Tigers close to finalising AFL hub squad

Sunday, 5 July 2020:

BACHAR HOULI of the Tigers.
BACHAR HOULI of the Tigers.


Damien Hardwick says Richmond are still finalising which players travel to the AFL's Queensland hub despite club football boss Neil Balme revealing two experienced Tigers are likely to remain in Victoria.

Balme did not specify who has opted out of the hub, but star veterans Bachar Houli and Shane Edwards would find it difficult to go into a hub for family reasons.

Houli's wife has just given birth, while Edwards' partner is heavily pregnant.

Premiership players Dion Prestia and Toby Nankervis are also no certainties to head north after suffering serious ankle injuries in Sunday's 27-point win against Melbourne.

"We weren't going to make decisions on players or get players to make decisions until we got through (the Demons game)," Hardwick said.

"There will be some players that stay. The overriding impression from the AFL is there will be no other scrimmage games up there."

Skipper Trent Cotchin suffered a minor hamstring strain against the Demons, but is set to take his family with him into the hub when the Tigers depart on Monday.

Melbourne will take 33 players, including sidelined recruit Harley Bennell, but Demons coach Simon Goodwin said it was difficult not to fly the whole group to NSW.

"We want to support all the players that are going with their families; we've got six or seven guys with young kids and wives to bring along," he said.

The exodus of AFL clubs from Victoria began on Sunday with Collingwood and Hawthorn sharing a flight to Sydney.

The league confirmed on Friday that all 10 Victorian clubs would be required to leave the state - which is gripped by a COVID-19 outbreak - before round six and for a period of about five weeks.

That process was hastened on Saturday when Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced further suburban lockdowns in the state capital in response to another spike in new cases of the virus.

The clubs will enter hubs in Queensland and NSW and complete a 14-day quarantine, although they have been granted exemptions to train and play matches during that period of isolation.

The Magpies, who were defeated by Essendon on Friday night, and Hawks boarded a charter flight on Sunday morning.

Alastair Clarkson's men will take on GWS at Giants Stadium in the final game of round five on Sunday evening before they settle into their NSW hub at Coogee's Crowne Plaza hotel.

Collingwood will face Hawthorn at Giants Stadium on Friday night in round six before Nathan Buckley's squad departs for Perth to share a hub with Geelong and local sides West Coast and Fremantle.

The Cats are set to arrive in Sydney on Sunday night, where they will set up in the Pullman at Hyde Park in the lead-up to Thursday night's encounter with Brisbane at the SCG, which begins round six.

Carlton and St Kilda will fly out of Melbourne bound for Queensland on Sunday afternoon, while Melbourne will depart for NSW after their Sunday afternoon clash with Richmond at the MCG.

Western Bulldogs and the Bombers will leave for Queensland on Monday afternoon and will be based at the Mercure on the Gold Coast and the Mantra in Southport respectively.






AAP