AFL Covid latest: AFL expected to turn Melbourne-Hawthorn into a prime time clash
The AFL has been forced to make a change to the Round 18 fixture, and even now the location of some matches is not guaranteed.
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The AFL is expected to flip its Saturday fixture to turn Melbourne-Hawthorn into a prime time clash but still expects St Kilda-Port Adelaide to be played at Marvel Stadium.
The league is working through government protocols about isolation as it assesses whether the Power can still fly into Melbourne on Saturday.
The game is slated for 7.25pm but the Herald Sun understands it is likely to be turned into an earlier fixture in either the 1.45pm or 4.35pm slot.
It would allow St Kilda to fly into Adelaide and out on the same day, or the Power to fly into Melbourne and get out by the Saturday night Adelaide Airport curfew.
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The league said on Friday it still expected the game to go ahead on Saturday at Marvel Stadium in front of no crowds.
But the Melbourne-Hawthorn game will be announced as the only night contest on Saturday.
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson revealed on Friday he had told his players to be ready to play anytime and anywhere in the ever-changing Covid landscape, including Saturday’s clash with Melbourne.
“At the moment, we’re playing the Demons at the ‘G (Saturday) afternoon, but we’ve told our players to be ready for any possible changes that could occur between then and now.”
Port Adelaide could fly into Melbourne for a 1.45pm clash but if St Kilda flew into Adelaide the league would need to fixture a twilight game to give authorities enough time to turn around negative Covid tests upon their arrival.
Port Adelaide was originally expected to fly into Melbourne on Friday night but as of late Thursday was still in the dark about its travel plans.
If the South Australian health authorities allow a fly-in fly-out mission on Saturday with limited quarantine for the Power players upon return, the game will go ahead in Melbourne.
But the Power is anxiously awaiting clarification on whether it would simply need its players to isolate until a negative Covid test or need a more exhaustive isolation period.
Victorian sides which flew into South Australia in recent weeks needed a 60-hour quarantine period before they flew west and then had to have a negative Covid test on the day of the game when they arrived in Adelaide.
EARLIER: METRICON DOUBLE HEADER LOCKED IN
The fixture changes come as seven teams were evacuated from Covid-hit Melbourne in what is looming as a nerve-racking 12 hours for the AFL.
The league made a snap call to move Richmond’s Friday night home game against Brisbane from the MCG to the Gold Coast to avoid the Lions being trapped in a Melbourne lockdown.
It means a game that should have had 40,000 Tiger fans celebrating Jack Riewoldt’s 300th game will be played in front of a few thousand at the Gold Coast home venue.
The season was thrown into further turmoil on Thursday when it was revealed another two positive cases had emerged from the MCG crowd that attended the Carlton-Geelong clash on Saturday, July 10.
The AFL’s hasty Round 18 evacuation started at 8am on Thursday with Sydney, Greater Western Sydney and the Western Bulldogs all flown to Queensland.
The decision was made soon after to put Essendon and North Melbourne on a plane for the Sunshine State to play their scheduled Sunday Marvel Stadium game up north.
Then an hour after Riewoldt held a midday press conference at the MCG to celebrate his coming 300th-game milestone, the Tigers were told their clash would be played at Metricon Stadium.
The league could not afford to have Brisbane, who flew into Victoria on Wednesday and out on Thursday, trapped in Melbourne.
Clubs who fled Victoria for Queensland on Thursday said light restrictions had been imposed on them.
Players, coaches and officials must wear masks at all times except while exercising and can only order takeaway from cafes and restaurants.
During Melbourne’s last outbreak clubs including Western Bulldogs and Richmond had to abide by Victoria’s lockdown rules while in New South Wales, which included staying within a 5km radius of their hotels.
But the radius rule has not been applied this time.
AFL fixture boss Travis Auld said the league had attempted to mitigate the risk of playing through a pandemic by getting teams out of Melbourne.
“The decisions we have made this morning regarding the locations of a number of teams have been taken out of an abundance of caution,” Auld said.
“Our approach remains to take risk out of the season where the opportunity presents.
“We continue to work towards our priority of reuniting the families of both the GWS Giants and Sydney Swans and the decision to relocate both sides to Queensland provides maximum flexibility required to achieve that.
“The Western Bulldogs’ travel is one day earlier than scheduled and provides the Dogs with certainty as they prepare for their match against the Gold Coast Suns.
“The decision to relocate the North Melbourne and Essendon match to Queensland is a precautionary measure that provides flexibility for future rounds.
“As we have throughout the course of the pandemic, we will continue to take measures to ensure that we best manage and minimise risk for those in our game and in the wider community.
“To fans in Ballarat, we are disappointed to be moving the game from regional Victoria.”
While Geelong players were given the all clear to tackle Fremantle in Perth on Thursday night, the league was looking for an alternative venue for St Kilda’s home game against Port Adelaide after South Australia shut its border to Victoria.
Both the Saturday Melbourne-Hawthorn game and the Sunday Collingwood-Carlton clash will be played on an empty MCG.
It means the league will almost certainly have to play those clashes with only essential players, coaches and staff.
The Giants-Sydney game will be played on Sunday night as part of a Metricon Stadium double-header.
ROOS, DONS JOIN QLD EXODUS
The AFL has made the decision to relocate the North Melbourne-Essendon game into Queensland with both clubs flying north at 2pm on Thursday afternoon.
The Herald Sun can reveal the clubs will have their Marvel Stadium game on Sunday moved as the AFL ensures its Round 19 fixture proceeds as normal.
The clubs will fly out together on a chartered flight this afternoon, with both Metricon Stadium and the Gabba available on Sunday.
The game would likely have been played in Melbourne in front of no crowd given 10 Covid cases in the past 24 hours, but there were no cases overnight.
It means the league will carefully monitor case numbers before potentially evacuating more teams out of the state before Friday.
It comes as two further cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Victoria, both of which were detected from the testing done around the MCC reserve at the MCG for people who attended the Carlton-Geelong match on July 10.
At a worst-case scenario the Dons could remain up north and play GWS and Sydney as fixtures but the games could be scheduled away from Victoria.
The Dons have already played interstate seven times this year, including at York Park in Tasmania, the SCG, Perth Stadium and the Gabba.
While four teams have flown out of Victoria, the rest of the player cohort will also have increased protocols from midday Thursday which will include limited movement and more Covid tests.
AFL fixture boss Travis Auld said on Thursday the league had attempted to mitigate the risk of playing through a pandemic by getting the Dons and Roos out of Melbourne.
The league will soon announce the venues for the GWS-Sydney and Roos-Essendon contests.
“The decisions we have made this morning regarding the locations of a number of teams have been taken out of an abundance of caution. Our approach remains to take risk out of the season where the opportunity presents,” Auld said.
“We continue to work towards our priority of reuniting the families of both the GWS GIANTS and Sydney Swans and the decision to relocate both sides to Queensland provides maximum flexibility required to achieve that.
“The Western Bulldogs’ travel is one day earlier than scheduled and provides the Dogs with certainty as they prepare for their match against the Gold Coast SUNS.
“The decision to relocate the North Melbourne and Essendon match to Queensland is a precautionary measure that provides flexibility for future rounds.
“As we have throughout the course of the pandemic, we will continue to take measures to ensure that we best manage and minimise risk for those in our game and in the wider community.
“To fans in Ballarat, we are disappointed to be moving the game from regional Victoria and thank the people of Ballarat and the local Council, the Victoria Government and Mars Stadium for their understanding.”
DOGS TO JOIN NSW TEAMS IN QLD AS AFL FLEES VICTORIA
Sydney, Greater Western Sydney and the Western Bulldogs are fleeing Victoria on Thursday morning as the league prepares for the likely reduction of crowds at Melbourne games this weekend.
Sydney and GWS will play their Ballarat contest in Queensland after flying out at 8.45am to Brisbane on a chartered flight.
The Western Bulldogs are also flying out on Thursday to ensure they are not stuck in Melbourne ahead of their Saturday contest against Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium.
The players were officially told at 9pm on Wednesday they would be relocated after a worrying escalation in Covid case numbers in Melbourne.
The AFL is still working through the reunification of players and their families but at this stage they have no idea if their families will be flying to Queensland or Melbourne.
The Ballarat contest will be scrapped, with the game likely but not certain to be played at the Gabba.
The Victorian government has made no decision on whether to ban crowds this weekend after at least one patron was Covid-positive at the MCG at the Carlton-Geelong game.
The Western Bulldogs were to fly their entire squad to Queensland with the VFL team to play Gold Coast on Saturday at Metricon Stadium at midday.
But flying out on Thursday will ensure they are not locked in Melbourne should borders be shut and guarantee the game will go ahead.
No. 1 draft pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, who made his AFL debut against Sydney last week, was on the 11am charter flight out of Tullamarine airport.
Returning stars Josh Dunkley (shoulder) and Aaron Naughton (concussion) were also on-board and appear certain to take on the Suns.
Dunkley has not played since round 6. Fringe midfielder Riley Garcia was also in the travelling party.
The Dogs expect to fly home on Saturday night straight after their twilight clash at Metricon, where they played eight home-and-away matches last year (5-3).
They are expecting to only spend three nights away from home and will stay at Surfers Paradise.
Sydney chief executive Tom Harley said on Thursday the Swans did not even know where they would be staying in Queensland.
“We are playing the Giants, we know that much and it will be in Queensland somewhere but outside of that, it’s moved really quickly and we are playing 1.45pm on Saturday. It’s been a disruptive week on a number of fronts but it’s our turn to work our way through that,” he told SEN.
“Our primary concern has been the reunification of partners and families. It’s been over three weeks now. We are working closely with the AFL on what the options might be for that. It will continue to be the case regardless of where the team is based.”
GWS football boss Jason McCartney told RSN Radio the club might use Queensland as their base for some time.
“We will be based in Brisbane for the next few days and beyond the game we will look at what options and where we want to set up camp semi-permanently for the rest of the season until we move somewhere else,” he said.
“The Bulldogs are playing at Gold Coast, the Gabba is free but we will work through that this morning.”
The Giants will train at Yeronga for their main training session this afternoon and then with their captains run on Friday ahead of the Saturday clash.
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