Queensland isolation becomes family affair
ST KILDA players will board a bus about 7.30am on Sunday morning to travel from the club’s Noosa hub to Metricon Stadium in a throwback to Under-12s school sport.
The 2½ hour drive to the Gold Coast venue – and early alarm for this week’s 12.35pm clash against Fremantle – shapes as a rare drawback from winning the AFL’s hub lottery, with the Saints taking control of the RACV Noosa Resort.
Saints recruit Zak Jones and Dockers captain Nat Fyfe are likely to return from minor hamstring injuries in the clash.
Like all clubs quarantining in Queensland, the Saints are unable to leave the resort for the first 14 days, except for training.
On day 15, the Saints will fly to Adelaide for their Round 7 clash against the Crows and then return to Noosa on July 21.
They will then be permitted to surf, play golf, fish and enjoy the beautiful surrounds of the holiday town.
Hawthorn (Coogee) and Melbourne (Manly) will not have to quarantine after being sent to Sydney on Sunday.
The Saints will train at the nearby Noosa Football Club and the Maroochydore Football Club, which is 35km away.
The RACV Resort had been closed to the public recently because of construction works.
Dietitian Alison Miles jetted to Noosa with the Saints after other staff members in the club’s bubble were unable to attend.
Western Bulldogs Easton Wood, Jason Johannisen, Mitch Wallis, Josh Bruce, Jackson Trengove and Tom Liberatore took their young families to Gold Coast yesterday.
Wallis’s daughter Charlotte was born last month while Liberatore’s son Oscar, Johannisen’s daughter Lola and Wood’s daughter Matilda were all born in the past 12 months.
Wives Pip Bruce and Tiffany Wood are pregnant again while Liberatore’s partner Malia also brought her fouryear-old daughter Lotus.
The Trengoves brought their three kids, Sophia, Isaiah and Zalia.
Bruce was relieved the AFL approved his family request because the couple has no family in Victoria, and border closures would’ve left his Canberran partner stuck in Melbourne without support.
The AFL is footing the bill for all travel, meals and accommodation costs in the knowledge that the mega expense will be a lot cheaper than failing to get games played.
Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey recently said players needed to bond on tour.
“He’s (my son Louis) 19 months old and if I was home for six of those months, I’d be surprised,” Carey said.
“I’m sure that with 22 other mates there they’ll enjoy their time together (in AFL hubs). You just lean on your mates and your teammates.”