AFL games in NSW set to go ahead despite warnings from Premier Gladys Berejiklian to avoid Victorians

Ahead of two huge nights of AFL action in Sydney, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has eased jangled Victorian nerves by allowing both the Western Bulldogs and Collingwood to travel.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has waved play on for incoming AFL and NRL teams from Victoria, despite urging her state’s citizens not to interact with those south of the border.

With fears of an impending second wave in Victoria as daily COVID-19 cases hover in double figures, the NSW premier called for organisations to cease contact with anyone from the Garden State.

But her hard-line stance doesn’t apply to the major football codes, permitting those involved have gone through the appropriate checks and balances.

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The NSW Premier says games can go ahead ‘as long as safe-checks are in place’.

“As long as those COVID-safe checks have been in place and players have confirmed to be negative,” she said.

“I mean, those organisations have a responsibility already in their COVID-safe plans.

“A number of those games, I understand, were going to be played in Victoria (and) are now going to be played in NSW.

“But every organisation, everybody who is active needs to avoid those hotspots, needs to avoid broader Melbourne at this stage whilst the community spread is what it is.”

After the positive test of Essendon’s Conor McKenna, NRL powerhouse Melbourne have relocated to the Harbour City indefinitely in the lead up to Friday’s “home” clash with the Warriors.

Sydney will also host two primetime AFL clashes featuring Victorian sides, with Sydney-Western Bulldogs and GWS-Collingwood fixtured for Thursday and Friday night respectively.

AFL to defy NSW Premier’s COVID-19 warnings

The AFL will make a mockery of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s pleas not to interact with Victorians, when two Melbourne teams brazenly fly into Sydney from Thursday, writes Ben Horne.

Sydney Swans and GWS Giants players are putting all their faith in the AFL’s strict biosecurity protocols as they prepare to play football against two teams full of Melbourne citizens that the state government has instructed they should avoid at all costs.

Berejiklian was making no apologies for her hardline stance after Victoria recorded 17 new COVID-19 cases, as she declared all organisations should be ceasing all contact with Melburnians.

Conor McKenna became the first AFL player to test positive for COVID-19.

“I call on all organisations not to interact with citizens from Melbourne at this stage,” said the Premier.

“I would definitely encourage organisations to consider who to allow on their premises and where they’re coming from.”

The AFL is confident they’re an exception to Berejiklian’s position given footballers are living under stricter guidelines than regular citizens. Players are being tested at least twice a week and they have regulations on how much contact they can have with the outside world.

However, Essendon star Conor McKenna has tested positive — although he returned a negative test on Tuesday — and the Melbourne Storm NRL club has already been forced to relocate to Sydney for the foreseeable future.

If the situation continues to worsen in Melbourne then the AFL may have no choice but to move Victorian clubs into interstate hubs.

Sydney and Western Bulldogs will clash at the SCG on Thursday.

Sydney Swans co-captain Josh Kennedy said while the club respected the government’s advice, players had full faith that playing the Bulldogs on Thursday night at the SCG was safe.

“I think you certainly respect what’s been said but you also trust that the AFL have put in place so many protocols and testing and you trust they’re doing everything to be able to make it a safe environment,” Kennedy told The Daily Telegraph.

“I’ve got my faith in that and I’ve certainly got no worries about going out there Thursday night playing against the Doggies.”

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Swans coach John Longmire said the club was at the mercy of AFL and government advice, and at this point, the Thursday match and GWS’s assignment against Collingwood on Friday night have the green light to go ahead.

“Well, all we can do is take the advice of health professionals and the AFL,” he said.

“The AFL give us all the guidance. We have very strict protocols and we are abiding by those protocols as we should and if they change, we change with it and that’s all we can go by at the moment.”

Collingwood and GWS Giants will clash in a rematch of last year’s preliminary final.

Longmire said his mantra to players this season has been to put out of their minds anything they can’t control.

The AFL has been sent into a spin this week after McKenna tested positive to COVID-19, and Longmire has instructed players to be flexible to rules and requirements changing at the last moment.

“It’s about the influence and control. If you can’t control things there’s no point worrying about it too much,” he said.

“It’s about what you can influence and we can influence the way we go about it, our reviews and our previews, our training sessions. We can set ourselves on that and the stuff you can’t control, there’s just not much point putting energy into it.

“Things change so quickly there’s no point being in that headspace.”

The Bulldogs will stay overnight in Sydney on Thursday and Collingwood will stay Friday night. Last week, Essendon were permitted to take a walk through the Sydney CBD in small groups before their match.

Originally published as AFL games in NSW set to go ahead despite warnings from Premier Gladys Berejiklian to avoid Victorians