BLUE Lake Sports Park was a happy place on Tuesday night when South Gambier completed its first training session since the football world was shutdown 63 days ago.
But it was a session like no other, as the Demons were the pioneers of the South Australian National Football League’s new return to play roadmap.
The second stage of the scheme was introduced on Monday and allows training to take place under strict protocols.
The players were forced to remain locked in groups of 10 across three zones around the ground – the centre square and both 50-metre arcs.
Hand sanitiser was scattered around the venue, while participants maintained social distancing under the watchful eyes of the club’s COVID-safe officer and SANFL South East football operations coordinator Michael Mourbey.
Amid all of the hygiene practices, South coach Bronson Saffin said it was a relief for the players to train together after a long wait.
“It was a good feeling just to get back out there,” he said.
“Although it is not training as usual, it gave the guys a bit of a boost because they are not sitting on their bums at home any more.
“It helped their mental health by having a laugh and chat with their team mates.
“It was good to see everyone and have the footballs flying around again.”
Despite restrictions being lifted, it was no easy task for the Demons to start kicking to each other again.
The club had to follow a thorough process beforehand and Saffin said matters behind the scenes were actually more complicated than the on-field instructions.
“We went through some meetings just to make sure we follow the guidelines and cover our bases,” he said.
“We had most of the training equipment on hand, but just had to get some new cones and lots of hand sanitiser.
“It was more of the background stuff like organising someone to be the COVID-safe officer, who knew everything which needed to happen.”
Despite all the hard work required in the preparation, Saffin said it was a simple decision to return as early as possible.
“We (the leadership group) had chatted for a few weeks and the majority of the team were really missing football,” he said.
“So we thought why not have a go at it.”
At the start of the unprecedented session, the players completed a series of sprints before moving into some kicking drills.
Saffin said he intends to keep things simple after such a long lay off.
“We were only looking to keep these first few nights short to get back to the fundamentals of the game,” he said.
“We just wanted to ease into things and focus on kicking, handballing, using your voice and running.
“There was no point going hell for leather straight away.”
With a maximum of 30 players allowed at each session, Saffin said it will be a challenge to make sure no player is left at home.
“One of the hardest things was making sure no one misses out,” he said.
“We did not try and split into any particular groups, it was pretty much throw names into a hat and pull them out.
“At this stage we might be training on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights with split groups.”
Looking on from the sidelines, Mourbey said the Demons did a fine job.
“They did all the right things,” he said.
“They ran two metres apart and worked in their zones on the oval.
“They have everything in place and by the book.”
Despite all SANFL-affiliated clubs free to train now, not everyone was as keen to get started as South.
The remaining clubs located in South Australia are still assessing the situation and are yet to announce a return to training date.
Meanwhile Casterton Sandford is restricted by the border closure and is dictated by AFL Victoria.
Although many obstacles lay ahead, Tuesday night was a promising step towards a return of competitive football.
