Balme and Scott warn against overreaction
Nine WWOS
28 April 2020
Richmond GM Neil Balme and Geelong coach Chris Scott have warned against the AFL's mass cost-cutting hurting the on-field product.
Watch here: https://wwos.nine.com.au/videos/afl/balme-and-scott-warn-against-overreaction/ck9ik03v5005l0hnqtu8apqz8
According to Balme, the AFL has over-reacted in terms of just how drastic the cuts will need to be.
"I think we've got to be very concerned about it," he told Footy Classified.
"We have to spend a fair bit of the day to provide a decent footy department and staff and support for our guys and our girls.
"If you cut too much we're going to narrow the game rather than broaden the game, so I am a bit concerned about it.
"I understand the arithmetic of it and I understand it's a real challenge and I understand the AFL. It's an enormous challenge for them and I think they're doing a fantastic job generally, but I think it's very easy to just cut the numbers.
"Somehow we can't allow ourselves to be defined by the coronavirus, we've somehow got to get through it.
"We know when it's gone that things will be back to where we are, I think we need to, at worst, stage things like reducing soft caps rather than just making a big cut.
"I think we will be very disappointed with our product if we did that. I think we are overreacting but that's a little bit about our reaction to the virus as well.
"We have to over-react otherwise we won't get the right outcome. I'm just hoping that the footy thing isn't quite as deep as that."
https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/neil-balme-chris-scott-warn-against-expansive-afl-cost-cutting-amid-coronavirus-covid-19-crisis/56e70c99-de3c-475a-af8a-11e91fb13ecf