When AFL Chief Executive Gil McLachlan announced on March 22 that the season would be suspended until at least May 31, he urged the need for his constituents to be agile and flexible.

They have become the buzz words of the game for the last three months.

There has been agility around the resumption of a season that returned on Thursday night with only the second drawn game in history between Collingwood and Richmond. The last one was 1917. Somehow it was apt that a tied game should be outcome in this unusual 2020 season.

There has been flexibility around training and playing. Starting with training in pairs, in groups of eight, to full squad training and then two contact sessions a week.

A three-week ‘pre-season’ for clubs and players to ready themselves for the competition resumption. Some grey areas around protocols; questions being asked about the dos and don’ts. Two players have been suspended for breaches.

Things can be a little murky these days.

After today’s training session one of the Eagles players asked if he was allowed to take a ball back to the Gold Coast hub at the Royal Pines Resort. In the past he would simply have taken it and then carried it with him to the ground on game day.

Some guys like to have a footy in their hands, flicking it into the air as they relax in their room. Before taking a Sherrin this time, he was told he would need to rub it down with a disinfectant wipe. That is done routinely before and after every use.

Life’s different, as we all know.

And so too was the traditional captain’s run. Usually, that is a relatively light skills session for the 26 players in the fame to play – the 22 selected in the starting line-up and the four emergencies.

It was still reduced to the group who been ear-marked to play the Gold Coast Suns tomorrow night, but the session was far removed from normal.

It was not one of the two allowable contact sessions of the week, so rather than sweeping the ball from one end of the ground to the other, players completed their final preparations in their respective lines.

There was no connection from defence to midfield to the forward 50; it was just skill-based drills within their groups. Their arrival at Metricon Stadium, an important familiarisation session, was staggered and so was their departure. Only two groups at either end of the vast expanse.

They will not come together again as a playing unit until they return to the venue when four premiership points go on the line.

It was unusual, to say the least. In keeping with Gil’s gospel, it was both agile and flexible.

Doubtless there will be further need for both traits as the most unusual season in history continues to navigate its way through this COVID-19 maise.