Richmond players were shocked they were not caught for a third breach of COVID-19 protocols last year when they traveled to Adelaide in August and stayed in a hotel that was used as emergency accommodation for homeless people.
Clubs were forced to avoid any contact with the general public under strict rules imposed by the AFL, therefore the incident in the Adelaide hotel could have been seen as a breach of those protocols by the AFL themselves and not Richmond.
Premiership stars Dylan Grimes and Jack Riewoldt spoke about the mixup and their concerns about a breach of the COVID protocols.
“It was really old and it was like, ‘This is weird’,” Grimes was reported to say by The Herald Sun's Jay Clark.
“We came down from a meeting or a team walk or something and the hotel lobby was filled with homeless people.
“I don’t know how this never got out and the AFL have done an amazing job of covering this up (because) at this stage we were wearing masks coming out of the airport, to the airport, to the bus.
“We were so sterile for so long and now we are staying in a homeless shelter right before a game.”
The incident occurred two weeks after the Tigers breached COVID protocols when Trent Cotchin's wife Brooke visited a beauty salon on the Gold Coast.
Richmond went on to lose the Round 11 game to Port by 21-points.
Fortunately, the Tigers didn't experience the same problems the next time they traveled to Adelaide to face the Power as they booked their place in the Grand Final with a six-point win in front of a hostile crowd.