South Australia’s Covid-19 cluster forces Queensland government to impose bans on Adelaide Lightning players’ families.
Adelaide Lightning captain Steph Talbot was looking forward to her family arriving in the team’s North Queensland hub before a COVID-19 cluster emerged in Adelaide’s north.
The WNBL hub just got even tougher for the Adelaide Lightning with South Australia’s Covid-19 cluster forcing the Queensland government to impose bans on the players’ families joining the team.
A COVID-19 cluster has emerged in Adelaide’s north, which grew to 17 cases on Monday.
This outbreak has forced Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania to impose border and quarantine restrictions on South Australia.
Queensland’s restrictions only apply to Adelaide, not the entire state.
This is devastating news for Lightening captain Steph Talbot, who was about to welcome her family to the North Queensland hub before the bans intervened.
“My family were going to come up and another (player’s) family were as well, but they can no longer come,” Talbot said.
“Everyone is shutting their borders after the Covid outbreak in Adelaide.
“Families could come to the hub, but not anymore.”
On a positive note, Adelaide is charging following back-to-back wins over Canberra and Perth to start the WNBL season.
Talbot says the undefeated Lightning are ready to strike when they take on Liz Cambage and her Southside Flyers on Tuesday.
Cambage’s Flyers are the championship favourites, but they copped a hit over the weekend with a loss to the Melbourne Boomers.
Talbot knows Adelaide can go toe-to-toe with the competition favourites.
“We can definitely compete with them,” she said.
“We are really excited to play the favourites. That is a challenge coming up against one of the best teams.
“It is also a challenge for them (Southside) being the favourites every night because every team will be up when they play them.
“We have a lot that we want to work on, but it has been good to grind out a few wins early.
“It definitely gives some confidence. We play a real team game and I think that is one of our strengths.”
Talbot is particularly excited about taking on Cambage – one of the world’s best women’s basketballers.
“She is big, she has got some great skills and she can shoot, so she is a real tough player,” she said.
“When you come up against a player like that, you can’t leave it up to one person.
“Everybody has to be able to do their part to help.”
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