The AFL has rules in place which say if they have 22 and 4 emergencies, they have to play us.
However, the Essendon* CEO is saying he expects common sense to prevail.
They already have one postponed match that affects Melbourne. If they postpone ours, that's two and then a third for the following week. Three clubs affected because of no fault of their own. The only common sense outcome is to minimise the disruption across the comp by inconveniencing the team concerned and letting the others get on with it.
The big problem is that we are the other team nex week. We also know Gil intervened to stop Coniglio coming to us and that he wants a strong Essendon*. I can see him breaking his own rules 'just this once'. If it were Collingwood or worse, an interstate club in a hub, there would be no question of even discussing it.
It will probably happen to another club before the season is over. The extra weeks were in the event the entire round had to be postponed, not to cobble together some sort of patchwork round where Essendon* plays four times in a week or five times in two weeks and the other teams that postponed have to play three times in quick succession to pander to them.
This needs ruthless decision making by the AFL with strict adherence to their stated rules, not some one off decision in case this is the only example.
The following is an extract from the AFL website.
The AFL has so far indicated that Essendon* will have to face the Blues this weekend if they have 22 players, plus four emergencies, available to play.
Campbell said more information was required before any such decision was made.
The Bombers submitted "an enormous amount of detail and data" to the Department of Health and Human Services on Sunday night, and Campbell expects to hear back by Tuesday on which players are affected.
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All Essendon* footballers and staff registered with the AFL for training and game purposes will also be tested again on Monday.
"I'd expect common sense would (prevail)," Campbell told Triple M radio.https://www.afl.com.au/news/456313/if-m ... e-r4-clash