Bug also bit Demons before prelim final
MELBOURNE was also hit with illness in the lead-up to its barnstorming win over a Geelong side that had up to six Cats sick for its preliminary final.
The Cats have refused to blame the illness for their poor performance, with Jeremy Cameron, Tom Hawkins, Cam Guthrie, Esava Ratugolea, Brad Close and Lachie Henderson all believed to been unwell in the 48 hours before the game.
The virus forced the Cats players to isolate in their hotel rooms before the game as they dealt with fever-like symptoms. Some players were still feeling depleted throughout and after the game as they produced their worst performance of the year in the cutthroat final.
News Corp can also reveal Melbourne was forced to isolate one of its players last week due to a bug.
The player, who the Demons would not identify on Sunday, had a Covid test and missed some training but was cleared fit to play in the 83point win in Perth.
The Demons were unaware the Cats had been so hard hit by illness on Thursday and Friday other than a change to the club’s emergencies.
Quinton Narkle replaced Sam Simpson (concussion) on the emergency list, while the Cats also warned the AFL there could be other changes due to the virus that swept the team.
Geelong has refused to comment publicly on the bug to avoid being seen as using
the illness as an excuse for the heavy defeat.
Coach Chris Scott also did not comment on the Cats players’ illness in his post-match press conference on Friday night, but he did concede his charges were not 100 per cent.
“We were pretty battered towards the end of the season, not just the last couple of weeks but probably the six weeks leading into the finals series,” Scott said.
“There’s a few things that I won’t speak about tonight that will become clearer over the next few weeks, but suffice to say, I’m proud of the way our guys endured and we just completely ran out of steam by tonight.
“We’ve fallen short and it’s a bitter pill to swallow, but our club has over a long period of time found a way to recover from difficult situations.
“We’re in that situation again where we’ve got a choice to make: We can roll over or we can take the time we need to regroup.”
The Cats players were subject to Covid testing and flew back to Victoria on Sunday.
Superstar Patrick Dangerfield is expected to have surgery on a finger injury, which he has carried since the round 23 loss to Melbourne.