PORT ADELAIDE development coach Chad Cornes has been housebound for the last fortnight in compliance with the self-isolation measures put in place by the South Australian State Government after travelling with the team to the Gold Coast for round 1.

The former All Australian has kept himself occupied at home, but admitted it was nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel when the travel restrictions were lifted yesterday afternoon.

“I know the boys that were held captive for the two weeks made the most of yesterday and it was good to get out and about,” Cornes said on Adelaide radio on Monday morning.

“It wasn’t that bad to be honest, did a lot of things around the house, a lot of time with the dogs, a lot of training.

“I am fortunate to have a pretty good gym set up here, so that was where most of the time was spent.”

All players, staff and coaches that travelled to the Gold Coast to face the Suns completed their fortnight of self-isolation to play their role in flattening the curve of the COVID-19 outbreak, but Cornes was confident Port’s playing group will maintain their fitness during the shutdown period.

“They have all got pretty detailed programs that they have been instructed to do over this period and I am sure they are all doing that,” he said.

“They have running programs and a lot of the guys have got little gym set ups at their houses so I am sure our guys are being really diligent in the way they are preparing over this next month.

“We did have a really good fitness base (before the season was suspended) so we are putting a lot of trust in the players to keep that up.

“If they did that we would only need 2-3 weeks to be ready for game time.”

The Power enjoyed a strong pre-season campaign, claiming victory in both Marsh Community Series matches, and carried that form into its 47-point win over the Suns.

Cornes, who also acts as the club’s runner on AFL game days, was proud of the playing group’s development over the summer.

“The word ‘connection’ gets said a lot, but there was a lot of time put into that again this pre-season,” he said.

“The group was really close, really going out of our way to do things for each other.

“It was just a different feeling than I have felt in previous years.

“On top of that, a few adjustments to the game style, we were going to play a better brand of footy – supporters would have loved it.

“All signs were positive in the pre-season. Everyone will be bursting when we finally get out there.”

The majority of Port Adelaide’s football department have been stood down, while the playing group are currently on leave away from the club, but Cornes said that did not mean they will not continue to work hard during the season hiatus.

“Now that we are out of isolation, there will be more regular catch ups,” he said.

“The boys will be able to come around here and train one-on-one, we will be able to have a kick and a catch with them.

“Nathan Bassett has put together a roster so he and I can keep in touch with all of the forwards that are still in South Australia.

“We are having a lot of forwards meetings over Zoom and a lot of coaches meetings over the internet as well.

“Everyone is still staying connected as best we can.”