Australia is coming back with the NRL (National Rugby League). With the lockdowns that has been taking place across Australia the NRL has been having a few bumps on the road. But it seems that Adelaide and Port Adelaide will flee to Victoria for the second time this month after the South Australian government announced a statewide lockdown. SA will go into a seven-day lockdown to combat a fresh COVID-19 outbreak that has placed further pressure on the AFL’s bid to keep the season running as planned.
It means Port’s match against Collingwood at Adelaide Oval, which is set to be club stalwart Travis Boak’s 300th game, will played in Victoria in an empty stadium. SA will join Victoria and Greater Sydney in lockdowns, creating serious issues for the AFL to deal with approaching round 19.
Hawthorn were also scheduled to play the Crows in Adelaide but both SA teams will head to Melbourne. Relocating will give Port and the Crows the freedom to train more or less as normal, which they would not have been able to do in Adelaide. But injured Port Adelaide midfielder Tom Rockliff was still puzzled by the decision. It will be the second time the Crows and the Power have had to relocate to Melbourne this year after briefly staying during a COVID-19 scare in SA earlier in July.
But it will be the first time this season either club has had to play a designated home game at a Melbourne venue against Victorian opposition. Rockliff quoted that “It’s come about pretty quick. Just trying to comprehend the reason for leaving a city in lockdown, to go to another city in lockdown, obviously the AFL want to push on and that’s completely understandable, all players are willing to do that, but at what cost, maybe we need to take a deep breath for a week, let everyone settle down.”
