Coronavirus crisis: Danny Green still in Mark McGowan’s corner

WA sporting legend and gym owner Danny Green doesn’t agree with Mark McGowan’s decision to keep gyms closed as part of the State Government’s interim COVID restrictions, but the boxing champion said he was still in the Premier’s corner when it came to managing the pandemic.

Speaking to The West Live, Green said many West Aussies were hurting because of the restrictions, which have seen gyms, nightclubs and the casino remain closed, while making it unprofitable for many hospitality venues to open.

While admitting the Government faced an immense challenge keeping COVID out of the community, and not claiming to have any solutions, Green said singling out gyms failed to take into account how such venues operate, pandemic or not.

“(Gyms have always) prided themselves on hygiene and cleanliness, and people who go to the gym generally are concerned about their health and fitness and hygiene is a big part of that,” Green said.

“So, they’re tuned in and they’re accustomed to cleaning machines before they get on and after they get off, it’s ingrained in their psyche.”

You could make the case gyms have at least as good a track record for hygiene than many businesses that were allowed to reopen, something that has been backed up by a new advertising campaign by Fitness Australia, which stated there’d been four million SafeWA check-ins at WA gyms without a single record case of COVID spread.

However, Green said he wouldn’t join the queue of people looking to take a metaphorical swing at the Premier over the restrictions, which are set to end at midnight on Friday.

“He’s got a very, very tough job; an incredibly tough job,” Green said of the Premier.

“Every single person wants to tell what he’s doing wrong ... every single person’s on him, it’s like bees to a honey pot, they’re surrounding him, so the poor guy wouldn’t be able to breathe properly.

“There’s lots of things I’d like to see different, but it’s not realistic and I can’t change what’s going on. So I think he’s doing the best job for the people he can.

“I think Mark McGowan definitely has Western Australians in his sights to keep everyone healthy, safe and alive.”