Coronavirus Australia: AFL alert to Queensland border closure to Sydneysiders before NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian as Swans, Giants fly out early

When the Queensland premier shut her border to Sydneysiders she blindsided her NSW counterpart, but the AFL was a step ahead.

Tom Papley and Will Hayward with coach John Longmire, left, during the Sydney Swans training at Lakeside Oval on Tuesday. Picture. Phil Hillyard

The AFL contacted both the Sydney Swans and Giants on Tuesday night, alerting both clubs that they could be forced to move out of the state sooner rather than later.

When Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Wednesday morning she was shutting the border to NSW on Wednesday morning she wrong-footed even her NSW counterpart, Gladys Berejiklian, but the footballers were already a step ahead.

Either the AFL has better government links than some governments or its crystal ball is of rare quality, but somehow the league has been ahead of the game in the Victorian and NSW pandemic panics.

It is understood the Melbourne-based code had been watching reports of COVID-19 clusters in Potts Point and Kings Cross — suburbs close to the SCG — and become anxious.

The Giants and Swans were due to fly to and from Queensland on Thursday but now will catch separate planes on one way tickets.

Both sides have games this week and next week in the northern state and were due to return to Sydney before returning late next week for the next round.

They were then due to fly to Perth separately for an unknown duration.

The Swans and Giants will now fly separately to Brisbane on Thursday afternoon, stay put for the following round and then move to Perth where they are in complete lock down for an unknown period.

Both teams are understood to be carrying full squads and support staff which ruled out sharing a plane.

Both will train in Sydney before heading to the airports.

The Giants play Gold Coast at Metricon on Sunday and then Essendon on Friday before flying to WA.

Sydney face St Kilda at the Gabba on Saturday and then Collingwood on Thursday before joining their rivals in Perth.

The AFL’s ability to mobilise and move in a moment has been nothing short of spectacular. Where soccer failed spectacularly, it managed to get all six sides out of Victoria and into northern states at the start of July and had concentrated all but the Sydney outfits in either Queensland or WA since.

The league is due to fly around 400 staff and family members, including 170 children, out of Melbourne on Thursday where they will enter a two week quarantine period before being able to join players who have been in Queensland for weeks.

It is estimated that around 1600 people have been moved to Brisbane or the Gold Coast by the AFL at a cost of around $3m a week to keep the competition going.