Essendon rookie Cian McBride in action against Carlton in the VFL in round three, 2021. Picture: AFL Photos

A SECOND Essendon player has been forced into isolation in Queensland, with Irishman Cian McBride undertaking mandatory quarantine after visiting an exposure site in Melbourne. 

The 20-year-old attended the Wallabies vs France rugby match last week and was initially free to continue to train with teammates as he was classified as a Tier 3 contact and to monitor for symptoms. 

Essendon was conservative and placed McBride in isolation as other players around the competition who attended the rugby were notified as being in upgraded tiers, with McBride reclassified to Tier 2 on Monday. 

Like teammate Andrew McGrath, his 14-day quarantine has been backdated from when AAMI Park was an exposure site on July 13, so both players will end their quarantining next week. 

Andrew McGrath training in his hotel room. Picture: @andrew_mcgrath Instagram

They are in the same hotel away from the rest of the squad, which has moved to Noosa in recent days as the Bombers prepare for another two weeks on the road with games against Greater Western Sydney and Sydney scheduled for the next two rounds. McBride, an athletic key position option, is yet to make his AFL debut. 

R19 FIXTURE UPDATE Venue for Dons-Giants confirmed

McGrath has been in isolation since Saturday after he had visited a Tier 1 exposure site the previous week in Melbourne before heading to Queensland.

All Bombers players tested negative before travelling to Queensland and have also recorded negative tests since then.

McGrath was already out indefinitely with his knee injury that he suffered in round 12 against Richmond. 

Coach Ben Rutten said on Wednesday the 23-year-old was unlikely to have his return date changed dramatically by his time away from the group.  

"He's a really positive, up-beat guy so he's handling it as well as anyone could I think. He's going to be able to keep his conditioning up to some level, certainly not exactly how we'd like it if he was in our program," Rutten said.

"He's still got a brace on his knee and still in the early stages of his recovery so there'll be a bit of a cost in terms of his return but in terms of that final date he's still a little bit limited in what he can do anyway so hopefully we don't lose too much ground there."

McGrath has been given some training equipment to keep as active as possible during his isolation.