Steele Sidebottom to leave Collingwood hub, Gary Ablett and Shane Edwards denied early flight to Queensland
Collingwood star Steele Sidebottom will fly to Melbourne for the birth of his first child and may not return to Magpies’ hub. Meanwhile, the Queensland Government has knocked back a request from Richmond and Geelong.
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Monday night’s clash against North Melbourne could be Steele Sidebottom’s last game of 2020.
The star midfielder will leave Collingwood’s Queensland hub after the game and return to Melbourne to join his partner to prepare for the birth of their first child.
Sidebottom’s partner Alisha is reportedly due to give birth on September 12, days before the final home-and-away round.
Any player flying to Queensland must quarantine for 14 days before joining the hubs.
“Steele made the call with Alisha about a month ago that he was going to head back home,” Pies coach Nathan Buckley said on Saturday.
“He’s got an exciting period of his life coming up.
“We don’t know if he can return or not. It’ll depend on Alisha and the bub. There’s a bit unknown.”
Magpies president Eddie McGuire said on Friday: “Sidey will be going home to be at the birth of his child with Alisha, and then hopefully straight back.”
Meanwhile, Gary Ablett will have only a single AFL game to prepare for the last finals series of his decorated career after his bid to enter a quarantine hub before September 1 was officially rebuffed.
Ablett was determined to play the last three home-and-away games of the season by flying to Queensland in coming days alongside Richmond’s Shane Edwards.
The joint submission from Richmond and Geelong had AFL approval and was put to the Queensland Government.
But, as the Herald Sun revealed on Friday, the players would have had to quarantine for 14 days in a hotel without permission to train at a nearby football ground.
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Instead, they will join a group of AFL officials including AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan flying north on Tuesday week for a 14-day quarantine from September 1.
Ablett and Edwards will be able to train within that facility and use a gym so should be in good shape to play in Round 18.
Richmond and Geelong have accepted the decision, with the AFL believing the government seriously considered the request before eventually knocking it back.
Cats football boss Simon Lloyd said putting Ablett in hard quarantine would have meant he lost training fitness.
“While Gary and the club are disappointed, we understand the importance of staying diligent in the fight against COVID-19,” he said.
“The Queensland government and health officials have been first class throughout this time in supporting clubs and the game.
“Gary had important family matters that required him to return home. We were fully supportive of that decision.
“Gary will continue to train before coming into Queensland on 1 September. We look forward to Gary and his family joining us once the quarantine is complete.”
The Queensland Government is determined to safeguard its citizens, with the players keen to be able to get onto an oval and train if they moved up north.
Richmond has a bye in Round 16 so would only have allowed Edwards, whose partner has just given birth to a their baby daughter, to play two extra games before the finals.
Now Ablett will have only a single game against Sydney before hitting finals at full pace.
He has been away from the Cats until mid-July to help care for his sick son Levi along with wife Jordan.
It means a player considered football’s best general forward on Champion Data statistics will have only a single game in two months to hit finals.
The Herald Sun revealed last week Ablett was determined to move north to play as many as three games before finals.
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HUB SNUB FOR SWANS
– Ben Horne
Sydney’s bio-bubble odyssey across Australia has become more akin to an old world cricket tour than a modern sporting winter.
Swans players and staff have been told they will not see their wives and families for a total of nine weeks after the AFL rejected the club’s bid to have loved ones join them for the final leg of their hub in Queensland.
With the AFL’s last transitional hub for families starting on September 1 and the Swans destined to miss finals, administrators have made the tough call that the expense is too great for the one week partners and kids would get in the Sydney camp before having to return home.
The Swans had requested that the AFL consider an earlier intake at a transitional hub for Sydney and GWS families who have been separated since July 30, but the AFL feared that would be pushing the boundaries too far with Queensland health authorities and said no.
GWS will be able to get loved ones up to south east Queensland for the transitional hub on September 1, even though they aren’t guaranteed finals football.
It means Sydney will go the longest of any club this season without a practical opportunity to bring families into the fold at any point – with the timing of their stint in the ultra-strict Western Australia counting against them.
The AFL Players Association say they’re still in discussions with the AFL over the next quarantine hub, and while priority would have to be given to teams in finals contention, nothing had been ruled out as yet.
The challenge is that by the time families spend two weeks in separate isolation at the transitional hub in south east Queensland, that would only leave a week in the Swans’ bubble in Cairns before the regular season comes to a close.
Despite Elijah Taylor’s desperation to see his girlfriend – costing him his season in Perth, the impact of being on the road on Sydney’s playing group is minimal, with Lance Franklin, Josh Kennedy and Sam Reid the only members of their young list with children.
Franklin’s wife Jesinta Franklin revealed several weeks ago that she wouldn’t have entered the hub anyway over fears of a ‘breakdown’ living under such restrictions with a baby.
However, the burden is felt most keenly among the Swans coaching and football staff, who are largely paid less than the players and are at a stage in life where they do have young children.
Originally published as Steele Sidebottom to leave Collingwood hub, Gary Ablett and Shane Edwards denied early flight to Queensland