AFL Covid latest: Geelong skipper Joel Selwood predicts Covid complications to plague AFL again

One of the AFL’s leading voices has warned the league must expect to be impacted by Covid next year and warned clubs shouldn’t be “blind” to the likelihood of cases.

Up to 10 Swans have tested positive to Covid-19. Picture: Michael Klein

Geelong captain Joel Selwood has conceded it is inevitable that Covid will affect the Cats in 2022 and says it is crucial the club does what it can to ensure the effects of the virus are as limited as possible.

Multiple Sydney Swans players recently tested positive for Covid, while clubs across the competition have had scares with close contacts resulting in training sessions being cancelled.

The Cats share training facilities with their AFLW team, who will begin their season on January 8, and Selwood said while it seemed certain the club would be impacted in the coming months, protecting both the women’s and men’s program was a priority.

“It will definitely affect us and we have seen it with a couple of sides already where guys have had to miss training and training has even been called off and they have gone and had tests during the day,” Selwood said.

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Joel Selwood says clubs would be foolish to think Covid won’t cause dramas next season.

“So we shouldn’t be blind to think it won’t happen to us at different times, because it will.

“It will probably happen during January and February so we have to be careful with our girls program that we don’t cross over and we make sure we are not infecting the place and that they are doing the same, too.

“I don’t know how it sits right now but it might mean that an individual misses a couple of games, which in their season is really important when it is a 10-game season.

“Even for us we don’t want any player missing but I daresay we will probably go through that at some stage.”

Selwood was a regular at pre-season sessions in the lead up to the Christmas break as he prepares to enter his 16th year in the AFL.

The 33-year-old said the new members of Geelong’s strength and conditioning team had got the Cats ready for the next phase of their 2022 preparation, which will kick off in early January.

“It was a good taste of what we will have for a block of training after Christmas,” he said.

“We got a two-week block in and there has been a bit of a change to how we train, with a little bit of running in between drills and then going straight into another drill and doing it under fatigue a bit.

“That will continue to build and our new staff got a real handle on us in the first 10 days we spent with them so we are just touching the surface and we are really excited by what they can bring and everyone is looking to learn from them.”

Why Dees stars could be safe from B&F outbreak

A number of Melbourne Football Club members and fans have been told to isolate and take COVID-19 tests after the premiers’ best-and-fairest night was declared a virus hotspot.

The Demons supporters were contacted by the Victorian Department of Health on Wednesday and warned they might have been exposed to the virus at Crown last Friday night.

It is believed a guest at the awards ceremony has tested positive.

Melbourne players and football club staff were seated in a separate area of the Palladium ballroom and have not been affected by the scare.

But a number of club administration staff mingled with guests and will need to isolate.

A Covid case has been detected from Melbourne’s best and fairest night.

“If you are a customer/patron that has visited this venue you are required to get tested within 24 hours of receiving this notice and immediately isolate until you receive a negative test,” the state government message said.

It puts a slight damper on Melbourne’s celebrations since the club returned from its 57-year drought-breaking premiership in Perth.

Since spending the last month of the season in Perth, away from family and friends, Max Gawn’s men were able to share the spoils with more than 20,000 members at an MCG fans’ day on December 5 and again at the best-and-fairest count on December 17.

It comes as up to 10 Sydney players have been forced to isolate during their holiday break after testing positive.

The women’s competition is also on high alert.

The AFL on Wednesday announced it was shifting a Perth AFLW game between Fremantle and Greater Western Sydney to Melbourne in January because of the looming Omicron crisis.

The AFLW season starts on January 7 and getting teams in out of Perth is going to prove tough as the Western Australian government maintains a hardline border stance.

The AFL also introduced new regulations for AFLW teams that are hit by a virus outbreak.

Teams that can’t call on at least 21 players – a minimum of 16 on their list, plus five train-on players – will have matches postponed or in extreme circumstances cancelled.

Pub caught up in Swans’ Covid Doozy

A Sydney pub that hosted the launch of a Swans duo’s alcoholic beverage company has been caught up in the AFL club’s Covid outbreak.

The Captain Cook Hotel closed for two days earlier this week after holding a gathering for Doozy Drinks – run by Will Hayward, his brother, Hugh, and Ollie Florent – on Friday night.

About 60 people, including Swans players and staff, attended a private, outdoor function on the Paddington pub’s rooftop.

One of the event’s organisers was understood to have called the hotel on Monday to tell them there had been four positive cases among the contingent, prompting the pub to close for the rest of that day and Tuesday.

It reopened on Wednesday once staff had produced negative tests and the venue was cleaned thoroughly.

Will and Hugh Hayward and Ollie Florent at The Captain Paddington for the launch of their drinks brand Doozy. Picture: Instagram

New South Wales Health also informed the hotel that a person with Covid was there on the night the Swans were.

The club was reported to have had up to 10 positive cases as of late on Tuesday.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Swans confirmed that some of its players and football department had tested positive during their leave period.

Sydney said they were double vaccinated and in good health.

The Doozy Drinks event, launching flavoured alcoholic sparkling water, came a day after many of the Swans’ squad enjoyed a Sydney Harbour boat cruise.

They had completed their final training session of the year and produced negative tests last Wednesday.

As of Tuesday night, more Swans were believed to be awaiting test results.

Sydney players are not expected back at the club until January 6.

The positive players will have to spend much of their Christmas breaks in isolation until they are cleared of Covid.

NSW recorded 3057 new cases on Tuesday and another 3763 on Wednesday.

Sydney’s outbreak is the biggest yet at an AFL club.

On Wednesday afternoon the Swans said there had been no update.

Swans face Christmas in isolation after Covid shock

—Danny Russell

The Sydney Swans playing group has been rocked by up to 10 positive COVID-19 cases less than a week before Christmas.

The club released a statement on Tuesday afternoon saying all affected footballers had been double vaccinated and were in good health.

Swans players enjoyed a Harbour boat cruise late last week following the end of their December training block.

The playing group is not expected back at the club until January 6.

But the positive players will have to spend the majority of their Christmas break in isolation until cleared of Covid.

More Swans are believed to be awaiting test results as a result of the outbreak.

It follows a record 3000 positive cases in New South Wales on Tuesday.

“The Sydney Swans can confirm some members of the football department, including players, have tested positive for Covid-19 during their leave period,” the club said in a statement.

“All affected players and staff are double vaccinated and all report to be in good health.

“The Club’s primary concern is for the health and safety of all players, staff and their families.

“All positive cases are adhering to relevant State Government health directives.

“All members of the football program returned negative Covid tests before their final training session of the year on Wednesday, December 15, in line with AFL protocols that includes weekly PCR testing, as well as regular rapid antigen testing.”

The Swans scenario will sound early alarm bells following two chaotic years in which teams lived in bubbles and the grand final was twice played outside Victoria for the first time in history.

The AFL expects to play through COVID-19 cases next year with clubs to replace footballers who test positive with back-up players on their lists.

But the size of the Swans outbreak shows just how vulnerable a side would be if multiple players caught the virus at any one time.

The AFLW season starts on January 7 and will be the first to have to navigate different state border rules and replacing players who test positive.

New South Wales, on Tuesday, recorded 3,057 new positive cases.

Originally published as AFL Covid latest: Geelong skipper Joel Selwood predicts Covid complications to plague AFL again