HAWTHORN has confirmed Conor Nash has been withdrawn from Saturday night's game after attending the Wallabies vs France rugby match at AAMI Park on Tuesday.
The club confirmed Nash had been tested and returned a negative result, and is following the advice of the Victorian Department of Health.
AFL games will proceed as scheduled for round 18 after players and staff across eight clubs were caught up in COVID-19 exposure sites in Victoria.
Several players and staff members across the clubs – Collingwood, Essendon, Greater Western Sydney, North Melbourne, St Kilda, Sydney, Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs – either attended the rugby match on July 13, or visited other listed exposure sites in Victoria.
The AFL confirmed that each player and staff member who has attended an exposure site has since been tested and all have received a negative test result.
STATEMENT AFL update on staff, players at exposure sites
A number of players and staff caught up in the sites are classified as tier one contacts and will be undertaking a 14-day quarantine period regardless of the negative test results. While the majority of attendees to the rugby are classified as tier three contacts and advised to monitor symptoms and get tested if they become unwell.
The Bombers, Kangaroos, Giants and Swans travelled to Queensland on Thursday to play their round 18 matches at Metricon Stadium across this weekend. The Western Bulldogs also headed north and are staying on the Gold Coast currently.
All players and staff members returned negative tests before heading to Queensland.
"The occurrences of the last few days show how volatile the pandemic continues to be in the community – it only respects discipline," the AFL’s general manager of football Andrew Dillon said in the League's statement.
"We will continue to work closely with the relevant state governments and medical professionals and be led by their advice and ask everyone in our industry to continue to be vigilant with their movements within their current communities.
"We will continue to make the necessary decisions to best protect the competition and the wider community.
"We thank the continued support of all Governments as we navigate through these challenging circumstances."