North Melbourne unsure whether Majak Daw will be tested for COVID-19 after being sent home with illness
Majak Daw’s inspiring AFL return could be on hold after he was sent home by North Melbourne with illness. But the Roos are unsure whether he’ll need to be tested for coronavirus.
Nrth Melb
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Majak Daw has been sent home sick from North Melbourne after being included in the initial squad for the Kangaroos’ opening round clash against St Kilda.
Kangaroos coach Rhyce Shaw revealed Daw had been told to stay home as a precautionary measure after presenting with “the sniffles”, but was unsure if he would need to be tested for COVID-19.
Shaw said Daw’s condition was mild, but the club did not want to take any risks ahead of their first game of the AFL season against the Saints at Marvel Stadium on Sunday in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
“He (Daw) is in the squad, he has actually been sent home sick today and that’s just based on precaution, there is no risks,” Shaw said.
“If we did that four months ago, if he came in with the same illness four months ago, he would be training.
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“We are just taking the precautions as necessary and we will weigh up what that looks like on Friday.
“I think it is just the common flu or cold or whatever he has got, he has got the sniffles, he doesn’t seem too bad, but our docs have been fantastic that we make all the right precautions.”
Pressed on whether Daw would need to be tested for the COVID-19, Shaw said he would leave those decisions up to the club’s medical staff.
“I’ve got no idea, I stay way away from that and just let the docs and the professionals do their job,” Shaw said.
“We just have to take it day by day, that’s all we can do.”
The illness could curtail what could potentially be one of the great comeback stories in the AFL.
Shaw said Daw was “pretty keen” to play, but the club would monitor the situation over the next 48 hours.
“I rang him after I found out he was crook and I just wanted to check in on how he was,” Shaw said.
“I just said, ‘Look mate, we are going to name you in the squad’, but we’ll just see how we go. He is pretty keen to play and we’ll have a look at that tomorrow and the next day as well.”
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Shaw said spearhead Ben Brown would set to take his place in the team after recovering from a calf injury.
“I am really excited, Ben is out there training today, hopefully he gets through and if all boxes are ticked he will line up there on Sunday,” Shaw said.
Shaw also revealed recruit Josh Walker was set to make his debut for the Kangaroos.
“I can confirm Josh Walker will play. He will play for us his first game for the Roos,” Shaw said.
“He has done a fantastic job since he first got here, he came in on not much break from Brisbane, a full finals series, we finished a bit earlier and he got stuck in ands he has done a great job and he has been a real rock for us so I am really pleased with the way Josh has gone about it.”
After the AFL’s decision to press ahead with plans to get the 2020 season underway this weekend, Shaw said none of his players had expressed any reservations about taking to the field for the opening-round clash against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
“We have pretty much planned to get going anyway, we thought we would have the mindset … we knew we were going to play on Sunday and let’s just prepare as much as we can for that,” Shaw said.
“We’ve done that the last couple of weeks and it was just good to get confirmation yesterday.
“The AFL have gone through a great process, it’s a real credit to Gil (McLachlan) and Hock (Steve Hocking) in terms of their leadership and they have gone through the process to tick all the boxes and we’re on, so that’s where it sits with me.
“They (the players) have all been keen to play, it’s just whether it’s been ticked off by the AFL and whether it’s within what the government expects as well.
“That process has taken place and we got the all-clear yesterday and we are happy with that.”
Every team in the AFL faces the surreal prospect of playing in front of empty stadiums after the government’s restrictions on mass gatherings.
In the absence of their crowd support, Shaw said the Kangaroos would be trying to generate their own energy.
“We felt as though we trained all pre-season without crowds and we are trying to make our own energy in that regard, we are not relying on anyone else,” Shaw said.
“That’s what our team focus has been about since day dot of the pre-season so not much is going to change. It might be a bit weird, a few echoes in Marvel Stadium on Sunday but we are looking forward to feeding off our own energy and having a real read hot crack.”
Asked about the potential for sledging to be picked up more easily by microphones without crowd noise to drown it out, Shaw said there were some witty types in the Kangaroos’ team but their focus would be on the contest.
“I think we have kind of had the mindset that we concentrate on the ball and what’s happening in the contest,” he said.
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“We have got some pretty witty blokes in our team so that will be interesting, hopefully the umps aren’t too close.”
The AFL has shortened quarters to 16 minutes plus time, which Shaw said would add to strategy during matches.
“I wish it was coming around when I was playing towards the back end there,” Shaw said.
“It is going to be interesting, a bit of strategy plays out there as well. You can still rotate 90 times so there is going to be some fresh players on the ground but that might be needed in two, three or four weeks’ time.”