So, how do we get to Perth??!!

[Go_Dogs]

Sounds like the AFL are going to force our hand to travel to Perth early, isolate, test, quarantine. Limited time outdoors to train etc. doesn’t sound ideal.

What does everyone make of it? Should we be pushing for a neutral venue where we don’t have to do this? Or a postponement of the game? Swap it for another game scheduled later in the year so we stay in Melbourne?

Not loving the fact we’ve (more than any other side seemingly) been out through the COVID grinder. Can’t be great for players and their families, partners etc. along with coaches and support staff.

[Grantysghost]

I think we have to push back reasonably hard initially citing player welfare and try and get them to meet somewhere in the middle.
I'm not sure what that looks like but something like a fly in fly out situation day of game maybe?

We speak often of mental health issues and the detrimental effect of quarantine so surely we have a strong hand to play here.

[comrade]

Pretty concerned about this, on top of that sort of loss last night. Some real derailing areas about it.

https://i.ibb.co/ccxkwzs/E4-Mtzyn-UYAIu3xf.jpg (https://ibb.co/SXJ5cqZ)

[Go_Dogs]

Pretty concerned about this, on top of that sort of loss last night. Some real derailing areas about it.

https://i.ibb.co/ccxkwzs/E4-Mtzyn-UYAIu3xf.jpg (https://ibb.co/SXJ5cqZ)

Doesn’t sound great.

Hopefully it has a galvanising effect. Would be great if it was another club facing this though. It’ll be back to normal in 2 weeks and we’ve had a bye and two trips to Perth in the thick of it…

[comrade]

Doesn’t sound great.

Hopefully it has a galvanising effect. Would be great if it was another club facing this though. It’ll be back to normal in 2 weeks and we’ve had a bye and two trips to Perth in the thick of it…

How the AFL can schedule us to play Freo in Perth, Geelong in Geelong and WC in Perth in consecutive weeks (on top of playing Melbourne prior) is hard to fathom.

No other club has had anything close to a month like that, and that's without considering the upcoming strict quarantine. Madness.

[Grantysghost]

Bevo's press conference you can see that he's very unhappy with what he termed the AFL's decision to quarantine us in Perth for a week and how proud he was of the players with their performance with all that front of mind.


Suggests to me the club has already fought that battle with the AFL and lost.

Lets hope we can get through it ok and move on from this tough stretch.

Seems a harsh decision by the AFL, WA stakeholders must have some decent pull.

Edit : Also said the operatives at the AFL are really trying to help place them, but the executives have a very clinical approach to getting the games done. They did 1 night in the Tribe hotel for the Freo game, which was very restrictive and reading between the lines he clearly thinks we can't do that for a week.

[Vred]

I’d let the AFL dock us 4 points, no way I’d allow the team to fly into Perth and do a week of hotel quarantine. Get *!*!*!*!ed.

this should be played at a neutral venue somewhere else, why are we the team *!*!*!*!ed the most thanks to COVID?

Home game VS Melbourne, no crowd
200 Dogs fans only at Geelong
now a full week of hotel quarantine before a huge game.

Who did we piss off at AFL House?

[comrade]

I’d let the AFL dock us 4 points, no way I’d allow the team to fly into Perth and do a week of hotel quarantine. Get *!*!*!*!ed.

this should be played at a neutral venue somewhere else, why are we the team *!*!*!*!ed the most thanks to COVID?

Home game VS Melbourne, no crowd
200 Dogs fans only at Geelong
now a full week of hotel quarantine before a huge game.

Who did we piss off at AFL House?

Plus a week in Sydney prior to a trip to Perth in between. It has been a horror month schedule wise.

[The bulldog tragician]

This is a complete nightmare scenario especially after a gut wrenching loss.

[soupman]

Why do we need to quarantine for a week? What does that achieve? Why can't we just fly across the day before or morning of?

[azabob]

Plus a week in Sydney prior to a trip to Perth in between. It has been a horror month schedule wise.

At least after the Freo game we had a bye so we could rest up recoup (albeit still training).

This time it’s pretty hardcore

[Vred]

I believe the original plan was to train over our bye two weeks, then after this game allow the team to take 4-5 days off in Sydney before flying to Perth, that has seemingly gone up in smoke and now the players will be taking their bye days off in hotel quarantine

[comrade]

I believe the original plan was to train over our bye two weeks, then after this game allow the team to take 4-5 days off in Sydney before flying to Perth, that has seemingly gone up in smoke and now the players will be taking their bye days off in hotel quarantine

Yes.

[Grantysghost]

I believe the original plan was to train over our bye two weeks, then after this game allow the team to take 4-5 days off in Sydney before flying to Perth, that has seemingly gone up in smoke and now the players will be taking their bye days off in hotel quarantine

That's right this is the direct quote from Bevo at the presser post game :

“There is a lot going on behind the scenes at the moment and for them to turn up and put some of the peripheral things out of their head and just focus on the challenge of playing the Cats, at their home base, and to get so close, we were pretty grateful for what they did tonight,” Beveridge said.

“Pre-game there was a lot of organisation that went into going to New South Wales amongst everyone and with family and friends and for it all to be shut down, and now with the probability that the AFL are going to want us to be on tight restrictions to play the West Coast Eagles, that compared to having a few days off and refreshing is pretty extreme.

“I thought the boys processed that extremely well, gave a great account of themselves and nearly got there.”

[Vred]

That's right this is the direct quote from Bevo at the presser post game :

“There is a lot going on behind the scenes at the moment and for them to turn up and put some of the peripheral things out of their head and just focus on the challenge of playing the Cats, at their home base, and to get so close, we were pretty grateful for what they did tonight,” Beveridge said.

“Pre-game there was a lot of organisation that went into going to New South Wales amongst everyone and with family and friends and for it all to be shut down, and now with the probability that the AFL are going to want us to be on tight restrictions to play the West Coast Eagles, that compared to having a few days off and refreshing is pretty extreme.

“I thought the boys processed that extremely well, gave a great account of themselves and nearly got there.”

im so so gutted for the playing group, holy *!*!*!*!.. what a shit show.

[Go_Dogs]

I believe the original plan was to train over our bye two weeks, then after this game allow the team to take 4-5 days off in Sydney before flying to Perth, that has seemingly gone up in smoke and now the players will be taking their bye days off in hotel quarantine

It’s a joke.

Hope there’s some media attention slamming the AFL for this. Has to be another way to do it.

[Bulldog Joe]

It’s a joke.

Hope there’s some media attention slamming the AFL for this. Has to be another way to do it.

What about throwing some heat on the WA govt.

It is there decision that has taken the Sydney option off the agenda based on very low case numbers.

They could easily lift restrictions and just have the players maintain contact within their group only and have no infection risk.

[comrade]

Why is Tasmania not an option?

[DOG GOD]

Why is Tasmania not an option?

Agree. Not reason why it shouldn’t/can’t be.

[divvydan]

Why is Tasmania not an option?

Because, like SA, they don't really allow anything that WA doesn't. All the teams playing there this weekend are fly in and fly out. No contact between them and the general Tasmanian population. The problem with playing in Perth is that due to the length of the flight, that's not really an option.

[Bulldog Joe]

Because, like SA, they don't really allow anything that WA doesn't. All the teams playing there this weekend are fly in and fly out. No contact between them and the general Tasmanian population. The problem with playing in Perth is that due to the length of the flight, that's not really an option.

Doesn't that make Adelaide an option?

Eagles have no restriction on entering SA.

We can do fly in fly out to Adelaide.

[divvydan]

Doesn't that make Adelaide an option?

Eagles have no restriction on entering SA.

We can do fly in fly out to Adelaide.

If WCE was willing to play the game in Adelaide, then yes. Clearly they're not.

[Bulldog Joe]

If WCE was willing to play the game in Adelaide, then yes. Clearly they're not.

Well clearly they need to tell their government to be more reasonable and the AFL should be more insistent.

[comrade]

Well clearly they need to tell their government to be more reasonable and the AFL should be more insistent.

As if WC care that we're trapped in quarantine all week. They probably love the idea of it.

[Rocco Jones]

As if WC care that we're trapped in quarantine all week. They probably love the idea of it.

Yeah and reality is, why would they want to change it? If we were in their scenario, would you guys want us to relocate the game, costing us $$$$ + huge home ground advantage to be nice?

[comrade]

Yeah and reality is, why would they want to change it? If we were in their scenario, would you guys want us to relocate the game, costing us $$$$ + huge home ground advantage to be nice?

Not a chance. WC are probably lobbying their own government to make the quarantine process as strict as possible. Push every edge as hard as possible, it just sucks we're on the other side of it.

[comrade]

Club has confirmed we're leaving for Perth tomorrow evening and will be forced into a week long imprisonment, I mean quarantine, where players and staff are unable to leave the accomodation they're staying at beyond training.

https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/960760

[Rocco Jones]

Not a chance. WC are probably lobbying their own government to make the quarantine process as strict as possible. Push every edge as hard as possible, it just sucks we're on the other side of it.

As much as it sucks for our players personally, how'd it turn out for the Eagles last time this happened?

[bornadog]

Club has confirmed we're leaving for Perth tomorrow evening and will be forced into a week long imprisonment, I mean quarantine, where players and staff are unable to leave the accomodation they're staying at beyond training.

https://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/news/960760

I think they are going to Joondalup Resort, which is nice, but doubt they can use the golf course.

[WBFC4FFC]

It’s a joke.

Hope there’s some media attention slamming the AFL for this. Has to be another way to do it.

Why can't the Bullies arrive a day before the game? (We had the nonsensical situation over the weekend where Melb City had to play the game in Sydney of all places and Melb United has to play the first two games in Perth).

Assume there is a reason as to why the Bullies have to go to WA early, why can't the AFL reschedule the game to Friday night, so the players can at least get some time off before the next game, which should be guaranteed to be on a Sunday? Fixture is maintained and the Club's Players/Staff mental wellness is taken care of, something that appears to be lip service at this stage.

[divvydan]

Because neither of those things conform to the WA policy of having a week's worth of quarantine for arrivals from Victoria. The reason it worked before was because WA were allowing teams to quarantine (a softer quarantine) in other states for a week before flying in to Perth for the game. NSW was the only state Vic teams could go to in order to have the softer quarantine but the breakout there over the past week has changed the way WA deals with NSW arrivals, so that was no longer an option.

We can argue all we want about the WA government and their standards but whilst it is what it is, the only options were a neutral venue (which WCE was never going for), or postponing the fixture, which I presume the AFL weren't going to accept.

[WBFC4FFC]

Because neither of those things conform to the WA policy of having a week's worth of quarantine for arrivals from Victoria. The reason it worked before was because WA were allowing teams to quarantine (a softer quarantine) in other states for a week before flying in to Perth for the game. NSW was the only state Vic teams could go to in order to have the softer quarantine but the breakout there over the past week has changed the way WA deals with NSW arrivals, so that was no longer an option.

We can argue all we want about the WA government and their standards but whilst it is what it is, the only options were a neutral venue (which WCE was never going for), or postponing the fixture, which I presume the AFL weren't going to accept.

A week's quarantine means nothing with this virus. Singapore are doing three weeks now, given the new variant. Can't believe that is not occurring here yet (aside from not having dedicated quarantine facilities yet).

[Danny the snakeman]

As of today besides flying fron interstate we have no restrictions at all. Everything back to pre covid. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

[bornadog]

As of today besides flying from interstate we have no restrictions at all. Everything back to pre covid. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

That is great Danny.

Now the focus is on NSW, and looks like Sydney and GWS will need to figure out what is happening in the next few weeks.

[bulldogtragic]

Does that means our guys get their freedom?

[comrade]

Does that means our guys get their freedom?

If so, we probably could have stayed in Melbourne all week and just gone there tomorrow.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

As far as I know, WA still has restrictions in place for travellers coming from Victoria. 14-day quarantine still required (although it can be self-quarantine, which we can't obviously do) so I don't think anything has changed for us.

[Axe Man]

Does that means our guys get their freedom?

Not a chance. The border in WA is more tightly controlled than Berlin at the height of the cold war. They may as well just secede already.

[bulldogsthru&thru]

Not a chance. The border in WA is more tightly controlled than Berlin at the height of the cold war. They may as well just secede already.

I checked the WA gov website and Victoria is classified as low-risk and NSW medium-risk. They come with 14-day quarantine and banned entry respectively. Funnily enough there was no high-risk, but I do wonder what that would entail.

[Axe Man]

I checked the WA gov website and Victoria is classified as low-risk and NSW medium-risk. They come with 14-day quarantine and banned entry respectively. Funnily enough there was no high-risk, but I do wonder what that would entail.

Heavy artillery.

[mjp]

Not a chance. The border in WA is more tightly controlled than Berlin at the height of the cold war. They may as well just secede already.

To be fair, it's pretty hard to actually FIND the border to WA.

They don't really need to 'protect it' as the only way you can get in is via the airport...people 'driving across' are - BEST CASE SCENARIO - a solid 20 hour drive from hitting Perth....and most of that drive is through a scrubby desert featuring some massive eagles that 'perch' atop 1m high shrubs as that is the tallest thing that can grow. Not sure what they are looking for as I think they exist solely based on the carcasses of Kangaroos that have been hit by road trains...

The story at the moment is that Freo will need to quarantine for 14 days when they return home from this weekends game...BUT that restriction will be lifted (in theory) on Wednesday when the border to Victoria will (in theory) be re-opened.

The AFL is certainly running pretty close to the wire with the fixture right now and the compromises being forced upon some teams is really unfair. Brisbane copped it, Richmond copped it, we are copping it and Freo are just about to cop it.

[bornadog]

To be fair, it's pretty hard to actually FIND the border to WA.

They don't really need to 'protect it' as the only way you can get in is via the airport...people 'driving across' are - BEST CASE SCENARIO - a solid 20 hour drive from hitting Perth....and most of that drive is through a scrubby desert featuring some massive eagles that 'perch' atop 1m high shrubs as that is the tallest thing that can grow. Not sure what they are looking for as I think they exist solely based on the carcasses of Kangaroos that have been hit by road trains..

This is just about right.

A mate of mine does some risky stuff and this is his story.

His daughter moved to Denmark (near Albany) early this year , but with a lockdown coming had to move fast, so she left her car at her dad's place. My mate said no problems I will drive it across to her and it may be some fun. He filled out the paperwork, and put the reason down as freighting a car. He got the approval and off he drove across the Nullabor from Melbourne.

He gets to the border and of course he is stopped and not allowed through. He tried to convince the border control he has approval, but they didn't want to have a bar of it and knocked him back - no sympathy for driving all that way either. :D

He then had to turn around and come back, however, when he got to Adelaide he arranged a freight truck to take the car. to his daughter's place.

He certainly had a quite an adventure, on his own for over a week. :D

[EasternWest]

This is just about right.

A mate of mine does some risky stuff and this is his story.

His daughter moved to Denmark (near Albany) early this year , but with a lockdown coming had to move fast, so she left her car at her dad's place. My mate said no problems I will drive it across to her and it may be some fun. He filled out the paperwork, and put the reason down as freighting a car. He got the approval and off he drove across the Nullabor from Melbourne.

He gets to the border and of course he is stopped and not allowed through. He tried to convince the border control he has approval, but they didn't want to have a bar of it and knocked him back - no sympathy for driving all that way either. :D

He then had to turn around and come back, however, when he got to Adelaide he arranged a freight truck to take the car. to his daughter's place.

He certainly had a quite an adventure, on his own for over a week. :D

But on the plus side, not a single voice for most of a week.

[Twodogs]

As far as I know, WA still has restrictions in place for travellers coming from Victoria. 14-day quarantine still required (although it can be self-quarantine, which we can't obviously do) so I don't think anything has changed for us.

Couldn't half the team have stayed with Tim English's parents and the other half stay with Aaron Naughton's parents?