Picture two triangles on a whiteboard in the Fremantle gym.

At each apex is a symbol representing one of six different areas at the club - the AFL changerooms, the AFLW changerooms, the gym, the players' lunch room, the lecture theatre and the outside warm-up area.

"You have to mentally visualise it for it to make sense,” we're told.

About 20 of us attended the Monday morning meeting on 25 May ahead of the players' arrival after an eight-week shutdown. Scattered around the room at 1.5m spacing were Justin Longmuir and his fellow coaches, and football and high performance staff.

The triangles were all about managing the movement of six groups of players, who, outside of two contact training sessions per week, had to stay separated at all times.

Initially the 'triangle system' didn't make sense to me, but it worked.

Although, human error occasionally got in the way. If a player took too long in the shower, it held up the next group waiting to go in, which created other bottlenecks down the line.

This was just one example of what life is like at an AFL club under Covid-19. The AFL’s guidelines are strict, some might say over the top, but for good reason. Without them, there would be no 2020 season.

And we can’t hide that there have been significant staffing cuts. On top of your normal role, and managing the Covid-19 guidelines, some staff members are taking on roles left behind by those who have been unfortunately stood down.

It creates more work while jumping through some of the most obstructive hoops you can imagine.

But everyone’s happy.

On another whiteboard at the club, someone wrote ‘good to be back’ with a smiley face.

A couple days later, the ‘good’ was crossed out and replaced with ‘great’.

A week later, the ‘great’ was crossed out and replaced with ‘F'n awesome’.

When the shutdown happened, the media team was split in two, those who continued working on reduced hours, and those who were stood down.

Now football training has returned, we’re split in three. Britt, our video producer, and I have been absorbed into the football department. We're now in the hub on the Gold Coast.

Being a part of the football department means we’re subject to the same restrictions as the players. The Herald Sun described it as being ‘a prisoner in your own home’.

That’s an exaggeration but it is a sacrifice, and while I really miss my friends, I know any of my fellow Freo staff members would do the same in a heartbeat.

We also get tested weekly for Covid-19.

I wouldn’t describe the testing process as pleasant. After sticking a cotton swab down your throat it then goes up both nostrils - so far that I’ve heard it described as a ‘brain scraping’.

It makes your eyes water. People cough and sneeze. It doesn’t bother me as much as it does others. It’s made me wonder if my nasal canal is bigger than the average.

Last Thursday, five days before we got on the plane, the club packed a truck provided by club partner Sullivans Logistics that left for the Gold Coast. We were asked to bring our suitcase and up to two personal items. My old Nintendo has been dusted off and packed for some Gold Coast Mario Kart action, if we get the time!

After the truck left, we attended a presentation in the lecture theatre from senior football operations manager Joe Brierty to discuss how our ‘hub’ on the Gold Coast would work.

We’ll be living in luxury at the Royal Pines Resort, although we will be sharing the resort with West Coast.

Our facilities will be located on level three, while West Coast will be on level two.

We will be staying on levels 11 to 17 while West Coast have four to 10.

As absurd, exciting and daunting as the hub seems, there is a key message that the main priority for the first four days is not to settle in and get comfortable, but to prepare to beat Brisbane.

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At the meeting Justin speaks up.

“I want to say well done to everyone. It’s run so smoothly so far. I know it’s been a really unique situation but I feel like everyone has got their head down and got to work,” Justin said.

“I think the program has run really well but we’ve just got to the start line, really. There’s a lot more work to do.

“I know it’s not an easy situation, so make sure next week we really focus our players, and as Joe has mentioned a couple of times, we’ve got round two next Saturday.

“It might feel like a little bit of a holiday when we go up there, there’s going to be a lot of distractions. There’s also going to be a lot of things that aren’t easy.

“Let’s just make sure that we really concentrate on preparing our players for a game of footy next week.

“Well done, so far, I couldn’t have been happier with the effort within. Thanks Joe, thanks Belly. You’ve lead really well and everyone’s got to work and done a fantastic job.”

Now all that’s left to do is to finish packing and get on the plane. Gold Coast is the destination, but as Justin said, the focus is on Brisbane.

MORE: Read the next edition of the Lockdown Diaries as Freo touch down in the Gold Coast