 He completed a full load of pre-season training and maintained a place in the club's best 22 through each of its two pre-season series matches, before earning selection in the season-opening match against Carlton.Pickett recorded 14 disposals and an equal match-high five tackles in the win, played under extraordinary conditions imposed on the league as a result of the rapid progression of the coronavirus pandemic into Australia.In what the league planned would be the first of a reduced 17-round season, the match was played without crowds in attendance due to public health prohibitions on large gatherings and with quarter lengths reduced by one fifth in order to reduce the physical load on players who would be expected to play multiple matches with short breaks in the second half of the year.