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This was published 3 years ago
Longmire’s Swans assistants to miss Demons clash due to cafe hotspot visit
By Vince Rugari
John Longmire will be without three of his most trusted assistants at the MCG on Saturday night after the pandemic threw yet another curveball in Sydney’s direction.
The Swans thought they had dodged a major scare on Thursday as players and staff all returned negative tests for COVID-19, enabling them to board an AFL-arranged charter flight bound for Melbourne – two days earlier than planned.
The Swans coaching staff, including John Longmire, and players have all tested negative to COVID-19.Credit: Getty
But Longmire’s assistants Don Pyke, Dean Cox and Jarrad McVeigh weren’t part of the travelling contingent and won’t make the trip at all because of their visit to a Moore Park cafe on Monday.
Pyke, Cox and McVeigh were all at the Azure Cafe at the Entertainment Quarter – close to the SCG – between 12.30pm and 1pm on Monday, making them casual contacts of a man in his 50s who has tested positive to COVID-19.
However, the Swans have decided to leave the trio at home out of fear they would not be granted entry into Victoria because they had been at a designated hotspot, even though they have tested negative for the coronavirus.
Longmire also went to the cafe but met the group after 1pm, clearing him of any travel-related issues.
The Swans were still working through the match-day implications but their absence adds another layer to an already sizeable challenge in front of Longmire and the Swans as they prepare to face the unbeaten Demons.
Longmire typically coaches from the bench during a match, taking advice from his assistants who sit in the coaches box and can offer a different perspective on the unfolding contest.
Pyke, Cox and McVeigh also have significant roles in directing players pre-game and in quarter-time, half-time and three-quarter time huddles.
Longmire will still have assistants Ben Matthews and Brett Kirk with him in Melbourne, while the other three may yet be able to contribute remotely from Sydney.
The Swans trained on Thursday as planned - albeit with Pyke, Cox and McVeigh not present at the session - before jumping on their charter flight.
The hope is they will be able to return home on Sunday as normal, so long as the latest outbreak in Sydney - which stands at just two cases of community transmission - is able to be kept under control.
If the outbreak in Sydney worsens, there is a chance that Swans players could be forced to stay put in Melbourne for an extended period, much as the Lions did earlier this season when Brisbane entered a snap three-day lockdown.
Sydney are at home next weekend against Collingwood, who are one of the AFL’s biggest crowd-pullers, and the club will be desperate for that match to go ahead as planned.
Sydney’s VFL team was also due to travel to Melbourne for a reserves fixture against the Casey Demons on Sunday, but that game has been postponed.
The GWS Giants, meanwhile, had a scheduled day off training on Thursday. Their home match against Essendon on Saturday will also go ahead, but the first bounce has been delayed by 25 minutes to enable the Bombers to fly in and out of Sydney on the same day – also via a charter flight.
Giants midfielder Callan Ward said the emergence of positive COVID-19 cases in Sydney came as a reminder to players of how quickly circumstances can change during the pandemic.
“You kind of think it’s not going to affect us too much, and it hasn’t affected us yet – we just had to get a COVID test last night or this morning,” Ward said.
“At the moment this weekend’s a bit of an unknown, we don’t know what’s going on, but I haven’t been told anything to be honest. It’s no distraction but it’s definitely still there, COVID. We’re still waiting to hear from the AFL and the government and whatever else.
“We’ve kind of prepared, since the hub and the start of last year, to adapt to different situations. There’s nothing that’s normal anymore. We’re professional athletes, there’s no way we can complain about it.”