With a number of Covid cases spreading through teams in the WAFL, Fremantle have split their playing group at training to minimise the risk of losing players under the AFL’s Heath and Safety Protocols.
Senior Coach Justin Longmuir said Connor Blakely, who represented Peel on Friday in round one against East Fremantle, is the latest Fremantle player to enter the Health and Safety Protocols and will be unavailable for selection this weekend.
The measures meant that Fremantle were restricted to 23 players at main training on Wednesday at Victor George Kailis Oval, despite having a near-full squad available. The remaining players will train at a separate time.
Longmuir said Fremantle were hoping to avoid losing any more players ahead of Saturday’s game against Carlton.
“No we’re not (in the clear). We’ve had to separate the playing group today and you’ll see at training there’s only about 23 players training,” Longmuir said.
“That’s mainly based on the back of the WAFL situation, and a lot of our players played at Peel on (Good Friday).
“We’ve split our playing group up to mitigate the risk around those players that played at WAFL level.
“We’ll probably have to do that, especially early in the week for the foreseeable future. It’s not the ideal situation for the camaraderie you’re trying to build at the footy club but we need to mitigate a bit of risk.
“Connor Blakely is in the protocols, so he’ll be out this week. That’s on the back of our decision making and hopefully what we’ve been able to do with our risk mitigation is to stop that from spreading.”
Lachie Schultz was one of the players in action at training on Wednesday as he looks to return after missing Fremantle’s round five clash against Essendon under the Health and Safety Protocols.
“He’ll have to get through training but it’s pretty positive. I did a little session with him yesterday and he feels back to 100 per cent,” Longmuir said.
“He’s got to get through training but we expect him to return.”
Become a Freo member and be there for Saturday night's Len Hall Tribute Game
One stat behind Freo's early form
O'Driscoll's flying start
