Bombers’ twists continue

McKenna now tests negative to COVID-19

ESSENDON’S Conor McKenna has tested negative to COVID-19 in another bizarre chapter to a saga that had threatened to derail the AFL season.

The Bombers confirmed last night the defender returned a negative result to his COVID-19 swab test.

Essendon says health authorities have reconfirmed tests taken by McKenna last Friday and Saturday had been positive.

“The club will work with relevant medical experts over the coming days to further understand these results,” a club statement read.

Essendon chief executive Xavier Campbell earlier said strict adherence to AFL protocols and plenty of luck allowed the Bombers to narrowly avoid disaster after McKenna’s tribulations.

Campbell said a Department of Health and Human Services investigation found fringe forward James Stewart was the only player deemed to have been in close contact with McKenna.

Essendon’s match against Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday was postponed when McKenna tested positive a day earlier for COVID-19. There were fears several key defenders, including Adam Saad, Cale Hooker and Michael Hurley, would be forced to quarantine after taking part in a weights session with the Irishman.

But the DHHS found Stewart, who was McKenna’s wrestling partner in Friday’s main training session, was the only other player required to selfisolate for 14 days.

Stewart, having not played at AFL level since 2018 and not picked to play the Demons, returned a negative result yesterday after the playing list was tested on Monday.

“It gives us confidence in the protocols, that the protocols have been adhered to and been well executed,” Campbell said.

“In terms of the overall feeling, it’s somewhat bittersweet because we’ve still got two players who have been clearly impacted by it. Particularly for James who, through no fault of his own, finds himself in a position where he’s got to go into quarantine.

“But if I take myself back to the weekend and working through the enormity and uncertainty of it, with the investigation out of our hands, it’s somewhat of a relief but bittersweet as well.”

The Bombers provided details of player movements, footage of Friday’s training session, the floor plan of their Tullamarine headquarters and physical distancing measures in place to help the DHHS determine only Stewart needed to quarantine.

Campbell remains unsure where McKenna, who is understood to have attended multiple open inspections while searching for a new house, had contracted the virus.