Four AFL clubs facing lockdown, Essendon star isolated

The AFL season is at crisis point after players and staff from eight clubs had to be tested after attending Covid-19 exposure sites.

Andrew McGrath has been out injured. Pic: Michael Klein

The AFL season is again at crisis point after news emerged Saturday four clubs have been forced to put players and staff into hard lockdown.

But the plot thickened soon after as the AFL revealed that eight teams have had players visit Victorian exposure sites over the past few days.

It has been revealed the injured Bombers midfielder is among a number of players and staff from the Bombers, Swans, Giants and Kangaroos who have been forced to isolate as a result of their attendance at the same tier one exposure site in Melbourne before they flew to Queensland this week.

It was since revealed that Collingwood, Hawthorn, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs also had players and/or staff members either attending the Wallabies Vs France on Tuesday night, or other exposure sites in Victoria, with some players and staff already in Queensland.

Essendon star Andrew McGrath was the only player to be publicly identified in reports, while the AFL reported that Hawthorn’s Conor Nash had been withdrawn from Saturday night’s game against Melbourne at the MCG.

Fox Footy’s Tom Morris reported one Essendon player and two Essendon staff members have been separated from the rest of the team.

The AFL release stated that every person identified as attending an exposure site has been tested and received a negative result.

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Zach Merrett and Andrew McGrath.

The Swans are reported to have four staff members in isolation, while North Melbourne have one player not currently playing under a Covid-exposure cloud.

The Herald Sun has now reported the players and staff all attended the same tier one venue — the Wallabies-France rugby test at AAMI Park on Tuesday night.

The four clubs travelled to Queensland on Thursday, as did the Bulldogs.

The Swans play the Giants on the Gold Coast on Sunday, while Essendon tackles North Melbourne earlier that day at the same venue in a double-header.

According to reports, the sites visited by the players and staff were only identified as tier one sites after the players had already flown to Queensland.

Tier 1 exposure sites require a mandatory 14-day quarantine period regardless of a negative result, with the affected AFL players and staff adhering to the restriction.

The majority of the attendees from the clubs who attended the Rugby are classified as Tier 3 – advised to monitor for symptoms and get tested if they become unwell.

The affected players and staff have undergone Covid-19 tests and will be put into isolation for 14 days.

AFL executive general manager of football Andrew Dillon said the AFL will continue to work with the clubs of those affected and make the necessary decisions to best protect the health and well-being of the competition and the wider community.

“The occurrences of the last few days show how volatile the pandemic continues to be in the community – it only respects discipline,” Mr Dillon said.

“We will continue to work closely with the relevant state governments and medical professionals and be led by their advice and ask everyone in our industry to continue to be vigilant with their movements within their current communities.

“We will continue to make the necessary decisions to best protect the competition and the wider community.”

“We thank the continued support of all Governments as we navigate through these challenging circumstances.”

Currently no game will be affected and will continue as scheduled.

Hawthorn’s Conor Nash has been confirmed as another player stood down.

Channel 9’s Alicia Muling first identified McGrath is the Bombers player caught up in the storm.

It is another development that threatend to derail the season after reports this week the league is yet to cement the fixture for Round 19 next weekend.

It comes after the MCG’s Members’ Reserve was this week identified as a tier one venue as a result of Covid-19 exposure during the Carlton-Geelong clash last Saturday.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan this week said the league will press on with its Victorian-based matches this weekend.

There are five games set to be played in Melbourne in Round 18, with three of those clashes taking place at the MCG.