Rays of sunlight are breaking through the dark clouds of the Covid-19 epidemic, with West Coast Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett more optimistic than ever about the AFL football resuming in some shape or form in the near future.

Mr Nisbett, one of the most experienced and respected administrators in the game, was part of a national video hook-up with the AFL and the presidents and CEOs of all 18 clubs this morning.

He said there was a sense of positivity emanating from the meeting, although a resumption of the punctuated season will be reliant upon a continuation of the trend which has seen some control over the number of new cases in Australia in the last week or so.

“It was one of hundreds of meetings we have had recently, but there seems to be some light on return to play,” Mr Nisbett said.

“The mood was positive and reflective of the protocols that the national cabinet yesterday endorsed to try to get back playing elite and community sport.

“Health officers will go back to their respective States, but it seems there is a prospect of playing a little earlier than we initially thought.

“Currently players are able to train in pairs and the next step would be to escalate to groups of 10 with no contact and then full training. 

“It seems there is a likelihood we could return to play by mid to late June, providing the trend of flattening the curve continues. A healthy Australia is the first priority and everything else will flow from there.”

A decision on increasing training groups to 10 players could come within the next week to 10 days, with a plan to extend to full squad sessions building from there.

“We need to get our non-West Australian players back as soon as possible, which will be decided by health officers and the government around our border controls,” Mr Nisbett said. “Then we can get back to training with groups of 10 and then hopefully a few weeks down the track it escalates further.

“We will be angling to get our players back to Perth as soon as possible, do their quarantine time (two weeks) and then start preparing.

“In terms of how the season unfolds, we’d be open to just about anything, although extended hubs are problematic for a number of reasons. We do, however, have a mature squad and we think they will be able adapt to anything that is put in front of them.

“We are trying to be as nimble and as agile as we can be so that we are ready to compete as soon as there is some clarity around how the season looks and the logistics around that.”