AFL Covid news: Stay up to date with how the latest outbreak is impacting your club
Western Bulldogs star Josh Dunkley has been forced into isolation for 14 days after an innocent cafe trip — and it could mean big changes for how clubs operate.
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A plate of chilli scrambled eggs and an oat latte has cost Josh Dunkley far more than the small amount written on his bill.
On Sunday Victoria’s health department ordered Dunkley into a 14-day quarantine backdated to last Wednesday, forcing him to miss round 19.
Then, on Monday, the AFL brought forward the Dogs’ top-of-the-table clash against Melbourne at the MCG to Saturday night.
Suddenly, the critical onballer will be stuck at home for the heavyweight stoush instead of what was supposed to be an off-Broadway game against Adelaide in Ballarat.
Who knows? It could be the brunch that costs the Western Bulldogs their first ever minor premiership.
Thursday’s team sheet will be a new one for the Bulldogs – OUT: J Dunkley (quarantine) – but at least Tom Liberatore can step into that midfield slot.
It’s a devastating outcome for the totally-innocent Dunkley.
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The ball magnet checked in at Frank & Harri for a bite to eat last Wednesday as he closed in on an AFL return 12 weeks after undergoing a shoulder reconstruction.
At 4.10pm on Saturday the Kew patisserie was added to Victoria’s long list of exposure sites (Tier 1).
At 4.35pm on Saturday, 25 minutes after that listing, Dunkley lined up against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium.
It wasn’t until Sunday that Victoria’s health department delivered Dunkley the deflating news he must quarantine.
Dunkley’s impact against the Suns was immediate. He raced to 16 disposals by halftime and finished with a game-high seven tackles.
Coach Luke Beveridge warned last week that his prized onballer would need continuity to recapture his special powers.
“He’s probably not the match fit and match hardened player that he was when he went out of the side,” Beveridge said.
But Dunkley is isolating at home instead of training at Whitten Oval, although at least the backdated quarantine clock expires before round 20.
“He’s in good spirits,” Dogs boss Ameet Bains said.
“He’s got a very well set-up home gym and pool. From that perspective he’ll be well-positioned.”
Chief health officer Brett Sutton is set to become the first person to negate Dunkley this year, who was unstoppable in the first six rounds.
The 24-year-old will now have a three-game lead-up to finals as he chases a second premiership.
Dunkley has tested negative to coronavirus twice since he paid his brunch bill.
But there was a sense of helplessness at the Dogs when the news filtered through.
Dunkley’s character is a big reason the Bulldogs drafted him and the first-class citizen has clearly done nothing wrong.
But the spread of the delta strain has forced players to conduct a risk analysis every time they leave the house.
“Whether it’s a simple thing like not going to the supermarket and instead getting groceries delivered or Uber Eats the whole time might come into play,” Bains said.
Last week the AFL brought in lockdown-like supplementary protocols for players and Bains said it would be unfair to go any stricter,
“It’s important to recognise the mental strain in all industries, particular in Melbourne and Victoria with what people have had to endure,” he said.
“This is obviously the fifth lockdown. It’s very difficult to place absolute constraints on what people can and can’t do.”
The risk-reward balance should gradually become lopsided for players in the premiership hunt.
Put simply, Bains said that come September caution will be king.
“The closer you get (to the grand final) and the shorter the period is that people have to make those sacrifices are far more willing to do it,” he said.”
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Players will need to spend September in the shadows to minimise the risk of stumbling across a Covid-19 hotspot and missing a final, warns Western Bulldogs boss Ameet Bains.
Star midfielder Josh Dunkley must watch Saturday night’s rescheduled Western Bulldogs-Melbourne game from home in quarantine after eating brunch at a cafe last week that was later classified as a Tier 1 site.
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Bains said the unfortunate episode had added an “extra layer” to decisions Dunkley’s teammates would now make.
“It does become a risk analysis situation,” he said.
“Whether it’s a simple thing like not going to the supermarket and instead getting groceries delivered or Uber Eats the whole time might come into play.”
Bains said players in the finals should become more willing to make sacrifices the closer they get to the premiership decider.
The Bulldogs were central to a Round 19 fixture revamp on Monday night.
The league dragged three games from Round 20 and plonked them into this weekend of games – Melbourne-Western Bulldogs (Saturday night), Brisbane-Gold Coast (Saturday) and Adelaide-Hawthorn (Saturday night).
But the AFL’s race to get the home-and-away finished is hitting constant hurdles, including:
■ Finding a way to open a Covid bridge to Queensland in coming weeks. The league’s greatest priority is to find a way to allow Melbourne teams to fly into Queensland in the same manner as their trips to South Australia.
■ Collingwood players and staff may be forced to quarantine in a Melbourne city hotel for 60 hours to be able to make the flight to Adelaide on Friday. As part of the restrictions facing the club, Collingwood players and their families have been told they may not be able to leave their homes from Wednesday in preparation for the game.
■Adelaide and Port Adelaide will be barred from the training track unless the South Australian Government grants an exemption, after SA health officials announced strict new conditions on Monday night. The State has been spooked by three new cases.
■ Essendon was kept in Queensland. The Bombers have set up camp in Noosa and would expect to play Sydney and GWS in the northern state across the coming weeks.
■ Eight Sydney and Greater Western Sydney players will miss Round 19 after being forced to undergo 14 days of quarantine. They are: Giants Toby Greene, Matt de Boer, Jake Stein and Kieren Briggs, and Swans Callum Mills, Harry Cunningham, Colin O’Riordan and Callum Sinclair.
■ Essendon’s Andrew McGrath and North Melbourne’s Will Walker are both in 14 days in quarantine in Queensland.
Giants chief executive Dave Matthews has admitted to “frustration” at the lack of consistency across state governments in handling the national Covid-19 crisis.
The Swans and Giants were given extremely late notice to withdraw players from Sunday’s Sydney derby because of a Victorian Government reclassification of last week’s Wallabies-France rugby match at AAMI Park.
The players sat in sections of the stadium that were later upgraded to a Tier 2 exposure site.
— and then became subject to Queensland’s stricter conditions because they flew out of Melbourne for Brisbane last week.
In comparison, St Kilda’s Rowan Marshall, who also went to the rugby but didn’t leave Victoria, played on Saturday and flew to Perth with his teammates for this week’s clash with West Coast.
“I think it’s just the general frustration people would have that there’s a lack of consistency among the states in how they consider some of these circumstances,” Matthew said.
“If we’d played the early game yesterday (Sunday) at Metricon, in the slot North Melbourne and Essendon played, then the Swans and Giants players would have played, because the advice hadn’t come through or the decision hadn’t been made.”
South Australia’s decision to move to level four restrictions on Monday night suddenly cast doubt over the week ahead for Port Adelaide (playing Collingwood at home on Friday night) and Adelaide (expected to host Hawthorn at Adelaide Oval on Saturday).
Club, team and contact sport has been banned until at least Friday under the new level four restrictions.
This applies to training for both the Crows and Power, meaning they can’t train together in the build-up to Round 19, unless they get an exemption from SA Health.
The two SA teams are working with authorities on securing a vital exemption, while the AFL is in deep negotiations with the government to keep the two weekend games scheduled for Adelaide in the state.
Collingwood and Hawthorn will both need exemption to fly in and out of Adelaide on Friday and Saturday.
Collingwood players will not be allowed to have contact with the general public in the two days before the game against Port.
If the players’ partners or children do have to leave their homes for work or childcare services, the players will have to spend two nights in a city hotel to quarantine.
Players will be tested on Friday and will be kept separate from the general public upon their arrival in Adelaide in a similar fashion to their Round 12 against Adelaide where they waited in an indoor cricket facility for hours before the game.
The players watched basketball games on their phones on bean bags and slept under tables to help pass the time.
AFL Executive General Manager Clubs and Broadcasting Travis Auld said the league would continue to make decisions that ensure the season moves towards an end.
“Our intention remains to complete the home-and-away season with the match-ups as originally scheduled,” he said.
AFL Executive General Manager Football Operations Andrew Dillon said he commended all parties across the competition for their commitment to finish the season.
“I want to specifically call out and thank each and every umpire and the umpiring team, each player and their families, and every AFL and Club match day staffer for the role they continue to play to keep the season going,” Dillon said.
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