Collingwood training cancelled amid AFL COVID hits

Collingwood’s final training session, known as a captain’s run, before the Anzac Day blockbuster against Essendon at the MCG on Sunday has been cancelled.

The Pies were in Perth to play West Coast last Thursday and Friday and have to isolate until they return a negative COVID-19 test. Those results will come through in time for Sunday’s match.

Meanwhile, all West Coast players and staff in Geelong to play the Cats at GMHBA Stadium at 1.45pm on Saturday have returned negative results, with the match set to take place. Travelling fans from Perth will not be allowed in the ground.

The Fremantle-North Melbourne clash at Optus Stadium in Perth will go ahead on Saturday night without fans, as Perth entered a three-day lockdown. Fremantle had been expecting a crowd of 40,000 for their annual Len Hall Anzac Day tribute game, with the club cancelling the pre-game ceremony.

North Melbourne are awaiting further information about travel arrangements back to Victoria after the match, with Perth declared a red zone by Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton late Friday after a close contact of a Victorian man who contracted the virus in a quarantine hotel in the city also tested positive to the virus. People entering from Perth must quarantine for two weeks.

The Roos will be confined to their hotel until match time, and North Melbourne coach David Noble said the club had been able to adapt quickly given the COVID-affected 2020 season.

“It’s like most things at the moment with COVID that we’ve experienced over the last 12 months. We have to be pretty flexible,” Noble said on Fox Footy on Friday night.

The Perth and Peel area lockdown comes after a COVID-19 cluster was identified at the Mercure Hotel Perth on Wednesday, with the virus spreading among quarantining guests in separate rooms.

Earlier in the season, the Brisbane Lions had to spend an extended period in Melbourne after a COVID-19 outbreak in Brisbane, with their scheduled Easter Thursday clash against the Magpies shifted from the Gabba to Marvel Stadium after the city went into a three-day lockdown.

The AFL has had to make decisions at a rapid rate to keep the season flowing as normal.

The league is better prepared this time, with a colour-coding process – red, amber and green – being used to assess risk and make decisions on where clubs should be located, and players and staff are used to pivoting.

More to come

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