I hope you've enjoyed the first few rounds of the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season, and I'd like to thank all of our members for your support as we've navigated a 75% capacity limit at Optus Stadium. It's been great to at least be able to welcome all of our reserved seat members, and a number of Flexi members, to home matches.

Similarly, we enjoyed great support in round two from our Melbourne-based members, where capacities have also increased to 75%.

You will by now have heard that the capacity has been lifted to 100% in time for our round five match against Collingwood next Friday, April 16 at 6.10pm.

While this is great news for everyone, we are still working within a COVID-19 environment, and there are some COVID-Safe requirements that still need to be met in order for this to occur.

We're still waiting on the formal Directions from the State Government in relation to what 100% means in reality – there may still be some limits on indoor spaces at the stadium, which we will need to work through.

Practices such as digital ticketing will need to continue (as part of the venue's government-approved COVID-Safe Plan), and it's been great to see our members embrace digital ticketing so enthusiastically on the whole. For those who have had some challenges, our Membership Services Team has worked to provide solutions and assistance, and we will continue to do so.

Digital tickets will continue to be released on a weekly basis, both in Western Australia and around the country, due to the fact that fixtures may change at short notice (as was recently seen following COVID-19 outbreaks in Brisbane) or that capacities anywhere may potentially change again in response to local cases.

We still need to be 'COVID-flexible'.

The short timelines mean that we cannot confirm if we can offer any presale tickets to In The Wings members for round five at this stage; however, it is at the top of our list to make sure that this access is restored as quickly as possible.

The Membership Services Team will continue to communicate in relation to impacts on your particular type of membership.

Finally, I'd like to make note of the fact that the NAB AFL Women's Competition has wrapped up for our West Coast Eagles for 2021, with the team finishing the season in twelfth position on the ladder, after two wins for our second season.

There's been a lot to like in the performances we've seen, and the team will continue to build over time.

Thank you once again for your patience and support – it's this support and your willingness to adapt that has allowed the AFL to achieve increased capacity at all venues, including Optus Stadium.

Go Eagles!

Kind regards,
 
 
Trevor Nisbett
Chief Executive