Players just beat border closure siren
PORT Douglas footballers have beaten a strict Queensland border closure in time for the start of the AFL Cairns season with a dozen Victorian players arriving before its residents were locked out.
It comes on the day Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a total ban from visitors to the under-siege state in a bid to stop southerners fleeing the Melbourne lockdown.
Victorians will even be banned from going into quarantine in Queensland from July 10.
Six southern recruits remain in quarantine in a Port Douglas resort after arriving to play for the Crocs last week.
Club president Barry Lea said the club was ‘110 per cent compliant’ with the strict new coronavirus measures imposed on Victoria.
“A clear example of this is we have six of the guys in quarantine right now staying at accommodation at their own expense,” he said.
“They will not be available this week and will not play until potentially our first home game.”
“We are 110 per cent compliant in relation to where the goalposts are with COVID-19.”
Mr Lea said the players missed the first game against Cairns City Lions this week and won’t participate until they are cleared and safe to play.
The Far North club has won the past four AFL Cairns flags and suddenly loom as a potential powerhouse again just weeks after declaring they were struggling to fill a reserves side. But a Facebook post encouraging Victorian footballers ‘to enjoy a northern escape from winter’ and wordof-mouth appears to have worked before the state was sent back into full-lockdown.
“We are still getting phone calls from players that want to come up and play for the love of it, from all around Australia,” Mr Lea said.
“Players just want to come up for the real love of the game. The Victorians were keen to get up here and thaw out.
“We had 38 on the track this week and you don’t normally see those numbers unless it’s grand final week. It has been an incredible turn around in the last month, really.”
The Crocs first home game will be on July 25.