Covid scare forces five footballers from Swans and Giants before bounce

Toby Greene and Swans defender Callum Mills are among 15 Sydney and Giants players and staff forced into isolation.

Toby Greene was warming up for the Giants ahead of the clash against Sydney on the Gold Coast when he was among five players forced to withdraw due to Covid-19 protocols Picture: Getty Images

Coronavirus has cornered the AFL in extraordinary fashion on the Gold Coast, with five players pulled from the match between Sydney and the GWS Giants shortly before the first bounce .

Giants star Toby Greene and Sydney defender Callum Mills were among those to miss the game won in dazzling fashion by the Swans by 26 points at Metricon Stadium on Sunday night.

The Giants jumped the Swans when kicking seven goals in succession from early in the first term, only for Sydney to rally from midway through the second term to boot nine in a row.

Lance Franklin was dynamic in the second half, kicking his 400th goal for Sydney, and four for the game, as he closes on the magical 1000 mark.

Watch The 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Greene and Mills were among 15 players and staff members from the clubs who will be in isolation for two weeks under Queensland’s strict health protocols.

Mills, Harry Cunningham and Colin O’Riordan were ousted from the Swans, with James Rowbottom and Dylan Stephens coming into the side and Ben Ronke elevated to substitute.

Swans ruckman Callum Sinclair and Giants Kieren Briggs, Matt de Boer and Jake Stein also attended the Test and will be forced to isolate.

The group had attended the rugby union Test between the Wallabies and France on Tuesday and were forced out of Sunday night’s game when Victoria elevated the risk level of exposure sites at AAMI Stadium.

Sydney coach John Longmire was on the phone to the AFL shortly before start time finalising his side after the league insisted the clash that was crucial for both clubs go ahead as planned.

“We had to call the hotel and get the three boys who played (at a lower level on Saturday) over here in a hurry,” Longmire said.

The AFL’s bid to continue outrunning Covid-19 turned the latest “Battle of the Bridge” into a farce of the highest order.

Lance Franklin kicked four goals to move closer to the 1000 milestone Picture: Michael Klein

Initially scheduled for Giants Stadium, GWS lobbied for the match to be played in Canberra given the outbreak in Sydney, only for the AFL to settle on Ballarat instead. But when both teams were rushed to Queensland midweek, it became the second match scheduled at Metricon Stadium on Sunday after the earlier game between Essendon and the Kangaroos.

The decision to press ahead with the game raises integrity concerns, with the teams forced to compete while clearly compromised in a game that had finals ramifications for several clubs.

Greene and de Boer were replaced by Tanner Bruhn and Zach Sproule, who was the medical substitute for the Giants.

Given there have been positive cases stemming from the rugby international, both clubs and the rest of the competition remain on the highest alert given the potential ramifications if one of the 15 tests positive.

The travelling party of Swans and Giants, who shared a flight to Queensland on Thursday, recorded negative tests to Covid-19 when they arrived from Victoria.

They were tested again on Saturday night, as per AFL Covid-19 protocols, and again recorded negative results.

Had they remained in Victoria, those now isolating would only have been required to do so until returning a negative test.

This is the scenario facing Hawk Conor Nash, who withdrew from the drawn clash against Melbourne on Saturday night at the MCG.

But Queensland does not recognise the Victorian scaling of exposure sites and have enforced stricter measures.

Both clubs will attempt to shorten the window of quarantine, or at least backdate the starting point to last Tuesday.

Should the quarantine be strict, it will have an impact on the ability of those isolating to retain the necessary fitness to have an impact later in the season.

There are also implications for both clubs over the next fortnight as they pursue either the double-chance or a spot in the eight.

Sydney is due to play Fremantle and Essendon in rounds 19 and 20.

The Giants, who also lost Josh Kelly and Matt Flynn to injury, are scheduled to face Essendon next weekend and then Port Adelaide a week later.