The AFL has been rocked on Sunday evening with news multiple players and staff from both the Sydney Swans and GWS Giants have been forced into isolation ahead of their clash at Metricon Stadium.
According to an official AFL statement, six players and staff from the Swans, and nine from the Giants entered via Gate 7 of the venue at the rugby in Melbourne and sat in Rows 25-42 of Zone 2, which has now been re-classified as a Tier 2 exposure site by the Victorian Department of Health after a positive case attended the match.
The AFL and both clubs are currently scrambling to redo the team lists, with the game between the Giants and Swans still set to proceed as planned.
All players and staff who attended the match and have now been classes as a Tier 2 contact must now isolate until further notice from the Department of Health.
A Giants statement confirmed that Toby Greene and Matt De Boer would be the only two players from their group who would not be able to play today.
Fox Sports' Tom Morris reported Kieren Briggs and Jake Stein were the other two players in attendance, although were not named to play in today's game.
Toby Greene, Matt De Boer, Kieren Briggs and Jake Stein are the four GWS players who can't play today. The latter two weren't in the team anyway. All were at the rugby.@FOXFOOTY
— Tom Morris (@tommorris32) July 18, 2021
The Swans are yet to release a statement regarding which players will have to pull out of the game and therefore be forced into isolation, however it has been reported that Callum Mills, Colin O'Riordan, Harry Cunningham are the three players out.
.@sydneyswans outs after Covid exposure at the rugby: Callum Mills, Colin O'Riordan, Harry Cunningham.
Ins: Ben Ronke, Dylan Stephens, James Rowbottom. @FOXFOOTY #AFLGiantsSwans
— Max Laughton (@maxlaughton) July 18, 2021
The game is due to start at 6:10pm (AEST) at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast, with both teams scrambling out of Melbourne mid-week as a lockdown loomed over the city due to the worsening COVID situation.
They had both already been forced out of Sydney due to the COVID situation and lockdown in their home city.