AFL clubs Sydney and Greater Western Sydney have rushed to get their interstate players home for Christmas, deprioritising training with the COVID-19 cluster growing in the NSW northern beaches.
As of Friday morning, the cluster at the northern beaches had grown to 28 with other states announcing differing quarantine policies for anyone who has lived in or visited the area.
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The Giants confirmed they had cancelled their final field training session - scheduled for Friday morning - to give interstate-bound players the opportunity to get home while their AFLW team had their Christmas break brought forward to Friday.
The Giants' AFLW team were due to train on Friday night and then next Monday and Wednesday before commencing their break, but are now immediately on leave.
They will return before the new year, instead of their initial January 2 resumption.
The Swans confirmed they did not cancel their final training session of the year on Friday but made it non-compulsory, as they focused on getting players from interstate on flights home in the morning.
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Heading home is unlikely to be an option for players from Western Australia though, as anyone who has entered the state from December 11 onwards now has to have a coronavirus test and self-quarantine for 14 days.
No Sydney or GWS AFL players live on the northern beaches.
Some Giants AFLW players, plus some staff members, live in the region but none have attended venues listed as hot-spots, and GWS said those individuals would adhere to NSW health guidelines.
Both AFL teams return to pre-season training on January 6.