SWANS PACK BAGS FOR FAR NORTH BUT NOT THE WAGS
Sydney cannot let loved ones through the door
SYDNEY’S bio-bubble odyssey across Australia has become more akin to an old world cricket tour than a modern sporting winter.
Swans players and staff have been told they will not see their wives and families for a total of nine weeks after the AFL rejected the club’s bid to have loved ones join them for the final leg of their hub in Queensland.
With the AFL’s last transitional hub for families starting on September 1 and the Swans destined to miss finals, administrators have made the tough call that the expense is too great for the one week partners and kids would get in the Sydney camp before having to return home.
The Swans had requested the AFL consider an earlier intake at a transitional hub for Sydney and GWS families who have been separated since July 30, but the AFL feared that would be pushing the boundaries too far with Queensland health authorities and said no.
GWS will be able to get loved ones up to southeast Queensland for the transitional hub on September 1, even though they aren’t guaranteed finals football.
It means Sydney will go the longest of any club this season without a practical opportunity to bring families into the fold at any point – with the timing of their stint in the ultra-strict Western Australia counting against them.
The AFL Players Association say they’re still in discussions with the AFL over the next quarantine hub, and while priority would have to be given to teams in finals contention, nothing had been ruled out as yet. The challenge is that by the time families spend two weeks in separate isolation at the transitional hub in southeast Queensland, that would only leave a week in the Swans’ bubble in Cairns before the regular season comes to a close.
Despite Elijah Taylor’s desperation to see his girlfriend costing him his season in Perth, the impact of being on the road on Sydney’s playing group is minimal, with Lance Franklin, Josh Kennedy and Sam Reid the only members of their young list with children.
Franklin’s wife Jesinta Franklin revealed several weeks ago that she wouldn’t have entered the hub anyway over fears of a “breakdown” living under such restrictions with a baby. However, the burden is felt most keenly among the Swans coaching and football staff, who are largely paid less than the players and are at a stage in life where they do have young children.
Swans assistant coach Jarrad McVeigh and his brother, Giants assistant Mark McVeigh, have been doing it tough away from their respective young families.
Even when hubbing together in the same hotel in Queensland three weeks ago they weren’t allowed close contact with each other than fleeting chats across the lobby.
The AFL are also being strict with the Victorian clubs and it’s possible Geelong won’t be able to get Gary Ablett to Queensland any earlier than September 1.
There is a fear that the families of some Victorian clubs may use the final September 1 influx as their only ticket out of Melbourne with an eye to post-season holidays in Queensland.