Fairness will go out the window if the 2020 AFL season resumes in quarantine hubs on the east coast, Sydney coach John Longmire believes.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the AFL to shut down operations after the opening round in mid-March, but with the infection rate falling in recent weeks, the league is looking at ways in which it can resume its competition.
South Australian-based clubs Adelaide and Port Adelaide have joined Western Australia-based sides West Coast and Fremantle in being denied fly-in, fly-out travel exemptions by their state governments. It means they face the real possibility of having to relocate to the eastern seaboard if they are to take part when the league returns.
While many consider quarantine hubs the AFL's safest resumption option, Longmire believes it's going to create anything but a level playing field.
"Even before this had happened, everyone aims for a level playing field and everyone talks about it a lot but the reality is, it's far from level," Longmire told Melbourne radio station SEN. "Even now, when we're presented with this, it's going to be just an accepted part of what we hope to get back and play. It's not going to be a level playing field.
"If there are ways to be able to help clubs that are maybe more disadvantaged than others, then I think we should explore it. Everyone in the competition should look at that and understand that it's the way it should be done."
Longmire also believes the inconsistent relaxing of social distancing protocol around the country is causing a further disadvantage for some clubs who were unable to begin group training as early as others.
"I'd like us all to be training at once, but I don't know whether it's going to be realistic," Longmire said. "In an ideal world [training would resume at the same time], but it's far from an ideal world.
"Even the guys in Western Australia were talking about this a week or 10 days ago, that they were able to train in groups of 10. We were trying to keep that equal up until now. I don't envy the job the AFL is doing. It's just incredible, the amount of complexities that they've got to navigate through."
The AFL is expected to make a decision on its season resumption by the end of the week.