AFLW news: Richmond player tests positive to Covid-19 through new rapid antigen test

A positive Covid test among Richmond’s AFLW squad has provided a warning of what is to come for the AFL as states start the long process of reopening.

The Tigers will soon be back in training after the Covid scare. Picture: Michael Klein

Richmond’s AFLW players will be able to return to training after a pair of negative Covid tests in coming days as the league moves closer to announcing its own vaccination policy.

The Tigers players only had fleeting contact with the player so need only to return negative tests on Wednesday and Saturday to be allowed back to Punt Road.

The players have not been told to officially quarantine but must limit their movements and are not allowed to train with other Richmond players.

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It emerged on Tuesday the Covid-positive player was in rehab on Thursday and likely not yet contagious by that stage.

She attended only a player development meeting and swam some laps, given she was dealing with an injury, but will now need to quarantine for 14 days.

The Covid-positive player was asymptomatic, which proves the effectiveness of the rapid antigen tests being used by AFL clubs including the Tigers.

The Tigers will soon be back in training after the Covid scare. Picture: Michael Klein

After an initial positive test on Saturday the player was given another test which also proved positive before being given official PCR testing which returned the confirmation of her Covid status.

Had the player been allowed in Punt Road when positive the league and Richmond would have had to seek a ruling from the DHHS on the level of exposure site and whether the entire club would have needed some quarantine period.

The Tigers are breathing a sigh of relief their entire women’s team is not quarantined for 14 days after the club only just started a pre-season.

Unlike clubs in other states the Richmond players were not able to complete a state league VFL season because of Covid so are already making up for lost time.

The league will quickly have to come to grips with players testing positive when social distancing restrictions are dropped.

The AFL is ticking off the final provisions of its vaccine policy but will have to provide concrete guidelines on return-to-play protocols after players or staff test positive.

A Richmond AFLW player has returned a Covid-positive test. Picture: Getty Images

Tigers in quarantine, but rapid antigen testing gets tick

Richmond’s football program has survived an early test case after its AFLW pre-season was hit by the first AFL Covid-19 positive in 16 months.

The Herald Sun revealed on Monday a Richmond player had tested positive on Saturday in a development that forced the club’s women’s team into quarantine.

The player, who had received her first vaccine shot as an authorised worker, trained with her teammates on Thursday at Punt Road.

On Saturday she returned a positive rapid antigen test at Punt Road and was sent for further testing which confirmed she had the virus.

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The training session was cancelled and her teammates were sent home and will have to quarantine for at least a week, with the club and the AFL awaiting a Department of Health and Human Services ruling.

The player is expected to be forced into quarantine for 14 days.

AFLW started pre-season last week in preparation for a January 6 start to the season.

But the AFL and the Tigers believe the new rapid antigen tests, revealed in Monday’s Herald Sun, have already served a crucial purpose.

Richmond’s AFL stars including Dustin Martin and Trent Cotchin are regularly at the club doing weights and running but are strictly kept apart from the women’s program with set times for the AFL and AFLW teams to train.

The club is also cleaned in between sessions, with the demarcation reducing the risks of an entire club being forced to quarantine because of a single Covid-19 positive.

The AFL’s first Covid positive was Essendon’s Conor McKenna in June last year, but it is expected that such examples will become more common given lockdown is about to end in Victoria.

Richmond’s AFL players have not been impacted by the AFLW Covid positive. Picture: Jason Edwards

While the AFL hopes to have packed crowds and teams flying across Australia next year, the league’s own Covid-19 policy will have specific guidelines around positive tests.

Arizona Cardinals NFL coach Kliff Kingsbury tested positive to Covid and missed Sunday’s game but needs only two negative tests 24 hours apart to return to the club if he remains symptom free.

The AFL is set to outline its own provisions in coming days for when players and staff invariably test positive.

The Victorian government is in the process of clarifying new measures for quarantine.

Under old restrictions players would need to be locked in their homes for the 14 days, compromising their pre-season.

But Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has flagged new rules which would see fully vaccinated people only quarantining for seven days as long as they are not a household contact of someone who tests positive to Covid.

Under a best-case scenario Richmond’s players could return to training after a week, with their exposure backdated to the Thursday training session,

The club said in a statement it was working with the AFL and Victorian Department of Health to “determine when the program can resume”.

“In line with current government advice, all program members who attended the club at the prior training session on Thursday, October 14, have remained isolated,” the club said.

“While the person did not enter the facility or mix with people at the club on Saturday, out of an abundance of caution, all other members of the Richmond AFLW bubble were tested over the weekend, with each returning a negative result.”

Another Richmond staffer had returned a borderline rapid antigen test but subsequent testing cleared them of Covid and allowed them to return to the club

Richmond run out in Round 2 of the AFLW season last year. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

EARLIER: Covid shock: Richmond AFLW player tests positive

Richmond’s AFLW program has been hit by an early setback with a player testing positive to Covid-19 over the weekend.

News Corp can reveal one of the club’s listed AFLW players drew a red flag when she tested positive under the new rapid antigen tests used by the AFL.

It is understood when she returned the positive rapid antigen test, the players were all sent home as a precaution before being informed of the positive result on Monday afternoon.

She then had a more accurate Covid test through the AFL’s testing provider, which proved she had Covid, requiring her to quarantine from the Tigers group.

Richmond is expected to make a statement this afternoon, with the Victorian health department yet to make a ruling on how long players will need to quarantine.

It is understood the player trained with the Richmond squad on Thursday and returned a negative test that day, the first official day of the AFLW pre-season.

But, by Saturday she had tested positive, with her recent contact with the players meaning they were deemed to have been at an exposure site.

On Monday, The Victorian government was in the process of clarifying new measures for quarantine.

Under old restrictions, players would need to be locked in their homes for the next 14 days, compromising their training program.

But Victorian premier Dan Andrews has flagged new rules which would see fully vaccinated people only quarantining for seven days as long as they are not a household contact of someone who was Covid positive.

Will Richmond’s AFLW pre-season be compromised? Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Given the player was at Richmond’s Punt Road facilities, under Victorian government rules, she must have had at least one vaccine dose.

Essendon’s Conor McKenna is the only AFL player to test positive for Covid in 2020, with his teammate James Stewart also required to quarantine after being in a wrestling drill with the Irishman.

While this is the first Covid positive of an AFL or AFLW player in the past 18 months, it will soon become commonplace as the community tackles widespread exposure as social distancing rules are relaxed.

News Corp revealed on Monday, new rapid antigen tests will be used by clubs to ensure players are not Covid positive when they enter the facilities.

Players can only enter the club after giving a nasal swab and waiting for 15 minutes to ensure they have tested negative.

The AFL is soon to release its new vaccination policy, which is not expected to mandate vaccination, but could include penalties or fines for players who breach Covid rules.

Under the Victorian government’s rules for authorised workers, all AFL players must have had at least one vaccine dose to be at their clubs.