Dog and Saint sidelined by exposure ladder-leaders set for Saturday night

Western Bulldogs midfielder Josh Dunkley will enter 14 days of isolation after discovering he was at a tier 1 exposure site, while St Kilda defender Darragh Joyce has not joined teammates in Perth after attending the rugby at AAMI Park last week.

Dunkley visited his local cafe on July 14 and that location has since been declared a tier 1 exposure site. He will miss this weekend’s match â€" the Dogs are currently fixtured to play Adelaide, but that could change.

Josh Dunkley only recently returned from injury.Credit:Getty Images

“Since July 14, Dunkley has received two separate negative coronavirus test results,” a Bulldogs statement read.

“The entire Bulldogs travelling party also received a negative result during their trip to the Gold Coast, as part of the AFL’s testing regime.”

The rest of the Bulldogs’ side will continue preparations as planned.

On Sunday, Toby Greene, Matt de Boer and Callum Mills were ruled out of the Sydney derby in Queensland at the last minute after being among a group of 15 Swans and Giants players and officials caught up in the COVID-19 scare at this week’s Wallabies versus France Test match in Melbourne.

There were five late changes to the game, with Swans Harry Cunningham and Colin O’Riordan also forced out due to health protocols. De Boer had been the Giants’ medi-sub.

A source inside the Giants said the group would have to quarantine for 14 days due to Queensland regulations but that would be backdated from Tuesday, meaning they would be able to leave quarantine in nine days’ time.

The Saints, meanwhile, confirmed to The Age and the Herald on Monday that Joyce had not headed to Western Australia with teammates ahead of this week’s game with West Coast.

The Irishman also attended the rugby match and it is unclear at this stage which tier he falls into. But the Saints decided out of an abundance of caution not to allow Joyce to fly to Perth. Joyce would have been in strong contention to face the Eagles, having been an emergency for Saturday’s game against Port Adelaide. Defender Tom Highmore broke his hand in that match and won’t play against the Eagles. Oscar Clavarino and James Frawley headed to Perth and are in contention to take on West Coast.

Ruckman Rowan Marshall, who also attended the rugby, also headed to WA.

Dan McKenzie (concussion) stayed in Victoria too.

The AFL is, meanwhile, poised to release its revised fixture for round 19.

As flagged, the Dogs will now face Melbourne in a top-of-the-ladder clash, brought forward by a week as part of a reshuffle also involving Hawthorn, Adelaide, Brisbane and Gold Coast.

Industry sources said the Melbourne-Dogs clash would likely be played this Saturday night at the MCG.

Several other existing games are likely to move days, with Sydney poised to play Fremantle on the Gold Coast om Sunday.

MORE TO COME

Anthony is a sports reporter at The Age.

Sam McClure is a sport reporter for The Age and winner of 'best news reporter' at the AFL Media Association awards.

Daniel is an Age sports reporter

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