By Jake Niall, Anthony Colangelo and Daniel Cherny
Melbourne have been fined $50,000 and midfielder Harley Bennell suspended for four matches and sent home from the Demons' Queensland hub after an AFL investigation concluded that he had breached its coronavirus rules.
Bennell's future with the Demons is in serious doubt, with the club's chief executive Gary Pert calling the former Docker and Sun's breach "a selfish act and a clear breach of the AFL's protocols.''
Sources familiar with the situation said Bennell had left the Demons' Sunshine Coast headquarters on Saturday night to visit a home.
The AFL said Bennell had left the club's hub, attempted to visit another residence without approval and then visited "an unapproved premises."
The former Dockers and Suns midfielder cooperated with the investigation. While the Demons last night dropped out of the final eight courtesy of the Western Bulldogs' win over Fremantle, the penalty means he cannot remain in Queensland with his family.
In a club statement, Pert said: "He has made a poor decision which is incredibly disappointing. He has not only put himself, his team mates and the competition at risk, but he has failed to live up to the values of the Melbourne Football Club. On behalf of the Melbourne Football Club, I sincerely apologise to the AFL and the Queensland government for the embarassment and harm that this incident has caused.
"Harley knew the rules. He understands the extent of his actions and is incredibly remorseful for his behaviour.
Harley Bennell.Credit: Getty Images
Sources said Bennell had not been arrested by police nor charged. The penalty for a first AFL COVID-19 offence is a $50,000 fine to the club, with $25,000 suspended but the Demons have copped the full $50,000 without a suspended component. This is the Demons' first breach since Kysaiah Pickett and Charlie Spargo ran foul of AFL protocols early in the season, before the hubs were established and a new fines system introduced.
Bennell was not part of the Dees' squad for Saturday's match against Essendon on the Gold Coast, and as a precautionary measure has not returned to their hub.
"Whilst the club and the AFL are in the process of establishing the facts, Harley will remain in an off-site isolation location, to remove any possibility of contaminating the Twin Waters high performance hub,'' Melbourne said earlier on Sunday.
Bennell's former coach at Fremantle, Ross Lyon, said he had recently been in touch with the 27-year-old.
“It's very concerning. I spoke to Harley on Friday, we had a conversation about not being picked and what the future looks like,” Lyon told Triple M.
“He was really committed to Melbourne, it seemed like they’d committed to him. I think if he’s been out ... the concern for him is the exit interviews ... that’s disappointing, he’s up there with [partner] Amy and [child] Carter.
“I hope he’s OK because a lot of pressure is going to come but he’d been perfect.
“Yeah, concerning. On the surface he seems to have maybe made an error.”
The breach comes at a time when the AFL and the Queensland government are under pressure regarding their arrangement to play out the season up north.
Many regular Queensland residents and family of Queenslanders are unable to get back into the state, while the AFL has been allowed to move virtually its entire operation to the state.