Swans boss says players on alert over Covid dangers

SYDNEY chairman Andrew Pridham says players will have to be extra vigilant to the dangers of Covid as new strains threaten availability for clubs as they approach September.

The AFL is adamant there is no threshold of Covid positives that will see it postpone September clashes despite the new threat of Omicron strains that are seeing cases escalate.

Brisbane has four players out of the line-up against Essendon in Covid protocols and Gold Coast could not select Izak Rankine and Oleg Markov against Richmond.

Sydney had to enlist its administrators to provide support on the bench in round 15 after its band of assistant coaches and two players went down with Covid, with Geelong’s assistant coaches also hit in recent weeks.

But the league has told clubs it is up to them to enforce additional protocols over and above the league enforcing testing once during the week as well as on game day.

Pridham said the latest Covid wave was a concern for all clubs and society and said players would need to consider masking up and exercising more caution given the risk of infection. Most AFL players have already had Covid this year given their age profile but there is a risk of reinfections increasing given immunity has worn off for players who had the illness over summer.

“We are testing twice a week, on game day and Mondays, so the instruction to the players is just be careful,” he said.

“I suspect we are going to have to continually revise the protocols and we might have to go beyond common sense and do a few more things. I noticed today a lot more people are wearing masks. Reinfection from January is now pretty common. That is the new normal so clubs are going to have to be more cautious. It’s a worry, especially when players are living together.”

The league is adamant it will not change its Covid rules for finals after making clear if a team had enough fit players including top-ups it would take to the field.

Having forced West Coast to play despite being ravaged by Covid and unavailabilities early in the season it would be a double standard to change the rules for finals.