Players to skip hub for family

WESTERN Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says the club is expecting some of its players to opt against joining the squad in an interstate-based hub.

The Bulldogs will head to Queensland after today’s clash with North Melbourne, but it may not be with their full contingent.

“The difficult thing for everyone going into a hub is just leaving their family behind,” Beveridge said.

“I think we’ve got eight dads and the boys will make decisions on whether or not [they go into a hub].

“We’d love to take everyone with us and we’ll definitely take all our players and we’re hoping to be able to take partners and young children if that’s what the choice is.

“There might be one or two that might not be able to go and that’s fine, so we’ll work through that. But everyone is probably looking forward to it more than anything.

“I think there is a mixture of envy from many that we’ve actually got the opportunity to go and travel for a period of time and get outside of the state.

“The likelihood is we’ll go to a place that is a bit warmer, which is good considering its smack bang in the middle of winter.”

Staff, coaches and players living in COVID-19 hot spots this week had a mad scramble to find temporary accommodation to avoid being locked out of New South Wales.

Beveridge said several from his club had to find temporary digs. “I think we had seven players that had to move and three staff members [that had to move],” he said.

“Most went and stayed with relatives or staff and the players picked up and moved into hotel rooms.

“A couple, like Libba [Tom Liberatore] and his young family, went and stayed in a Airbnb and Jongy [Lin Jong] with his pup as well, as anyone with a pet had to move into an Airbnb.”