SUNS GM – Football Operations Jon Haines says the SUNS will embrace any challenge thrown their way as a result of the AFL’s need to revise the fixture this week.
Thursday night had originally been pencilled in for a West Coast v Richmond clash at Metricon Stadium, but those plans changed when the Queensland Government tightened restrictions for Victorians entering the state.
As a result, two matches have been rearranged, with West Coast to now host Sydney at Metricon Stadium on Saturday afternoon and Richmond playing Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.
As it stands, the SUNS will travel to Geelong to take on the Cats, but the fixture after that for Gold Coast remains unclear with the new government restrictions.
Haines said the club would be able to handle anything thrown their way, even if that means an extended run on the road before returning home.
“In terms of anything else that comes along, we’re open-minded,” Haines said.
“We’ve had to be all the way along since the start of the season from Round 1 pretty much.
“We’re open-minded of what the future looks like and as we’ve said before on numerous occasions, we’re happy to go anywhere to play footy and help the competition continue on so that’s our mindset.”
The AFL continue to work through contingency plans for the coming weeks, but Haines said the SUNS were well-equipped for the potential to enter into a hub away from home.
“We love travelling, we haven’t been on the road for a while but we’re a team that travels every second week during a normal season anyway,” he said.
“We’re a club that is open to travel, we embrace it.
“The guys love spending time together, they’re a really tight group in that sense so we’ll relish the opportunity to get on the road.”
Haines believed there were no disadvantages to being based interstate and instead looked at the benefits the club could glean from a hub environment.
“All those sort of things in terms of the group dynamic is important,” he said.
“The more time we can get this group playing together and the more time we can get the group spending time together is a really important part of the overall puzzle for us.
“We’re really supportive of what lies ahead.”
The AFL will work through the implications for the following rounds before announcing any changes required for Round 6 and Round 7.
