WEST Coast captain Luke Shuey believes there needs to be 17 rounds played this year for the season to be legitimate and fair.
The new Eagles skipper has walked into unchartered territory in his first season in the position, with games stopped indefinitely due to the coronavirus threat.
After shutting down the season after round one, having already shortened the campaign to 17 rounds, the AFL is intent on getting through its remaining games in the second half of the year.
Shuey said getting through that number of games will be needed to validate the year.
"I think it does [need all 17 rounds to be played]. I think you need to play everyone once to get an equal and fair indication of who deserves to play finals," he told ABC Radio.
"I think it's definitely do-able by the AFL to be able to squeeze that in. It's obviously got its challenges but for me 17 games sounds pretty sensible."
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The League is debating ways to get through the games in a condensed end to the year, with the possibility of matches being played through to the end of December.
The prospect of the competition being divided into groups of clubs for 'hubs' in different parts of Australia has also been discussed with clubs.
The 2018 Norm Smith medallist and premiership star, who has been training regularly with Eagles youngster Hamish Brayshaw while in isolation, said he accept being away from family for a period if it meant the competition could resume.
"Obviously the time away from family would be one of the tougher things to do, but it's certainly do-able," he said.
"Look at the cricketers who do it for probably nine or 10 months of the year they are away.
"I didn't look too much into the ins and outs of the hub situation, I'm aware there's probably another three or four months until we're back playing so there's a lot of water to go under the bridge. There's a lot of hypotheticals."
The Eagles disposed of Melbourne at Optus Stadium in round one, winning by 27 points.
