Dogs-Dees blockbuster to go ahead as players test negative

Richmond and Essendon are likely to play their Dreamtime game in Perth next weekend but the round 12 fixture remains highly volatile after the AFL narrowly saved round 11 on a day Victoria went back into lockdown.

NSW became an unlikely sanctuary for the league on Thursday, with both the Tigers and Hawthorn heading to Sydney to contest rescheduled games this weekend against Adelaide and Gold Coast as the league considers “mini-hubs” and scrambles to deal with rapidly closing borders and narrowing fixture flexibility.

Richmond players seen at Melbourne Airport.Credit: Getty Images

Tigers players have been told to prepare to be away from Melbourne for weeks, having squeezed into NSW on a flight just before 4pm on Thursday. Had they left any later, they would have been forced into a week’s self-isolation in accordance with NSW government regulations.

Friday night’s Western Bulldogs-Melbourne blockbuster at Marvel Stadium will proceed without a crowd, after a negative COVID-19 test result came through for a rehabbing Demons player, who visited a tier-one exposure site.

“As of Friday morning, all Melbourne players and football staff have received negative coronavirus test results,” the Demons said in a statement.

“Players and staff are now clear to attend the club’s round 11 clash with the Bulldogs. The player who attended a tier one exposure site will continue to undertake his 14-day isolation as per government regulation.”

But the fixture for round 12 remains up in the air. The Tigers are expecting to face the Bombers at Optus Stadium, but all other matches in that round could also be changed.

The Adelaide-Collingwood (Adelaide Oval), Carlton-West Coast (MCG), St Kilda-Sydney (Marvel), Fremantle-Bulldogs (Optus) and Melbourne-Brisbane Lions (Alice Springs) games are all precariously placed given they require either a Victorian team to head interstate or a non-Victorian side to play in Melbourne.

AFL sources suggested the league was looking at contingencies including flying more Victorian sides into Sydney or even WA, in the hope they would be able to train during quarantine or isolation as part of bio-secure bubbles.

However passage for Victorian clubs into other states is no guarantee given Victoria’s escalating crisis. League sources said it was possible that several Victorian clubs may need to play against each other for a period of time, while other clubs already out of the state remained in mini-hubs and played against other clubs to whom they could travel.

The league has been helped by the fact this outbreak has occurred around the bye rounds, giving the AFL slightly more breathing space to move matches. But the AFL is also conscious that it is rapidly running out of matches that still have return games later in the season, and is keen not to avoid eroding the integrity of the fixture as much as possible.

The Friday night blockbuster between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne is still up in the air.Credit: Getty Images

AFL sources indicated that crowds at games in Victoria were unlikely to return by round 12, and that any return is likely to be gradual, as has been the precedent during this pandemic.

NSW ultimately saved the AFL, at least for this week, with other states and the Northern Territory having shut their borders completely to Victoria.

The upshot was that the AFL opted to play the Hawthorn-Suns game, relocated from Darwin, at the SCG on Saturday night, and the Tigers-Crows game at Giants Stadium at 2:10pm on Sunday (initially scheduled for 1:10pm at the MCG) as having the clubs in NSW rather than Queensland or another state maximised the AFL’s fixturing flexibility.

Sources said the latest suggestion from the AFL to Richmond was that the Tigers, who have taken most of their squad to Sydney (barring players in rehab) in preparation for next travelling to Perth, would play Essendon in Perth in round 12. They would then scrap their round 13 bye and play West Coast in Perth that weekend. Their bye would then be pushed back to round 14. West Coast would make the same change.

The NAB League, VFL and VFLW have been called off this weekend and most of Richmond’s VFL players are joining the senior team on the road, with the likes of Tom Lynch staying back to complete rehab. They are likely to regain Shai Bolton, Trent Cotchin and Dion Prestia from injury to face the Crows.

The Port Adelaide-Fremantle game that was due to start at 4.40pm AEST on Sunday will now begin at 5.20pm AEST in order to allow umpires to arrive from Perth.

With 12 new locally acquired cases announced by the Victorian health department on Thursday morning, the state is heading into a seven-day lockdown. People returning from Greater Melbourne had already been locked out of South Australia, imperilling the Crows’ plans to head to Victoria for the match.

Acting Premier James Merlino said professional sport could go ahead despite the lockdown, but games will be played behind closed doors.

However, community sport cannot go ahead under lockdown rules.

Well-placed sources said that the Saints-Swans match was now likely to be played in Sydney instead, with the AFL helped by the fact the clubs have a return match later in the season which could be flipped to Melbourne.

The Saints are then due to head to Cairns to take on Adelaide, with sources suggesting it was likely St Kilda would head straight from Sydney to Cairns.

The Bulldogs will be one of the clubs to be hardest hit in financial terms as they are hosting the top-of-the-table clash against Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Friday night, with the game potentially worth more than $300,000 to the club if it had been held with crowds.

McLachlan confirmed next week’s AFLW sign and trade period and AFL mid-season draft would proceed as planned.

Sources at the Bulldogs said they were yet to do the full calculations but knew the loss of crowds would hit their bottom line hard.

Meanwhile, Port Adelaide players and staff will return to work and training on Thursday, with all having tested negative in the aftermath of a COVID-19 case at last Sunday’s clash with Collingwood at the MCG.

SPORTS AND TEAMS AFFECTED BY VICTORIA’S LOCKDOWN

AFL

• Richmond and Adelaide are set to play their game, originally due to be played at the MCG, in Sydney. Richmond are leaving Melbourne on Thursday afternoon.
• Essendon and Carlton left Victoria on Wednesday for WA and NSW, respectively, ahead of their games this weekend.
• Hawthorn and Gold Coast will no longer play in Darwin on Saturday. No venue has yet been set.
• A Melbourne player visited an exposure site but the Bulldogs-Demons clash on Friday night will go ahead pending negative test results for Melbourne staff and players.

SUPERCARS

• The Winton SuperSprint has been postponed. It is likely to be rescheduled to July 31-August 1.

NRL

• The Storm had already left Melbourne for Queensland. They will play the Broncos there on Thursday night as planned.

SUPER NETBALL

• The Vixens left Victoria for Queensland on Wednesday.
• The Magpies will fly to Sydney on Thursday.
• The Giants are flying to Perth today, earlier than planned ahead of their Monday night game, because the team had been in Melbourne in the previous round.

SUPER RUGBY

• The Rebels left Victoria for Sydney on Wednesday. They were due to play the Highlanders in Queenstownon Sunday but this game could be moved to NSW instead.

A-LEAGUE

• Melbourne Victory will play Western United on Friday behind closed doors, per government restrictions.
• Melbourne City were due to play the Jets at AAMI Park on Saturday. The match has been postponed.
• The A-League said on Thursday that an announcement in regards to Monday’s match between Western United FC and Macarthur FC would be made in the next 48 hours.

NBL

• The Victorian teams left the state on Thursday. Saturday’s scheduled game between South East Melbourne and Cairns that was to be played at John Cain Arena has been moved to Friday night and will now be played at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena at 7:30pm AEST. Monday’s scheduled game between Melbourne United and Cairns that was also to be played at John Cain Arena will now be played at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena at 7:30pm AEST.

On Thursday, WA brought in a hard border with Victoria, but Premier Mark McGowan said in his press conference that all Essendon players and staff had returned negative COVID-19 tests.

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