The West Coast Eagles will relocate to the Gold Coast in order to get the 2020 AFL season underway.
General manager of football Craig Vozzo revealed this morning that players and core staff would set up a base at the Royal Pines Resort, which is in close proximity to Metricon Stadium and approximately 80km from The Gabba
While his preference was to remain in Perth, Vozzo believed operating out of the Gold Coast was the Eagles’next best option.
He hoped the arrangement would be a temporary one and that the club would return to Perth once the Western Australian Government relaxed its strict border controls or mandatory 14-day quarantine requirements for persons returning to the state from interstate locations.
“Perth is the ideal destination, but we are going to relocate to the Royal Pines on the Gold Coast for some time. We’re planning (to relocate) for up to a month,” Vozzo said.
“It’s a good fit for our football club in terms of climate and facilities. It’s a good opportunity to gather with some space and there’s good availability for ovals, gyms and aquatic facilities.
“We need to be flexible and are working to get a reasonable run of home games after that.”
Vozzo said the club was now in the process of planning for the move.
He also revealed that the club was working closely with the AFL to determine whether family members of players and staff could join them at the Royal Pines facility.
“We’re building our schedule as we speak,” he said.
“We believe the fixture will be released in blocks, not in its entirety. We will need to have flexibility.
“The accommodation facility looks really impressive. It gives us a good opportunity to set up a good base.
“We are proud that our players and staff are making a sacrifice for the greater good.
“Our priority is health and well-being and we are confident the players will be able to use the facilities (golf course) at Royal Pines, rather than be in a quarantine lockdown situation.
“They are not going to be sitting in a room for a month and leaving to play. The AFL have been really good in understanding the priority of health and well-being.”
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan is scheduled to front the media at 10.45am WST today, where he is expected to confirm the season will resume on June 11.
If that is the case, Vozzo said West Coast was confident it could get its players back up to speed from a physical standpoint following a seven-week absence from the club.
“Our high performance staff are quite comfortable (with the return to play schedule),” he said.
“We will screen them all properly, but we’re confident around the timeframe.”
