With a fleet of new active Covid cases announced by the Victorian Government Department of Health on Thursday morning, the AFL season has once again been thrown into chaos.
Stay tuned to Zero Hanger, as we will continue to update you with all of the latest news as it comes to light.
The Hawthorn Football Club has withdrawn Irishman Conor Nash from the starting line-up to face Melbourne on Saturday night after it was found that he had attended Tuesday night's Rugby test between Australia and France.
Nash has returned a negative Covid reading on his initial test, but is still in mandatory isolation in accordance with Victorian Department of Health protocols.
Players and/or staff members from Collingwood, Essendon, Greater Western Sydney, North Melbourne, St Kilda, Sydney, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs have been linked to exposure sites across this Victoria.
However, according to Callum Twomey of AFL Media, Round 18 will go ahead as planned.
Those that have been linked to Tier 1 sites have been asked to quarantine for 14-days irrespective of Covid testing results.
Those that have been linked with Tier 2 sites have been to monitor their symptoms.
AFL general manager of football Andrew Dillon commented on the current lay of the land on Saturday afternoon:
"The occurrences of the last few days show how volatile the pandemic continues to be in the community – it only respects discipline," he said.
"We will continue to work closely with the relevant state governments and medical professionals and be led by their advice and ask everyone in our industry to continue to be vigilant with their movements within their current communities.
"We will continue to make the necessary decisions to best protect the competition and the wider community.
"We thank the continued support of all Governments as we navigate through these challenging circumstances."
Essendon and North Melbourne have been hit with troubling news on the eve of their Round 18 clash, with several members of their travelling party forced into a hard lockdown situation.
According to Fox Footy news breaker Tom Morris, one North Melbourne player and two club staff have been linked to a Tier 1 exposure site in Victoria, and one unnamed Essendon player has also been forced into isolation due to the same reason.
Morris also claimed that four Sydney Swans staff members have been told to isolate for the very same reason.
Channel 7 journalist Tom Brown has revealed that the Essendon player is one that is currently injured and that the exposure site in question was Tuesday night's Rugby test match between Australia and France at AAMI Park in Melbourne.
According to Browne, the Round 18 clash between the Roos and Dons at Metricon Stadium on Sunday night will still take place.
Further reports from Morris suggest that a St Kilda player was also in attendance on Tuesday night, however, Saints Chief Operating Officer Simon Lethlean has stated that the player in question has since provided a negative test.
Morris has stated that St Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall attended the aforesaid game, as did GWS' Toby Greene, but as neither have tested positive, they must only monitor their symptoms and are free to play in their respective clashes.
Saturday night's clash between St Kilda and Port Adelaide will be brought ahead from it's original time-slot of 7:25pm, while remaining at Marvel Stadium.
The switch allows the Saints time to fly out of Melbourne after the match and head to Perth ahead of their Round 19 clash with West Coast.
The Melbourne vs Hawthorn match would be brought into the prime-time slot of 7:25pm, moving from it's original time-slot of 4:35pm.
At the time of writing, this is how the rest of the weekend is set to play out.
Friday July 16
Richmond v Brisbane Lions, 7:50pm, Metricon Stadium
Saturday July 17
St Kilda v Port Adelaide, 1:45pm, Marvel Stadium
Gold Coast Suns v Western Bulldogs, 4:35pm, Metricon Stadium
Melbourne v Hawthorn, 7:25pm, MCG
Sunday July 18
North Melbourne v Essendon, 12:35pm, Metricon Stadium
Collingwood v Carlton, 3:20pm, MCG
Adelaide Crows v West Coast Eagles, 4:40pm, Adelaide Oval
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has announced that the state will enter a snap lockdown from 11:59 Thursday night until 11:59 Tuesday night.
However, according to The Age, some regional portions of the state can expect to exit the restrictions earlier if the number of cases stabilizes.
“This will be a hard lockdown similar to or identical to what we did a couple of weeks ago,” Mr Andrews said.
“We will release those parts are regional Victoria that it is safe to release before next Tuesday if it is safe to do so.”
The AFL is yet to make further any further announcement.
News has come through in the last hour that Richmond and Brisbane will join North Melbourne, Essendon, Sydney, Greater Western Sydney and the Western Bulldogs in jetting off to the Gold Coast.
In further reports from Tom Morris of Fox Footy, it has been announced that in scenes reminiscent of the back half of last season, Metricon Stadium could host as many as four-games this weekend.
Although Jack Riewoldt's 300th game was set to take place on Friday night at the MCG, the Tasmanian and his teammates could be set to celebrate the achievement against Brisbane on the Gold Coast, per a report from The Herald Sun.
Despite the proposed shift in state and venue, the Tigers and Lions are still set to do battle on Friday night.
According to Jay Clark, Jon Ralph and Sam Landsberger, the Tigers will join the aforementioned cast of teams to depart Tullamarine, with their flight reported to leave at 6:30pm AEST.
If these reports are true, this will be the Lions' second successive game at the Suns' home ground in as many weeks, after they took on the Saints at the Carrara venue last Saturday night.
In other news, the Sydney derby between the Giants and Swans will also take place at Metricon Stadium.
The clash is said to be scheduled for Sunday night.
At this stage, the remaining three games scheduled to take place in the Victorian capital will go ahead in front of empty stands.
Said clashes include Melbourne and Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday evening, St Kilda and Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium and Collingwood and Carlton again at the MCG.
In a further statement from AFL house, the following changes have been made to the VFL's Round 14 fixture:
In addition to this announcement, it was stated that AFL listed players were permitted to take part in this weekend's action, but only after supplying a negative Covid test.
The AFL continued by expressing that any further amendments would be done so on the advisory of the necessary State and Territory governments.
In-form Kangaroos midfielder Ben Cunnington has announced on Thursday morning that he would not be joining his teammates on the Gold Coast, per reports from Fox Sport's Tom Morris.
Cunnington, 30, was said to have met with the other members of the Kangaroos' playing list this morning and told them that due to family reasons, he would not be on the club's flight to Queensland this afternoon.
Morris also reported that the remainder of the Roos' list were told that if they wished to follow Cunnington's lead to stay at home, they would have the full support of the club.
North Melbourne are set to depart Tullamarine at 2pm AEST on Thursday afternoon.
After Wednesday's news that the MCG became an exposure site last Saturday afternoon during Carlton's contest with Geelong, a further two cases have been linked to the venue.
On Thursday afternoon, Victoria’s COVID-19 Commander, Jeroen Weimar stated that the pair of individuals had attended the aforementioned game.
The second level of the MCC Member's Reserve has since been deemed a Tier-2 exposure site.
Both individuals attended the said portion of the ground.
Weimer said that the two-new cases, an adult male and a child, were not known to each other, but they had sat in the same area.
“Interviews are ongoing with those individuals as we speak,” Weinmar said in his afternoon press conference.
“There will be other exposure sites to work through. As we have more information, we’ll continue to share it.”
The Round 18 match-up between North Melbourne and Essendon that was originally scheduled for Melbourne's Marvel Stadium has officially been moved to Metricon Stadium.
In an official press-release from the Arden Street side, Kangaroos' CEO Ben Amarfio stated that his club would do whatever it would take to keep the game going.
“As we have experienced for some time now, we need to do what we can to keep the season moving,” Amarfio said.
“Sadly, that means we have been informed that our game is being relocated to Metricon and we will have to wait and see what happens beyond this weekend.
“We understand that’s it’s a cautious response but we appreciate the AFL is doing its best to manage risk and provide flexibility for future rounds.
“Our players and staff have been extremely understanding and we have been working with them all this morning and will continue to do so.”
As previously mentioned, North Melbourne members can expect to receive a direct refund directly from Ticketmaster.
Amarfio continued by adding further information.
“We sincerely apologise to our incredibly loyal Victorian members and supporters who will not be able to watch us play in person this weekend and we thank them for their continued patience and support,” he said.
“Member Appreciation Round will be moved to Round 22, where we will have an exciting range of giveaways to say thank you for the wonderful loyalty and faith our members have shown us.”
With pandemonium and ambiguity reigning, the AFL have released a statement on Thursday morning about their intentions for this weekend's action.
In a document titled 'AFL Covid Update', it was announced that:
The update came with a message from AFL Executive General Manager Clubs and Broadcasting Travis Auld that stated the league would "continue to make decisions that ensure the season is able to progress during the ongoing pandemic."
Auld also continued by confirming what was already known:
“The decisions we have made this morning regarding the locations of a number of teams have been taken out of an abundance of caution. Our approach remains to take risk out of the season where the opportunity presents," he said.
“We continue to work towards our priority of reuniting the families of both the GWS GIANTS and Sydney Swans and the decision to relocate both sides to Queensland provides maximum flexibility required to achieve that.
“The Western Bulldogs’ travel is one day earlier than scheduled and provides the Dogs with certainty as they prepare for their match against the Gold Coast SUNS.
“The decision to relocate the North Melbourne and Essendon match to Queensland is a precautionary measure that provides flexibility for future rounds.
“As we have throughout the course of the pandemic, we will continue to take measures to ensure that we best manage and minimise risk for those in our game and in the wider community.
“To fans in Ballarat, we are disappointed to be moving the game from regional Victoria and thank the people of Ballarat and the local Council, the Victoria Government and Mars Stadium for their understanding.
“On behalf of the AFL I would like to thank the respective State Governments, each Club, players and the AFLPA, umpires, broadcast partners, venues and all football fans for their continued patience and understanding as we all continue to navigate the pandemic.
"We also want to thank the families of everyone involved in the game for their ongoing support of the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.”
The AFL also wished to advise that supporters who had purchased tickets for the GWS v Sydney clash originally slated for Ballarat's Mars Stadium and North Melbourne's match with Essendon at Marvel Stadium can expect to receive full refunds from Ticketmaster.
Despite earlier reports that the entirety of the Western Bulldogs' playing list had made the trip to Queensland this morning, the club's VFL affiliate - Footscray - will not face the Suns' reserves in a VFL clash originally scheduled as a curtain raiser ahead of the AFL match-up at Metricon Stadium.
Bulldogs Chief Executive Ameet Bains confirmed the news this morning on SEN Radio.
Bains claimed that the club is on the hunt for an 'alternative arrangement' for the remainder of the Dogs' list not selected at AFL level this weekend.
Bains also stated that he expected the club to return back to Melbourne on Saturday night following the game on Saturday afternoon.
In a further report from Morris, long-term rivals North Melbourne and Essendon are set to follow the Dogs out of the state, with their clash originally fixtured for Melbourne's Marvel Stadium now off the table.
The Dons are Roos are reported to fly out of Melbourne on the same flight scheduled at 2pm AEST according to a pair of tweets from the Fox Footy scribe.
Morris reported this morning that the aforementioned clubs have acknowledged that the Round 18 clash would almost certainly take place in Queensland instead.
All 18-clubs are reportedly holding internal discussions, with the AFL said to be exceedingly keen on clearing any remaining teams from the perennially Covid ravaged state of Victoria.
At the time of writing, no official fixture updates have been made.
Last night, both New South Wales based clubs - the Swans and the Giants - announced their intentions to depart the state, with the Western Bulldogs set to follow suit this morning.
According to Fox Footy journalist Tom Morris, Sydney and GWS were reported to have flown out from Melbourne's Tullamarine airport at 8:45am AEST this morning.
As John Longmire and Leon Cameron's teams are headed for Queensland, their clash that was fixtured for Ballarat's Mars Stadium this weekend will now take place in the Sunshine State.
Due to the Lions still holding residence in Victoria at the time of writing, the Gabba is technically available to host 'The Battle of the Bridge' game.
As mentioned, Luke Beveridge's Bulldogs are set to follow the Swans' and Giants' lead in heading to Queensland.
Despite this appearing to follow standard protocol, due to the Dogs being fixtured to face the Suns at Metricon Stadium, their departure time was brought forward 24-hours.
Morris also reported that with ambiguity currently reigning, the Bulldogs are set to leave Melbourne with their entire playing list on their northern jaunt.
After touching down in Perth last night, the entirety of Geelong's playing, coaching and additional staff were guided straight off the plane and into hotel quarantine by members of the Western Australian police force.
In a Wednesday night report from Fox Sports scribe Ben Cotton, it was stated that each and every member of the Cats' travelling party were subjected to on the spot Covid tests.
The Hoops departed Melbourne's Tullamarine airport last night and were reportedly in the air when Western Australian premier Mark McGowan once again placed hard border control measures on Victorian visitors.
As the Cats were one of the two sides doing battle at the MCG last Saturday during the time that the venue was said to have live Covid cases in attendance, those that departed Victoria yesterday will be forced to remain in isolation until a negative test is recorded.
AFL360 co-host Gerard Whateley shed further light on the situation.
“An exemption has been granted that the game be played out of quarantine. We’ve seen this before, Geelong landed, were met by police, escorted to a quarantine hotel which they were booked into anyway,” Whateley stated.
“They are tonight awaiting tests, in some cases officials have been tested. They are all confined in their rooms until that process runs over the next four to six hours.
“They will have no contact with the Perth community. The quarantine game essentially means there’s no on-ground activations, there’s no broadcast activity.
“The playing surface is strictly for the players and I think it’s been the convention that a couple of rows of the stands are left vacant so there’s even more of a gap.”
As of yet, no test results have been made public knowledge.
STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES