney for the time being, with the Tigers' upcoming 'Dreamtime' match against Essendon having been relocated to Western Australia.
It remains to be seen whether Cotchin will travel to W.A. with the rest of the team, after his wife Brooke posted an image of one of the couple's daughters in hospital on Tuesday evening.
Tigers senior club advisor Neil Balme said Cotchin had discussed the prospect of him returning to Melbourne, but that no decision had been made just yet.
“We have said very clearly to all our players that whatever they need us to support them on, we will,” Balme told the Herald Sun.
“We love them playing, but there are other things in life that they have to take into account, and whatever they do, we will support them.”
The Tigers also issued a statement acknowledging the discussion about Cotchin's dilemma.
If the 31-year-old returns to Melbourne, which is set to remain in lockdown until at least June 10, it is unclear whether he would be permitted to travel interstate to rejoin the team.
“Richmond acknowledges interest in captain Trent Cotchin’s availability ahead of this Saturday’s Dreamtime game,” the statement read.
“Cotchin remains a part of the football program in Sydney, and is monitoring a personal matter at home in Victoria.”
Northern Territory prepares bid for AFL team
The Northern Territory is preparing to release a bid for a team to join the AFL while remaining keen to still host elite games this season.
Two scheduled fixtures in the Territory have been shifted amid Melbourne's coronavirus outbreak in a blow for the code in the region.
The rescheduling comes as AFL NT prepares to release a report detailing a proposal for the Territory to be awarded an AFL licence.
"The report has been completed for some time," AFL NT chief executive Stuart Totham told AAP on Wednesday.
"The release of that report into a team for the NT is close by."
The imminent release of the report comes as the Territory remains hopeful of still hosting AFL games this season.
Alice Springs was to host a blockbuster this Friday night between ladder-leaders Melbourne and premiership fancies Brisbane Lions.
That game has been moved to Sydney, while last weekend's scheduled Saturday night match in Darwin between Gold Coast and Hawthorn was also shifted to the NSW capital.
"We are super-keen to still host the games," Totham said.
"Obviously it's going to be challenging with the current fixtures that are in place but we will be working closely with government, AFL, clubs, to see if we can still host some games.
"It is really disappointing from a number of perspectives."We only get two (games) and there's that old saying, you can't be what you can't see.
"Obviously there's some economic drivers and it goes to livability in the Territory but importantly it helps inspire kids to want to play footy and play at the highest level."
Totham said the Territory was prepared to host games at any time and on short notice.
"We take anything we can get to be fair, we will just get it done," he said.
"Last year we had three weeks to organise three games in eight days when all of our team was on stand down (due to coronavirus cutbacks).
"So we have shown we can get it done quickly and we will do it again when we need to because we know the public really love these games."
With AAP
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